|Just because the Internet allows age-old scams to reach millions of more |people along with the new technology based scams threatening all and |sundry, the lack of any really effective technological or regulatory |solutions means that education may be the most effective counter-measure |- however imperfect.
There are possible technological and regulatory solutions (or at least palliatives) for some of the underlying scams, and implementing them would reduce the effectiveness of those scams regardless of the delivery mechanism.
My social security number should not be the secret key that (along with a few other tidbits of data) provides so-called "identity thieves" with access to credit under my name. Because of the structure of our credit reporting industry, a no-cost, hassle-free, and well-promoted credit inquiry lock would go a long way towards solving this problem. Such a system is not in the best interests of the credit reporting agencies (who would rather sell consumers credit monitoring services) or their business customers who (at least until the economy collapsed) benefited from the ability to offer "instant credit." As a result, even in states where the service is required to be available, it is typically not hassle- or cost-free.
My account and routing number should not be sufficient to make otherwise unauthorized withdrawals from my checking account. Consumers should be able to block ACH debits from their checking accounts. This is inconvenient for the banks' business customers so the banks prohibit it even as they offer those same businesses more comprehensive ways to block ACH debits from their own accounts. (N.B. ACH is not Check21.)
Zero knowledge proofs offer a computationally secure authentication mechanism that does not involve disclosing anything of value. Instead of such technology we see a push for more personal information, biometrics, RFID, DNA, and anything else that can operate against the consumer for purposes of nonreputability.
Of course, regulating financial institutions to protect consumers is not as flashy as regulating the Internet. One might think that recent events would change this, but I don't have high hopes.
Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com