A Munstrous Crime

Are we giving identity thieves too much credit for cleverness? Someone from overseas tried recently to sell Herman Munster's identity.

The thieves apparently didn't realize Munster was a fictional TV character and dutifully offered to sell Munster's personal details - accurately listing his home address from the television series as 1313 Mocking Bird Lane - and what appeared to be his MasterCard number. Munster's birth date was listed as Aug. 15, 1964, suspiciously close to the TV series' original air date in September 1964.

CardCops Inc., the Malibu, Calif., Internet security company that quietly recorded details of the illicit but wayward transaction, surmised that a Munsters fan knowledgeable about the show deliberately provided the bogus data. [Link]

Maybe they intended to sell this guy's identity.

Straight From the Munster's Mouth

Sharon Elliott spent most of Thursday tracking down the family history of recently departed actress Yvonne De Carlo, only to find that Yvonne herself had written down all the details in her autobiography.

Don't feel bad, Sharon. I spent years of my life transcribing half of Maine's census records from microfilm to "save myself time," only to have Ancestry.com publish them online. The bastards.