Just because you haven't heard of identity theft happening in Argentina doesn't mean it's not happening... I don't believe this is an American specific problem at all.
What a way to twist my words. Of course it does not mean it is not happening, but the fact that living in Argentina I hear so much more about identity theft in the US than here says something about the relative frequency with which it happens in both places.
I also never heard of identity theft happening in any other country than the US, but barring Argentina, me not having heard of it is pretty meaningless. Please, do share how the situation is in France.
Also, identity theft certainly happens in Argentina. Some of it in the US is because of our no-chip credit card system, but I think part of it is just that identity theft is more lucrative here.
I don't think chipped credit cards have anything to do with that, especially because they were introduced in Argentina only recently and are still very far from being universally implemented. However, you do have to sign the receipt and can refuse payment for a charge to your credit card if you did not (at least for non-online shopping).
I think it comes down mostly to companies requiring more from you than just a number to give you a service (specifically, usually and ID and a proof of address which you can only get by showing a recent utility bill on your name or pay the police to go you your house and check that you are actually there). The lack of a universal ID in the US is really strange, and probably causes lots of trouble (like, people being able to vote without an ID sounds completely ridiculous to me, we ask for ID for people to vote even for the student's center elections).
So, if I happen to get a bill for something I did no signed up for, I will just refuse to pay. It will never go to court nor mediation anyway, but if they try, they will have nothing on me unless they have proof that I did sign for the service, which they won't if I did not sign for it.
If you are going to fall for phishing scams like the one in the email you are not really the target consumer for Linux.
I would think it is the opposite, those are probably the people that need it the most. Linux may have been hard to use 10 or even 6 years ago, but it is not anymore. It is really much easier than windows. And you can find smarter and free tech support online any time of the day.