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identity theft, episode I, chapter three

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

The identity theft incident is over. And by that, of course, I mean that there will be no follow-up.

This weekend I worked on building a list of all of the people I'd given my drivers license to in the course of the past two-three months. It came to three car rental agencies, a phone company, and the federal government (due to Mari's permanent residency application). Having put all of the relevant documents together, I prepared to follow up on the incident this morning. In order:

1. I headed to the Services Ontario location downtown to see if I needed a new drivers license. The answer is no; such a thing can't be done. To get a new number would entail a change to my name. This was educational as it implies that the number on your drivers license is derived from your name. There was nothing else to be done in this case.

2. I called the anti-fraud unit of 51 division of the Toronto police force to provide an update on my case. They didn't care: there would be no follow-up. The officer told me that even though one of the car rental agencies was very sketchy, it could have been just about anyone at even the most reputable agency that sold my details. Also, 51 division has only three officers to deal with a titanic case load.

3. I called the Canada Anti-Fraud Centre with an update. They also didn't care, as there would be no follow-up. They also advised me to contact the managers of the various places I've dealt with to alert them to the identity fraud. I guess it's something I can do, not sure if it will help.