Good News!! 3.9 Million More IDs Are Missing!
by L. Reichard White
LReichardWhite@yahoo.com

Exclusive to TLE

If Robert Douglas, co-founder of www.privacytoday.com has it right, there were 10 million cases of consumer ID theft in 2004, costing the financial services industry $50 billion and consumers $3 to $5 billion. According to Douglas in an April 14, 2005 C-Span interview, "identity theft" is the most common crime in the country today—as well as the fastest growing.

The crime is so lucrative, it's reported, in some cases organized crime figures have been threatening bank employees just to get customer info. According to a an April 17 article in the Washington Post, data aggregator ChoicePoint recently reported a theft of at least 110,000 identity files, and Time Warner just reported (May 2, 2005) data from 600,000 current and former employees missing. Lexus-Nexus has had 310,000 I.D. files stolen, and The Bank of America, 1.2 million. Just today, June 8, New York Times reports, "Personal Data on 3.9 Million Lost in Transit."

But these organizations are all wimps and wanna-bes when it comes to revealing personal financial information to the world and giving away your identity. We'll reveal the champ later. Can you guess?

Douglas claims there are so many cases of identity theft—10 million per year and growing, remember—that the crime isn't prosecuted for stolen amounts less than $10,000—but in most cases the "authorities" are too busy to prosecute unless the amount involved is $20,000 or more. The, ah, "Justice System" simply can't handle the work load. They're too busy persecuting folks for victimless crimes—like smoking marijuana.

On the bright side Douglas suggests, the stolen I.D. info has so many inaccuracies, "If Law Enforcement uses this information to protect us, I'd have severe reservations."

According to Your Evil Twin: Behind the Identity Theft Epidemic by Bob Sullivan, 27 million Americans—just about 10% of us—have already become identity theft victims. I guess after CitiFinancial's 3.9 million, we can raise that to 31 million. According to over-optimistic government sources, you can get your identity back in approximately six years—if you spend thousands of hours filling out the correct forms and making phone calls. Experts say you never can.

Douglas warns that the so-called "Social Security Number" should never be used for financial transactions.

These are all good reasons you should ditch your plastic and go back to cash. Why? Because that will keep your personal parameters out of the hands and computers of the merchants and myriad intermediate bankers —and their possibly gangster-pressured employees.

There are other good reasons too. In particular, cash is anonymous, and, as they say, "use it or lose it." Even in Britain, which lags the U.S., plastic has overtaken cash. Only about 8% of the current U.S. money supply is cash—the rest is electronic "megabyte money," binary zeros and ones in computer memories, and eminently trackable. If the trend continues, Big Brother and his banker buddies will know everything you do.

Once you decide to use cash, however, be cautious here in the freest country in the world. Attempt a sizable cash withdrawal of your money, especially from a neighborhood branch bank—say $5000—and you will get first hand experience of the relative shortage of paper money—and possibly, unbeknownst to you "Cash Transaction Reports" (I.R.S. Form 4789), "Structuring"—which, along with pain killers, got Limbaugh in trouble, and "Suspicious Activity Reports" (Form TD F 90-22.47).

The lesson: Never withdraw more than about $1999.00 of your money in cash over any 24 hour period. Oh yes, and to avoid so-called "structuring," never "plan" your withdrawals to avoid that. Yea, I know. But I'm not kidding and I'm not making this up. In general, keep as much of your nest-egg out of the 4th branch of government as possible.

And here you thought your bank was your friend.

Some alternatives are Paypal, Goldmoney, E-gold, Americans for Lawful Financial Independence and Information, MY ICIS (Interactive Currency Interface System), etc. [1]

Oh yes, the biggest security risk to your financial and identity information? It's the IRS. According to a congressional report released Monday, April 18, the IRS leaks like a sieve. Therefore, if you want to keep your identity secure, your money safe, and your life private, it's clear you not only want to start using cash, you also don't want to supply the IRS with anymore info!

The best solution might be to stop volunteering to pay the voluntary so-called "personal" income tax. As a flesh-and-blood human being rather than a corporation, the 16th Amendment has nothing to do with you. But if that's not a good enough reason, it seems that the 16th amendment was never properly ratified. Yes, I know. But before Colombus, folks mostly believed the world was flat.

I'm reasonably sure you won't take my word for it—and I don't want you to. But if you'd like to find out just how you might make use of this and similar information, don't be the last one on your block to start your "due dilligence." A good place to begin might be www.861.info.

Why is identity theft "good news"? Because for those of us who think the U.S. Sarkar has become destructive to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness—not to mention self-destructive—the logic of dealing with ID theft and the "personal" income tax suggest the same response as two of the solutions many libertarians and other such folks propose for those other problems. Stop feeding the beast. Don't patronize either the fiat banking establishment or the IRS.

Just remember, the less you use plastic—and patronize the IRS—the less probability you'll develop an evil twin—or a serious case of multiple personality!

Notes:
[1] I am not recommending any of these enterprises, although I have had interactions with two of them and no problems. Dealings with any business should be carefully considered—and you now know some of the down-side of dealing with The Fourth Branch of Government.

L. Reichard White lives several houses up from the site of the old Black Horse Tavern, a birth place of the Whiskey Rebellion—which explains a lot. He supported his writing habit for over 30 years by beating casinos at their own games. Visit his website at NEXIALIST NEWS See a key chapter from his latest project, "The Hi-jacking of Civilization"—which has nothing at all to do with 9-11.

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