Identity Theft Protection.

Why an Identity Theft Victim still needs a protection package.

Identity theft protection is very similar to life insurance with one major difference. Neither one can prevent you from being harmed, however they both make things quite a bit easier for your family. The major difference is, protecting yourself from identity theft makes things easier for you as well as your family! You actually can benefit from your investment!

Just so you know, Identity Fraud directly costs consumers almost half a billion dollars annually. According to a report by the FTC, the average consumer spends 175 hours and $1500 “out-of-pocket” to remedy identity theft problems. The estimated drain on our economy is over $50 billion annually, and you can bet that consumers ( i.e. you), have to bear some of that cost. Since we didn't have an extra $1500 or 175 hours laying around, we opted for the $1.20/day deal.

Since enrolling in the plan, we have also used the legal portion to do all sorts of things such as send a letter to a creditor who insisted on harassing us, and make a phone call to another who basically said to "sue us". On the identity theft portion, every time anyone goes near our credit report, we receive an immediate email alert. All for $1.20/day!

Id thieves can and do carry out multiple fraud campaigns against victims, sometimes for very extended periods of time. Each time you are victimized, the cycle of financial expenditure and wasted time starts anew. Another $1500, another 175 hours. Who's to dictate how many times a thief will use your social security number, and for how long?

We obtained this from the files of the U.S. Marshal Service. A fugitive drug smuggler by the name of Bannister, jumped bail in 1973 and was finally caught 23 years later, in 1996. He was not only living under someone's else's social security number, he was abusing it so often that the owner spent five years trying to correct all the problems he had caused. Five years of financial, psychological and emotional stress for what? The Marshal Service never said if he was successful in clearing his name completely.

Let's turn our attention to collection agencies. Would you believe that there are still some persistent collection agencies that refuse to clear false records? How about creditors refusing to acknowledge that your poor credit rating was a direct result of identity theft and not your own doing. They increase your fees, interest rates etc anyway, because no one has told them they cannot or should not do so!

Investing in a low-cost identity theft protection package BEFORE you are victimized, should be a no-brainer, don't you think?

Before investing however, here are Ten Things a consumer can do to start protecting their identity right now! These will cost you nothing! Some of these are so straight forward and obvious that we routinely tend to forget their importance. Now you have another chance to review them with a more critical eye.

“Virus protection software and firewalls are essential tools in your fight against ID Crime while surfing online. Also, anti-Phishing and anti-Spam utilities are quickly becoming must haves for anyone wishing to have an online presence today.”

Identity Theft Protection in Ten Steps.

1. Step 1: Get a free credit report.
   Federal law gives you the right to one free credit report each year from the three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Order one report each quarter so that you can monitor your credit on an ongoing basis. Learn more here: Federal Trade Commission web site at www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm.
   
   
2. Reduce the number of credit and debit cards you carry in your wallet.Only carry one or two credit cards and your ATM card in your wallet. Avoid carrying debit cards and never use them to make online purchases.
   
   
3. Photocopy all of your important financial documents such as credit cards, debit cards, bank accounts, and investments -- the account numbers, expiration dates and telephone numbers of the customer service and fraud departments. Secure this list for easy access in the future, please not in your pocketbook or wallet!
   
   
4. Never give out your SSN, credit or debit card number or other personal information over the phone, by mail, or on the Internet. This is unless you initiated the contact and you trust the party contacted.
   
   
5. Never permit your credit card number to be written onto your checks. It's a violation of the laws of many states, and puts you at serious risk. And besides, who still uses credit cards as identification cards anymore?
   
   
6. Always use virus protection software and firewalls when surfing online. It cannot be stressed enough how many new viruses and other malware surfaces each day, every day! See our More Identity Theft Resources Page for the software we use. The 2007 edition even has Identity Theft Protection built into it!
   
   
7. PINS and passwords: Use your imagination when creating these. Never use the most obvious things such as the last four digits of your Social Security number, mother's mother's maiden name, your birth date, middle name etc. These are easy to figure out. Use random letters and numbers. Intersperse capital letters and don't forget to use the period. This is acceptable to most programs. Write it down before you enter it into the program. Ex. D2eL57b9.g
   
8. Remove your name from junk mail lists. This is an effective way to protect yourself from fraud, and also to reduce the amount of junk mail you receive. To be removed from mail, e-mail, and telephone marketing lists, visit the Direct Marketing Association website. Please bear in mind, spammers don't play by the rules and therefore you cannot opt-out of a spammers list.
   
   
9. Track your financial transactions. Reconcile check, credit card, and other account statements immediately upon receipt. All businesses or financial institutions must be notified of mistakes as they happen. Do this for all of your bills, including utility and telephone. In addition, write down the approximate date these bills arrive and inform the company immediately when they are more than two or three days late.
   
   
10. Where is your social security card? If you still carry your social security number in your wallet of pocketbook, take it out and lock it away in a secure location at home. And, no, the top shelf over the computer is definitely not secure! Place it in a locked safe.