How the Rich and Famous Prevent Identity Theft

Despite what you may assume, most celebrities and other extremely wealthy individuals do not relish living in a fish bowl, with every move scrutinized. While some certainly do flaunt their wealth, the vast majority do not want you dropping by their home or following them into the bathroom.

The average people who post their whereabouts online, constantly update their status, or list themselves in the phone book generally have nothing to hide. But in a celebrity-obsessed culture, the rich and famous are frequently stalked or harassed, and, since their personal data is so readily available, their identities are more likely to be stolen.

Every seemingly innocuous personal detail available to a criminal can be used to obtain more information, until that criminal has developed a full profile of the potential victim. A series of little crumbs ultimately leads to a loaf of bread.

The solution is called “security through obscurity.” Now, that statement might mean something different in certain circles, but in this case it means that the best way to secure your identity is to hide, buried in the abyss of the Internet, under assumed names, behind a corporate identity. This doesn’t mean using a stolen identity, but rather creating a corporate alias.

Once you have established a corporation, which is not difficult, you can operate under the business’ name to apply for credit, set up utilities, purchase property, and execute most other transactions. Or you might continue using your own name, but obfuscate your role by listing yourself as a low-level employee instead of CEO.

Regardless of the methods you may use to obscure your identity, you cannot hide your device reputation. Unless you rely exclusively on cash for every transaction and never access the Internet, your computer, smartphone, or tablet has an established online reputation. This is a good thing because it validates your transactions without having to go into your personal details. For example, if you use a corporate credit card to make an online purchase, the retailer can use devicereputation technology to analyze the device’s level of risk and determine whether it has a history of fraudulent behavior.

If a retailer is using iovation’s ReputationManager 360, they will know immediately when a customer is attempting to make a purchase with a laptop masking its real location, and if it has been involved in fraud in the past at other iovation-protected businesses. This transaction can be routed to a manual review queue proactively in real-time, giving businesses a chance to prevent losses before they occur.