IDENTITY THEFT: The Silent Crime

We live in complicated times - time ripe for identity theft.  For some people, the only way they see to get out from under hard times is to change their identity and walk away from their troubles.  For others, a good living can be made from using stolen information immediately, before it is detected.

Identity theft is a nasty crime that breaks the spirit of the victim.  The time and money that is spent trying to restore a person’s good name and credit is monumental, but still pales in impact to the ongoing feelings of fear and panic after being violated.

Identity theft occurs when someone purposely uses your identifying information with the intent of committing fraud or crimes.  Our social security numbers, driver’s licenses, credit card numbers and health insurance cards are valuable commodities, especially when they fall into the wrong hands.  Just as we would insure and protect our precious jewels, we need to have a plan in place to protect our personal information.

In the past we may have brushed elbows with someone who knew someone who had their identity stolen in some form or other.  More recently, when asked, people are saying they either know someone directly, or have suffered the shock of being victims themselves.  Currently, statistics are showing that children and young adults are at high risk, because typically no one is monitoring any activity on their ID’s.  The crime is growing, and if it remains unchecked, it would know no bounds.

This isn’t just affecting individuals now and then.  In 2005 there was the infamous MasterCard hack which affected 40 million cards (CNN).  162 million corporate and government security breaches of personal data records were reported by 302 companies in 2007 (Time Magazine).  In 2008, account fraud in the U.S. totaled $31 billion (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).  Heartland Payment Systems, a major credit card processing company, had a major security breach in 2009.  The Washington Post claimed it may have affected more than 100 million credit and debit card users, one of the largest breaches ever recorded.

Five years ago, we thought the government, or banks, or someone with authority would figure out how to protect us from such heinous crimes.  Now we can clearly see that they are no closer to having a solution.  It is up to each one of us to protect ourselves, and our children, from falling victim to identity theft.

The banks have played their part by offering monitoring services on their bank-owned credit cards for a fee, but they have been ineffective to a great extent.  There are other monitoring services that watch your credit reports.  But most monitoring services fall well short. of monitoring theft of your identity, let alone protecting you from identty theft  Why is that?

There is one major flaw in continuous credit monitoring services.  Here it is: they don’t restore your credit if and when something goes wrong.  Let’s face it, nothing is perfect and even the best of monitoring services will miss things.  Since identity theft involves your medical health plan, your driver’s license and social security number, your bank accounts and credit cards, your payment history (even on accounts you never opened personally), changes of address (real or otherwise), and any number of additional personal records, you can find yourself in real trouble once these are compromised.

We have the solution.  We have partnered with Kroll, the world’s leading risk consulting company. For more than 30 years, Kroll has helped companies, government agencies and individuals reduce their exposure to risk and capitalize on business opportunities.  They will assign licensed investigators to go out and correct damages caused by someone who was pretending to be you.  They won’t just monitor your accounts and call you if there is a problem.  They will go all the way on your behalf.  They will work with affected public agencies, like Social Security, the US Post Office and law enforcement.  The three credit repositories, and all other affected agencies or companies, will be notified with fraud alerts, to stop any future activities.  Then they will search out applicable local and national databases, to uncover where else your good name might be compromised.  This is real restoration.  The monitoring services stop once they have notified you of potential fraud.  With our Identity Theft plan you will keep hearing from us, until you are satisfied that the case is closed and your good credit is restored.

Without restoration, here is, in part, what you could be facing from identity theft:

• Being harassed by debt collectors for purchases and promises you never made or had knowledge of.
• Becoming subject to criminal investigations or civil suits.
• Being arrested or detained.
• Difficulty accessing your bank accounts or existing credit cards.
• Emotional toll on you and your loved ones.
• Time away from work and family while you sort out each open fraud report.

Click here to find out more about how our identity theft and credit protection plan can protect your good credit and reputation.