Remain Informed About Identity Theft

Identity theft is an act of crime that everyone should be made aware of in terms of protecting their credit, their assets, their finances, and their good name. Many individuals have turned to various identity theft protection organizations when in fact they could have performed the exact same services for free on their own. Due to marketing, so these companies make it sound as if they are the end all and perfect solution to identity protection. One company in question, LifeLock, and the owner, boasts their services is so airtight, the owner proudly proclaims his own Social Security number as proof of thorough protection. Recently it has been reported the owner's identity has been stolen by information thieves at least thirteen times if not more and the advertising performed by LifeLock has caused them approximately twelve million dollars in various fines.

The threat of information theft is definitely out there, and it is vital, important, and extremely critical for everyone to protect their precious identity. Are these various services of identity protection worth the services they proclaim? Are there better and more effective methods you can utilize protect your personal information? Cyber criminals steal your personal information in many ways, including online phishing scams, spam, through the installation of malware your personal computer, and even goes so far as to search through your garbage for sensitive documents you have thrown away, including bills, statements, and other pieces of mail you may have received and discarded. There are many methods you can use to protect yourself including remaining aware of the many tactics of phishing, the installation and execution of anti-malware, and using a paper shredder before you throw away bills, statements, and documents.

Unfortunately there are many areas where you cannot protect your data. One of those is an information breach performed against a company that you do business with, such as a bank or other financial institution. The Identity Theft Resource Center reported the year 2009 had approximately five hundred of these type of breaches. Cyber criminals are well known to sell your personal information it has discovered two other cyber criminals in black markets online. Once they have gained this information they will use it to commit acts such as opening new bank accounts, new credit card accounts, and even obtaining medical care in your name. The laws that require companies to disclose any breaches that may have occurred concerning the information they have are not exact. Even though some states do possess very tough laws in reporting information breaches, a national standard does not exist. No matter what you do your identity could still be stolen without you or anyone else realizing it has occurred.

Protection services of your identity basically keep watch of your credit report and public records in case there have been any suspicious charges or changes. They also give offers of other theft safeguards for a continuing monthly fee. Some of these services will assist in cleaning up the fallout that occurs from identity theft and help you rebuild the credit you had. Banks have also been known to offer various levels of identity theft protection to their bank customers. Basically there does not exist any solid guidelines in terms of what you should look for if you desire to do business with a theft protection agency. Jay Foley, the Identity Theft Resource Center executive director, says, “Consumers must perform their own research.” Individuals needing a choice of these businesses should ask questions, make inquiries, and evaluate if these particular services will perform the task as advertised. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse believes these protection services and agencies do not monitor certain types of personal identity theft, including prior instances of theft, fraud involving Social Security numbers, debit and check card fraud, fraud involving criminal identity, and medical fraud. These are crimes which proved to be much more difficult to recover from the regular financial identity theft. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has a list of the many services you should evaluate and locate if you decide to use an identity theft protection agency. The list can be found at http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs33-CreditMonitoring.htm%236.

One of the things you should evaluate is a type of credit monitoring services the company has, including which credit bureaus they use to obtain reports, how periodically they obtain these reports, if they allow you to have unlimited access to your personal credit reports and scores, and if they perform the same services you can perform yourself or find another area. You should also evaluate the extra services they may have as well as what kind of insurance they can offer you. You should also inquire if the company will conduct any additional monitoring of your identity, including medical care and debit/check cards. Foley also states individuals should “look for those services on the wrong side of the Federal Trade Commission.” Individuals should find out and seek the existance of any complaints and how many have been instigated with the Federal Trade Commission. The Better Business Bureau is another location you can utilize to get a picture of the various problems other individuals may have had with a particular company. You can also find out the number of actions the state or federal government may have performed against a company due to any anti-consumer or deceptive practices.

Foley has noted the various identity theft protection agencies actually give very little services that you as an individual could not perform yourself for free. The only difference is these companies charge a monthly fee to do all the leg work for you when you could do it yourself. Yes it can be labor-intensive and it can be a time-consuming method and process. But doing it yourself would teach you a lot about the process as well as bring you more awareness. The Federal Trade Commission believes there are several things you can do to protect yourself without paying for the protection. One of the things to pick up as a habit is to keep a close watch on your credit card and bank statements. If you find any suspicious activity you should immediately contact your credit card provider and/or your bank. You should also obtain a credit report from each major credit bureau on an annual basis. This can be done for free online from annualcreditreport.com. If you do have suspicions that depth has been committed against her identity, you will be able to put a fraud alert on your credit report that will assist in the mitigation of cyber criminals in creating new credit card accounts using your name. Fraud alerts are good for 90 days, and you can extend a fraud alert to last for seven years. You can also freeze your credit report in order to place a lock in your credit in the event it was compromise.

Various financial institutions offer customers a service to monitor their credit and the provider of your credit card may also provide this service. There are some AAA auto clubs that also provide this service. These particular services are more cost effective method than utilizing an identity theft protection agency. Many people may not realize some banks offer a virtual credit card. Their numbers or you can use one-time only instead of your actual personal credit card data. If a cyber criminal gains access to your virtual credit card number is of no use to them.

You should also pay an amount of attention to other areas of your personal life. For instance, there may be a medical benefit payout for medical treatment you have never received were needed. Utility or phone accounts may have been opened in your name as well. If these actions do happen, they Federal Trade Commission strongly urges that you file a report with your local police.

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