Hundreds, if not thousands, of Ohioans' Social Security numbers are posted on the Secretary of State's web site. James Lee, a spokesman for Blackwell, had no immediate comment today. He said the numbers were on a form used nationally and providing the Social Security numbers were optional. “We have followed the law,'' said Assistant Secretary of State Monty Lobb later Wedesday. Lobb said that since 2002, all states have used a uniform form on which reporting a social security number is optional, except in North and South Dakota.

Anthony Cerini, Victim of Identity Theft: "No one wanted to do anything for me, and it's crazy, because you are trying to prove who you are. It's a situation that no one really wants to be in." Cerini flew to Utah, eager to track down the i.d. thief. When Cervantes showed up, he called police. Det. Robin Snyder, Salt Lake City Police Dept: "We did have to bring both back to the department to figure out who was the real victim, because the suspect identified himself as the victim. So we did have to do some investigation on the two of them to determine who the suspect here was."

This case is unusual. But it's not uncommon for victims to try and tackle the problem themselves. The average victim spends 50 hours on their cases. They pay more than 300 dollars for things like legal fees. And some have to cover the thief's purchases to the tune of an average of 65-hundred dollars.

Many believe legislative efforts will fall short of the mark. While lawmakers recognize the urgency of addressing the ID theft trend, the laws they are likely to pass will often be softened on their way through the legislative process thanks to heavy lobbying from corporations, trade groups and others, Todd Davis, the chief executive officer of LifeLock.

The bigger issue, as he sees it, is that notification laws give corporations an incentive to avoid taking responsibility. Companies are often reluctant to admit fault, and some may feel that offering to help prevent identity theft based on a data breach may be the equivalent of admitting wrongdoing -- and opening the door to hefty legal claims.