Question: Do Americans have identity documents?
I think it would be very difficult to steal someones complete identity in South Africa without getting a fraudulent ID document, because it is used for everything and often has to be presented in person to do just about anything. Even routine bank transactions require one to present it. Now I will admit that stolen ID books and fraudulent ID books are a common problem, but complete identity theft seems almost impossible, especially to the level that this person seemed to achieve. I know how many hoops I have to jump through to get anything like insurance or loans so I am really wondering if the checks in America might be a little lax.
I am also asking this because of the whole thing about voter disenfranchisement with photo IDs. The ID documents in South Africa are all photo IDs, and all South African citizens need one to do anything. That a significant number of Americans do not seem to have documents like these that it can affect voter turnout makes me wonder why such documents are not required by all citizens.
I just find that needing a name and a social security number to do everything the imposter managed to do seems a little strange to me.