I agree that the lifelock link was not impressive, but in the second link (search for "My third topic") there are significant examples of identity theft that would have far-reaching consequence such as:

| "Victims are often scarred emotionally. They feel violated and helpless -- and very angry. I've heard people use the word "rape" to describe how they feel. "

| "A search of his SSN showed he was wanted for a crime in the Bay Area. He was transported from San Diego to San Francisco and put in jail. It took him 10 days before one of the officers believed him, took his fingerprints as he had requested all along, and realized they had the wrong person."

| "when the imposter is working under the victim's name and SSN, and the earnings show on the victim's Social Security Administration record. We learned of one such a case that had been going on for 10 years. The imposter obtained the victim's birth certificate, a public record in California. And even when the victim acquired a new SSN, the impersonator was able to obtain it shortly thereafter. Victims of employment fraud often must deal with the Internal Revenue Service because IRS records show they are under-reporting their wages."

No horse in the identity theft question, hasn't happened to me, but I did have seriously bad credit for a short while due to a cockup by my bank, exacerbated by difficulty passing identity checks due to moving house a lot. Some of the potential consequences:

* I almost ended up in a situation where I couldn't get paid or pay bills, because no bank in the country would let me open an account

* I was at risk of becoming homeless because my lease was expiring and you can't rent a flat without passing a credit check

* Even signing up for a mobile phone or home internet requires passing a credit check

So: No job, internet, or house. Pretty far-reaching!