It is now easier than ever to make a decent living as a crook thanks to the Internet, social networking websites with loose data policies, and information aggregating sites like spokeo.com.
I looked up my profile at spokeo and, in spite of my own paranoid stance on posted personal information, I found my city and street, my phone number, my marital status. Spokeo pulls information from many public sources including property records and buying patterns.
Here's where it gets wierd. I sometimes buy baby powder to douse my stinky sneakers. Spokeo gave me children. I buy chlorinators to manage my swamp cooler. Spokeo got me a swimming pool. All this is only in the electronic record, there are no kids or pool. Maybe if I order a replacement tri-star hood ornament, Spokeo will get me that Mercedes...Or, if I subscribe to Shooting magazine, Spokeo might give me a Glock!
In fact, if I were to tweak out my facebook profile just a bit, I might meet some fascinating people: street corner entrepreneurs, bank executives, Federal agents, foreign agents!
And here is the point. If I am dumb enough to list my street address and post that I am going to Hawaii for two weeks, I deserve to come back to an empty house. DUH!!
But the other side of it is scariest, and we have no control of it. Crooks and worse can build up whole false identities with the aid of the Internet. We know about predators already masquerading as teenagers. But info-bots like spokeo and others actively and aggressively build these identities for them. A couple more iterations and we will not be able to tell who is legit unless we gave birth to them.
Oh, and if you buy baby wipes, maybe not even then.
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