You didn't see this coming?

Seriously? C'mon... I understand their value proposition, but the guy was/is simply selling something that doesn't exist. You can use all the technology you like and be as vigilant as it is humanly possible to be and you will still fail. You know why? You can't overcome social engineering with the technology/process that is currently in place, and arguably with any technology/process that's going to be available any time some.

Interestingly enough, this story does to a good job of pointing out some of the glaring weaknesses in the system. If the process is only as strong as it's weakest point, and the weakest point is the person with the education level/life skills that puts them behind the counter at a "fast cash"/payday loan type of place, then the process is very, very broken. As long as all that one needs to cash in on someone else's identity is the ability to out smart a high school dropout, there's going to be problems.

In the mean time, I will continue to take the security measures I do now (to avoid being the slowest gazelle) and hope for the best. It does make a fun intellectual exercise though... As we move more and more towards a culture where you no longer physically posses most of your wealth (no cash, no bag of gold dust, goats, etc.) how do we as a society protect that wealth? The possibilities are really endless and the nexus of technology, sociology, security, ethics, privacy and other issues should have us stumbling towards competency (slowly) for decades to come.