Prevent Identity Theft
Identity theft statistics are staggering - over 5 million cases in the
United States. Everyone is a target as identity theft thieves do not discriminate.
Sadly, it costs the average consumer $8,000 to regain their personal information
after being a victim of identity theft. Is there anything you can do to
protect yourself from identity theft?
Prevent Identity Theft
Identity Theft Awareness - 1st Key to Prevent ID Theft
First off, we need to know the facts about identity theft.
ID Theft is a very real crime that criminals like because the relative risk is low for them and the rewards can be very high. This lethal combo of lower risk with high potential rewards makes it appealing to many criminals.
In today’s digital age, you need to take steps to protect yourself from ID theft. It can happen to you.
The quickest and easiest way to instantly protect yourself from identity theft is to find and purchase an identity theft insurance program. We affiliate for Lifelock.com, which is one of the leading Identity Theft Protection companies today.
Find an insurance package that will work to protect your identity in the first place and be good at it! Make sure they also money guarantee that kicks in to pay the expenses IF you have your identity stolen while enrolled in their identity theft protection service.
Alright, that’s a short answer (get id theft insurance), but there are plenty of steps you can take yourself completely for free to help protect your identity.
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Identity Theft Time Line
Before we get to those steps, let’s take a moment and look at the process that most people who are victims of identity theft go through. Having your identity theft stolen is a very personal and emotional experience and everyones experiences with Identity Theft differ. This is a general time line for knowing what happens when your identity is stolen and what you can do start fixing it.
• Your ID is stolen. You are unaware.
• Criminal begins to decide how to steal from you, utilizing your stolen id. Less than 2 days later the criminals start ordering equipment online with your sensitive credit card Information at one of a thousand online shops. You are most likely unaware unless your credit card company notices the strange charges and contacts you right away.
• You realize your identity has been stolen. A strange credit card charge shows up, or you go to use your credit card and it says ‘DECLINED‘ and you know you are no where near your limit.
• At that point, the destructive after-math of identity theft has already begun to snowball out of control.
Past victims of identity theft have reported that it took them six months to a year to first find out that their identity had even been stolen. The process of uncovering the damage and trying to fix it is just beginning and is a long, tedious process.
Do credit reporting services protect you from identity theft?
Yes and no.
Many consumers opt for credit reporting services for protection, and getting a copy of your credit report is a first key step to finding out if your identity has been stolen, but they do not do too much to protect your name.
Think of the credit reporting services as a car alarm or a home security system. These systems alarms you AFTER someone has already broken in, but doesn’t keep the intruders off your property in the first place, or guarantee that you will be compensated for any damage.
Credit reporting services alarm you when identity theft has already occurred, but does nothing to keep identity thieves from your personal information in the first place.
Without the help of identity theft protection services, there is no way you can personally take actions that will GUARANTEE you will not be a victim, however there are identity prevention steps you can take to make it much more difficult for an identity thief to access your personal information.
