Online Video Shows Identity Theft As Frighteningly Easy

The threat of a shady third party accessing our credit card details during online transactions is a common concern. As is the possibility of our bank accounts being raided. We know that our Facebook photos might circulate a wider audience than we’d intended. And we’ve heard that drunk and dissipated images run the risk of crossing the desktop of prospective employers.

But what if someone were to take even more advantage of our ubiquitous online presence? What if they were to gather information and attempt to adopt our identity – not only financially, but physically, too? As in, create a kind of doppelganger who invades our lives?

That’s the premise behind a new video, which has been creating a sensation with its suggestion that the identity theft enabled by the internet is easier, and more frightening, than most of us have ever considered.

Tom Degroote, the protagonist – a kind of Belgian everyman – has his life taken over by an identity thief. After demonstrating that he can drain Degroote’s account dry with one email and one phone call, the thief uses prosthetics to re-create himself as Degroote, posting images to his Facebook account and having Ebay purchases sent to the victim’s home address.

The clip, which is the work of creative agency Duval Guillame Modem, is a promo for identity protection company SafeInterenetBanking.be.

[via Mashable]