Payback for credit fraud nay-sayer

Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear recently tried to downplay the seriousness of the loss of personal data after the loss of a couple of discs by a department of the British government.  The media apparently ran with the story, and Mr Clarkson said that it was much ado about nothing (sorry about the cheesy British reference).  So to show that personal data loss is not a real threat, he "published details of his Barclays account in the Sun newspaper, including his account number and sort code."

OK, that is like coming out and saying that you have a security widget that is un-hackable.  You immediately have a target painted on your forehead, and everyone is going to start shooting.  And that is exactly what happened.  From the story:

Clarkson admitted he was "wrong" after he discovered a reader had used the details to create a £500 direct debit to the charity Diabetes UK.

Of course, just as Rich and Martin stated, credit card fraud is not ID theft.  But personal info is personal info, and it can be used for nefarious purposes when lost or stolen.  Mr. Clarkson learned that the hard way.  I give him kudos for admitting he was wrong, but I would probably give him a V8 smack (see below) if I saw him in person.