Mike Neilsen's Nov. 13 letter exemplifies the rampant ignorance about identity theft.

He doesn't expect anyone to "defraud" him in the future, but his argument fails because once his identity is stolen, it won't be the identity thief left with unpaid bills and a dirty apartment. Instead, when someone uses Mr. Neilsen's name to open a Visa account and incur a debt of tens of thousands of dollars, Mr. Neilsen will be left wondering why Visa expects him to pay bills for items he didn't purchase.

It doesn't matter if you have money. As long as you have a Social Security number, you're at risk, and this risk is increased when the number is used insecurely as it is at Penn State.

Just because it has yet to happen here doesn't mean that it won't; law enforcement officials have declared identity theft as the fastest growing crime in the United States.

Will it cost money to change the current system? Yes. But, according to the Federal Trade Commission, the average identity-theft victim is left with not only thousands of dollars of debt, but also the burden of proving their innocence -- an extra cost of money and time. In many cases, victims' credit records are ruined for life, meaning they may lose job opportunities, be refused loans for education, housing or cars, or even be arrested for crimes they didn't commit.

While Mr. Neilsen might not be a math major, it's clear to see that the potential losses add up to a cost much greater than a few extra dollars on a semester bill.