The day after Thanksgiving 2018, my colleague Jessica Roy was doing what she always likes to do on that day.

She was hanging with friends at a piano bar in her hometown of San Francisco singing her heart out.

But then...

I went to pay my bill at the end of the night, and when I reached into my purse, my wallet was gone.

She became a victim of identity theft,

which hit nearly 1.4 million people last year alone.

Jessica filed the necessary reports

and thought she'd be able to handle everything pretty quickly.

That didn't happen.

If somebody had said, you might get your identity stolen and you should freeze your credit,

I probably would have been like, meh.

I keep a close eye on that stuff.

Like, I'm not super worried.

And I would have been wrong.

I think a lot of people would be shocked that the banks aren't trying as hard as you think they are

to significantly decrease the amount of fraud.

Most of what we're doing to stop internet crime is doomed to failure.

I'm Gustavariano. You're listening to The Times, Essential News, the LA Times. utility journalism desk.

Jessica, welcome to the Times.

Hi, thanks so much for having me.

So horrible to hear it.

The one time I lost my wallet, it was at Dallas Airport, and I completely

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