Imagine waking up in a city you know, wearing your normal clothes, but you have no phone, no wallet, no documents, and cannot access any online accounts.
You look like yourself, sound like yourself, but no one recognises you and you cannot contact anyone who does. Banks, employers, the government all require identification you no longer possess.
What’s your actual first move? How do you convince someone in authority that you are not trying to commit fraud? Is there anything about your life, your habits, or your body that would serve as undeniable proof?
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It seems like an impossible task if no one can recognize you. You can’t access any documents so there is no way to prove it. The only way to really prove who we are is either through testimony of others or paper trail. If both of those are out, there’s no real way.
Unless it’s still possible to go into a government office and get documents from a person. Someone at Secretary of state might be able to help get you started. I’d try there if that were allowed.
Probably depends on the country.
The last time I renewed my passport, my previous one had expired a couple years earlier. I had to go the police station and they asked me a series of questions about family members and past addresses and things like that. Here, the police issues goverment IDs.
If my memory was intact, I expect that would work in your scenario.
I don’t know how this would work anywhere else, but in Poland I think the workers at Civil State Registry would dig through archives trying to link anything to you.
You could tell them anything relating to your parents – first and last name, dates of birth, mother’s maiden name, place and date of their marriage etc., maybe some info about grandparents, then they would be able to connect that your parents had a child that is named just like you say who you are, matching birth date, place and so on. From there, you could probably work up to get your own birth certificate, and with that, a new ID.
I suppose there are also some temporary IDs that can be issued. The point is, hit the Civil State offices and try to give them as much “connecting” information as you need to.
Why can’t I contact anyone? Can’t I borrow a cell phone from someone to call memorized phone numbers of people and businesses who know me? If it’s a city I know, why can’t I walk to the local bank to be identified by my memorized account number and personal pin and knowledge of how much is in my account? AND, most obviously, what about walking my ass to the local police precinct to be fingerprinted to prove I’m me? 🤔
Reminds me of something that happened back in the day (pre internet). My boss had lost his wallet (didn’t realize it) and went to the (works) bank. They wanted ID for his transaction. He didn’t have any. So the teller called work and asked us to describe him. We couldn’t! Sometimes he wore glasses, sometimes he didn’t. Sometimes he had a beard, sometimes he didn’t. Etc etc. But nobody could remember what he looked like that particular day. They ended up doing the transaction, but it really hit home
How little we pay attention to others on a day to day basis.
Wow some of y’all are young. You go to the social security office and answer all their questions and get your new SS card mailed to you. Then you walk down the hallway to the DMV, tell them your social security number, name, and birthday, and that your ID was lost or stolen and they’ll get you a new one.
A mountain fell on my house back in 03. This not being hard to do is why the entire crime of identity fraud exists.
Edit: I’m in the US, that’s important information. A white, blond, skinny short lady in a completely different region stole my identity. You can just do this shit if you have a social security number. The FBI didn’t require any ID from me to arrest her.
This isn’t that crazy? I’ve lost my wallet/phone before. You can just go to the DMV. They have your photo/license on record. You just go there and they’ll give you a temp license. Than mail a new one to wherever you want.
Edit as far as a phone you just cancel it. Same with credit/debit cards you just call and cancel it. It’s annoying but it’s not hard. You go to the Apple Store or the bank or wherever and explain and they cancel your phone/card
Prove to whom? If the police or other government officials, my fingerprints are in the system. No issue. If government records are unavailable and never will be again, I’m King David, and I rule a foreign land. Or, whatever. Without any way to verify an identity, I am whoever I claim to be, and nothing really matters.
I can easily prove I’m me—if they know who I am. If “They” Have no idea who I am, and I have to prove I’m a citizen, I can only state the basics: where I went to school, my childhood agrees, my SSN, my parentsI’ names, grandparentsz’ names, current address, etc.
Assuming that nothing else has disappeared in the world, most US states keep your photograph on record if you have a drivers license. Any police dept can call it up in a matter of seconds.
In my case, my photograph, DNA and fingerprints are also on record with the DoD. My fingerprints and photo are also on record with the State police for my License to carry. I’m pretty sure the could figure out how to verify I am who I say I am.
Well, I owe more in student loans than I have in savings, so if banks and the government didn’t know who I was, and therefore couldn’t find me or collect money from me, I’d take that as a win.
Sign me up!
(Yes, I’m American)
I know my drivers license and ssn by heart so I’d ask someone to point me in the direction of a library and use a computer to research how to recover my documents
There’s plenty about my life and habits and body that would easily identify me but if I don’t have access to the people who could verify it so I’m not sure how it matters. What are they supposed to compare any proof I show them to if the records and people aren’t accessible? I don’t bank online and I know my account number so I suppose if the cops just verified that then cross reference the info with the dmv it would be pretty easy.
So, no one recognizes you or no one knows you? The difference being say you’re in a hospital or detained and none of the people know who you are, the other scenario you know who the people are, and they are people who should recognize you, but they are stating that they don’t. If they are people who no longer recognize you, there would be no way to prove who you are. If it’s the first scenario, you’d have more options as most people have been put into some sort of database, such as a fingerprint record from a job application or arrest, a Costco or Sam’s club account, an education record (many school’s and districts have yearbook records and ID records, both with pictures.) doesn’t seem particularly impossible to prove yourself with a photo.
