Stop Identity Theft.

4 Easy Steps to identity theft prevention.

Identity Theft is a crime, and like all crime, unless you can stop the criminal you will have no luck stopping the crime. This is a fact we must accept before we can address the situation constructively. We therefore can rewrite the heading above to say something along the lines of 'almost' stopping identity theft.

So, if we cannot stop id theft, what can we do about it? The answer is, we can mitigate its effect upon us in the event we should fall victim to it at some point. We may do so by,

1. Learning about identity theft
   
   
2. Assessing our risk of becoming victims
   
   
3. Exploring the levels of remedies and protection available to us, and finally,
   
   
4. Taking action to put some of these remedies to work for us.

“Ask yourself, how much is securing my personal information worth to me? (Keep in mind that you only get one identity per lifetime). If you cannot come up with a dollar amount, then, doesn't it make sense to do everything to protect it?”

How to "Almost" Stop Identity Theft in 4 Steps

STEP 1: Learning about Identity Theft
This is the easiest step to take. Information abound across the internet about the topic. Just as you would do with any information from any source, verify it before you base a crucial decision on its content. This includes our web site as well. We recommend that you make the FTC'S website one of the very first ones you visit on your journey. We have provided a link to this site as well as several others we consider worthwhile, in our More Identity Theft Resources page.

STEP 2: Assessing Your Risk Of Being Victimized. Believe it or not, if this step was left up to us, nine out of ten times we would conclude that there was no risk. On the contrary, there is risk, grave risk as a matter of fact. We are not saying this off the top of our heads. The Bank of America Corporation 'lost' tapes containing personal information, including SSN's and account numbers of 1.2 million of its customers. Many Federal employees and even some U.S. Senators were among those customers. What's to stop your name from being on the next 'lost' tape?

Here's how you assess your risk in ten seconds or less. If you answer "Yes" to both of the following questions, you are at risk!

• 1. Do you have a Social Security Number?
• 2. Has you personal information ever been placed in a database, for example your middle school, the doctor's office etc. at any point in your life? (Believe us, it has unless you have been living in a cave and just came out today. In any event, it will be in at least one tomorrow. The newspaper archives)!

STEP 3: Explore the levels of remedies and protection available to you. Before you start exploring, ask yourself this question. How much is my 'Good name' worth to me over the course of my lifetime?
If your answer is "Priceless", then it would be well worth your while to protect it. Evaluate each plan on its ability to do three things:

1. Does it provide continuous Credit Monitoring?
2. How do they work with you to Restore your identity?
3. What type of reimbursement plan do they have? (Bear in mind, most, if not all plans will only reimburse money spent to restore your identity. The debt created by the thief/thieves are not covered).