> I think there's a real answer for identity theft:
> 
> Whenever someone applies for credit, make them be photographed and 
> fingerprinted.  Nobody would be so stupid as to walk into the bank office and have a 
> picture taken if they were committing a felony.
> 
> This reduces the problem to misappropriated existing accounts at least.

Yep.

> I never saw how useful the validation number could be; presumably anywhere 
> the 16-figure number can be stolen from, the 3-figure one can too.

It is one more piece of information that someone needs off the physical 
card to be able to make a purchase online.  My cards don't have them on 
the same side as the numbers.  The truth is that it is hard to fully 
stop this, but there are ways to catch people.  Cards could be made more 
secure via biometrics, but then you have the issue of trust with the 
client system that someone really did stick their thumb on the pad or 
their eye to the camera, etc...

Another way to protect yourself is to only use certain cards in certain 
ways.  E.g. one card for online purchases, another for brick and mortar 
stores.  That way if someone uses the B&M card online, you have a good 
idea how they got access to the number.
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