Identity Theft Toolkit: How to Recover From and Avoid Identity Theft

Sarah Robertson is editor of the Canadian Book Review Annual.

From phishing to cheque washing to ATM scams, identify theft is a fact
of life in our hyperconnected world. According to the author of this
book, “[it] is the fastest-growing nonviolent crime in North America
today.” Lenardon, president of Data Cyber Labs Inc. and author of
Protect Your Child on the Internet, sets the stage with real-life
examples of identity theft. “In one notorious case,” he writes,
“the criminal, a convicted felon, not only incurred more than $100,000
of credit card debt, obtained a federal home loan, and bought homes,
motorcycles, and handguns in the victim’s name, but also called the
victim to taunt him … [and then] filed for bankruptcy, also in the
victim’s name.”

Lenardon follows this vivid wake-up call with discussions of how to
prevent identify theft, how to deal with credit reporting agencies, and
steps to take if you become a victim of identity theft. His final
chapter comprises a generous selection of contact forms and
checklists—material that’s also included on the CD-ROM accompanying
the book.

Identity Theft Toolkit is aimed at a North American audience. The
interweaving of specifically Canadian and U.S. content is an unfortunate
structural choice that’s unlikely to please readers on either side of
the border. The book would be far more readable if the Canadian and U.S.
content were kept separate. A detailed table of contents adequately
compensates for the lack of an index.

Protecting yourself from identity theft is hard work. As this crime
becomes more prevalent, so too will the demands it places on each of us
to negotiate the thorny trade-offs between security and convenience.
Unless you’re a diehard Luddite, you’ll probably want to keep a copy
of Identity Theft Toolkit in your arsenal.