> "Identity theft" is a term coined by banks to try to make it sound like random people should have to deal with the fallout of the banks' bad identity verification practices.

Wow, great point. I admit: I have been tricked by financial institutions to believe this term! Another (US military) term that is similarly misleading to me: "surgical strike". If they blow up the bus stop in your neighborhood with a cruise missile fired from 300km away... well, you won't ever feel safe in that neighborhood again... so the strike is certainly less than "surgical".