Grand Theft Identity

Each time we hear of another huge data breach--and each time a form letter goes out telling someone that his or her secrets were exposed--the pressure increases to tighten up security and fight the ID crooks. But change, if it comes, will come too late for Daniel Bulley, who's spent months trying to distance himself from a home he never owned, a job he never held and a portfolio of credit cards and accounts he never opened. Bulley is angry--at the crooks, at the cops (no one would investigate his case) and the corporations who let his information fall into evil hands. He's especially steamed at the billion-dollar industry that has emerged to sell people protection against data theft--run by parts of the same industry that fails to protect the information in the first place. "Corporate America needs to realize it needs to be tighter with our personal information," says Bulley. "Why should we pay them to do their job right?"

REPORTED BY WILLIAM LEE ADAMS, HOLLY BAILEY, JENNIFER BARRETT, JULIET CHUNG, TEMMA EHRENFELD, CHARLES GASPARINO, ANDREW HORESH, NICOLE JOSEPH, SUSANNAH MEADOWS, BEN WHITFORD AND KATHRYN WILLIAMS,GRAPHICS BY ANDREW ROMANO

© 2005