There's a huge difference between having your credit card number stolen and having your identity stolen. Both have happened to me. I've had my credit card numbers stolen and when that happens, I call the bank, dispute the charge, cancel the card and get a replacement. The law protects you from CC charges you did not make. It's upsetting and annoying (have to change auto pays using that card number, etc), but it is no where near the danger/damage that identity theft causes.
My identity was stolen in 2005---I think I inadvertently clicked on a link in an email that download a program that monitored all my computer key strokes and they got all my info included passwords. I was living in Paris at the time and back in the US someone was impersonating me and opening up credit cards in my name and using my existing credit cards---like Macy's. This was going on for about 4 months before I discovered it. Some of the banks that opened up new credit cards in my name quickly discovered the fraud and shut them down. Other businesses luckily suspected fraud and did not open the accounts.
Macy's however, allowed a woman in the Atlanta area to charge $1800 on my card (which I did not even know I had---more on this in a minute) without having the card in her possession but apparently showing a license with her picture and my name on it. It was Christmas Eve 2005, and I was at Midnight Mass at Notre Dame in Paris at the time! I did not even know I had a Macy's card---I had a Filene's card that I had not used in years and when Macy's bought Filene's they switched it over to a Macy's card and I never received a Macy's card from them or any notice.
One bank even switched the last name and address on my account when someone impersonating me called them and said that I had gotten married and moved to Georgia. The bank sent them a new card with my account number and the new name!!! I was in a customer meeting in Milan and during a break, I went on-line to pay my CC bill with that bank (but I did not take the time at that moment to scrutinize the transactions).
When I paid it I got a confirmation that said "Thank you, Sheesh "New last Name"! I immediately jumped up from the conference table and ran into the hallway to call the bank--from Milan, mind you (and I was trembling as I did as I knew this was bad, very bad)--and when I got a CS rep on the phone he asked me to verify my last name---and when I gave him my name there was a dead silence---I said, "Let me guess---does it say "New Last Name"? He told me yes, but then he said "well, you called us and told us you have gotten married and moved!" Honestly, I cannot recall what I responded with, but it probably wasn't pretty. Can you imagine---how big a red fraud flag was that---and they sent a new card with my account number without any verification!!
Luckily, I had signed up for a credit monitoring service through Citibank for $9.99 a month (although I had not yet set it up, so I did not get the warnings of changes on my credit file---my fault) and Citibank helped me go directly to the major credit bureaus and place blocks, etc---I could not have done it without their help---especially from Paris. Have you ever tried calling a major credit bureau---almost impossible to get through---these credit monitoring services have their own direct numbers to get through to the credit bureaus. I also had to register the identity theft with the Feds database--so that no one could get access to my future SS, etc. It's also important in case someone commits a crime using your identity---a truly frightening thought---and I've read nightmare news stories about that happening. I placed a 7 year block (the max) on all "automatic" credit approvals---which required that anyone issuing credit in my name had to speak with me directly to verify that I had requested the credit line.
I really had no intention of signing up for the Citibank credit monitoring service (by the way, they stopped offering just a few months ago), but I was in the Phoenix on holiday from Paris and I lost my Citibank Card---so I called them for a replacement to be delivered overnight and the young woman who I spoke to gave me a sales pitch on the credit monitoring service--she was so good at her job, and so dogged that I said "sign me up". Little did I know that within 4 months I'd need it---as ironically, as I was signing up for the credit monitoring, somewhere, someone was stealing my identity.
I don't believe these Q hosts all have had their identity stolen---perhaps their credit card numbers were stolen---but as I have experienced, identity theft is an entire different ball game and can be life changing.
I highly recommend a credit monitoring service---seriously---the best money you will ever spend. Cut back on one restaurant lunch or a glass of wine or two--and buy yourself the service---then sleep well at night.
There is one thing, though, that I still need to fix on my credit files---that "alias" name and address in Georgia is still on my credit file as an "also known as" name and as a previous lived at address---I kid you not!
"More is more and less is a bore!" Iris Apfel
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Something finally changed lately, and I know it's related to aging and living long years, and I think I just realized that it is a fact of life that I can do next to nothing about. But, I try to set an example to my children by being honest in all that I do, and in all my lectures to them 
, and not getting upset by the lesser evils.