What about your online records, including social media and your employer? Also, as mentioned elsewhere, credit card companies are pretty good at taking calls from people who have lost their wallets, asking a few personal questions, and then sending you a new card.
Easy, I actually have my name, SSN, religion, and date of birth tattooed on me. Just run that information find a photograph and see it looks like me that’s probably me.
I also have a few surgical implants that are numerically coded and they can run that number against the hospital database and pull up my name. So I am good to go, even if I woke up with complete amnesia.
Although on second thought, those implants may need to be removed before identifying who I am and that’s not a feasible solution. Still, I have the ID tattoo.
I was in the military. I’d start there and go to the police next. With facial recognition and DNA they could prove who I was. Not to mention they have my fingerprints on file.
I would go to my MP’s office, explain the situation, and take their advice. I don’t know how the situation would be resolved but they should have an idea.
It would be interesting because I am physically disabled and someone NOT recognising me would be a massive tipoff to something being horribly wrong since one of my disabilities is rare.
I would walk into the local police station and give them my name, address, phone and SSN. Tell them there is a nonzero chance that there is a missing persons report put on my person if it’s been more than 12 hours if I haven’t contacted my mom (we talk daily, and I have a serious medical condition so if I drop off the face of the earth, there’s a very good chance I am actively dying). If they wouldn’t do anything, I would walk to the fire department and tell them that I need immediate transport to the nearest hospital as I have sustained a fall, have memory loss and am on a medication that requires a strict dosing schedule lest I suffer severe and life-threatening complications if I do not take it in a timely manner, and I cannot ascertain the last time my meds were taken.
Tattoos, blood, hair, finger prints mine are in military and government database. So embassy then follow protocol. If in hostile area travel til I am not and then go to an embassy.
I think my fingerprints, dob, and my social number. Id go to the local courthouse or police and ask them to run my prints to confirm my identity, then go from there. Probably have id in a few days.
You get your birth certificate or some other document. I think they take certain notarized things. If you don’t have a birth certificate you can contact the county you were born in and get a notarized/registered copy. Mine cost $60. They just had me fill out a form online but I’m sure every county is different.
Bring that to Social Security along with bills and a couple other corroborating documents. (If you can find an open social security office)
You get a new card like a month later.
Bring that and all your documents to the DMV and fill out their forms.
Get an ID.
Your address and name has to be exactly the same on all your documents. If you are a jr or sr this can really fuck you up.
I had to do this twice in my life. Yes two different times I had all my documents get lost.
Couple tricks;
It’s a little easier to get a passport than a drivers license/ID. And you can use that to get a license/ID. So if you are having a hard time gathering all the stuff DMV wants give that a go.
A lot of the time you can get really cock blocked by some petty bureaucrat. If you encounter this, just start over at a different office across town. (might not be possible with Social Security).
I lost my passport and had to get a new one. I just went to local police station. This happens all the time. Friendly lady asked me a ton of questions to which most I could answer and to some I gave answers that were close enough. Mothers maiden name. Occupation of grandparents etc. Where have I lived. Where has my parents lived. And then I got a new passport.
Go to police station. I actually had to do this once, all my ID was expired so they did a whole interrogation about my personal history and extended family to determine I am me before issuing new ID. It was pretty interesting what all they had on file to ask about.
I’d find some business that would let me use their phone and call my family. Unless by “no contacts” you mean that everyone I know is suddenly dead? In that case, I’d probably have bigger concerns than proving my identity.
Bank tellers can use other means to prove you own the account. A few years ago, I road-tripped to Ottawa from PEI, and having left at 2am I forgot my wallet. Did not realise until I was in Quebec. First stop in Ottawa was a local branch of my bank, where I explained the situation to the teller, she got the branch manager, who asked me a series of questions:
what accounts were in my name with the bank?
what was the current balance in account A? What was the last payment out of it, and for how much?
were there any other names on the accounts? Who are they?
how long had I been banking with them?
what was the location of my ‘home’ branch?
Stuff like that. It was a lengthy process, but I got a replacement bank card through it.
I could just get arrested and when the prints match the prints already in the system, they’ll know who I am. Or ya know, take a couple pieces of mail to the dmv.
I’d explain some of my math research. It’s niche and currently unpublished, so the only people who could really explain it are me and the other authors, each of whom are provably not me.
As a foreigner in EU, they have my fingerprints (they check them at the border and when I apply for the residence permit renewal).
If I were in my country, there would be people who could prove my identity. Or my family who would bring my docs.
I’ve been “pulled over” by cops, while walking, without an ID, more than once. Knowing my SS# worked as Id….
Or as Hunter S. Thompson put it, “Name, rank, ….and press affiliation. Nothing else.”
In Finland:
I have my social security number memorized. From that the local bureaucracies, DMV, and SSA can probably help. DMV has my face from my license so while I don’t have that number memorized they can probably get me a new one or look me up from the system. Once I have that, I’m clear to restart.
Fingerprints. Many regulated industries require it. I had to get them at like 15 to work in a federally regulated industry and they’ve with the FBI ever since.