Identity theft is an amazing PR term, not-so-subtly shifting blame onto the individual whose identity was fraudulently used.
* The PII wasn't stolen from me, it was negligently exposed by services I contract with (and pay!) and others that I have no formal relationship with (like Equifax).
* It wasn't defrauding me, it was defrauding services I contract with (and others) who failed to verify my identity.
And yet somehow I'm obligated to do the cleanup myself.