A few friends of mine have been exchanging emails on the growing problem of identity theft. And, I mentioned a couple of things I've done to confound and possibly ensnare them. Anyone with additional ideas, please post them.

1) About three months before my credit cards expire, I report them as lost or stolen. In a short time, I'm given a new card with a new number. Then, after I receive the new card, I take the "lost" card and leave it in a public place (store floor, hotel lobby, bus stop, restaurant, etc.). If the person who finds it is honest, they'll call the bank, the bank will tell them to destroy it, and that would be that. But, if the person who finds it is dishonest, they may attempt to use it. And if they use it in the wrong place at the wrong time, they'll probably end up in front of a judge ... taking one more dishonest person off the street.

2) Identity thieves are known to sift through paper found in garbage cans. And some are bold enough to go to a city dump and sift through paper to look for identifying numbers. This is a good prank to pull to catch some of them.

Type up a realistic looking business letter, appearing to come from a personnel office and sent to a payroll office. The letter states that an employee's Social Security number is being misstated on his paycheck stub and needs to be corrected to:

567-68-0515

Make a bunch of copies of this letter, crumple them up, and toss them in your own trash and in other trash receptacles elsewhere. If an identity thief gloms onto that letter and attempts to use the number, they'll be in for the biggest surprise of their lives. That's the Social Security number of the late former President, Richard Nixon. And for security purposes, Social Security numbers of former chief executives are "retired" upon their deaths. Attempting to use the number in a transaction will eventually attract the attention of the U.S. Secret Service ... who will want to know as much as possible about the person using the number. And, instead of getting a visit from the cops, the identity thief will be visited by men wearing dark sunglasses and carrying plastic ID cards.

Anybody have any other ideas?