Chass Perez asked:




Identity theft protection services have only been around for the last few years, during which time, their aggressive marketing campaigns have raised awareness about a crime that has in fact swept across the U.S. at a rapid pace. Identity theft comes in many different factors, meaning it can happen to you in other forms besides credit fraud. Fraud prevention services emerged out of the need to centralize the monitoring and protection of personal records for consumers with sophisticated and state of the art technology to more accurately protect subscribers than they could if they were to implement these methods of identity theft protection on their own.

Out of the now dozens of available services that offer fraud protection, it’s going to be a little confusing for some to decide which identity theft protection service to sign up for in order to get the ultimate protection. Many of the security features are the same across the board. Services like, credit monitoring, fraud alerts, scanning of identity black markets, and opting you out of junk mail lists etc, are very common for most providers.

Let’s also be clear about something else, yes you can in fact take all of these steps above and secure your own identity, just know that it will take time and effort to do so and that’s the convenience of fraud prevention services. They automate all this to help you protect your identity and rid you of the burdens of doing so on your own, but they also offer security features that most consumers just don’t have the technical capability to perform as we’ll list below.

So who can you trust when it comes to choosing a fraud prevention company? There are a handful of providers that stand out of the circle of identity theft protection services. Trusted ID & Life Lock are among them and they are two of the biggest and most popular companies in the industry, and yes they too offer close to the same number of features with a few differences. Here are some of the most important ones.

Family plans – Any smart working professional who understands the importance of securing their own identity also understands how important it is to extend that protection to their family as well. From your spouse to your children, they should all be under the same protection plan and it should not mean a separate subscription for each. That’s why this is called a family plan. Unfortunately not all providers have an all family fraud prevention plan. Trusted ID and Identity Truth are two providers that do.

Medical Benefits Protection – Here’s another important security feature that’s yet to be offered by most identity theft protection service providers. This feature makes the service all that much more valuable because of the huge risk of medical identity theft. This type of identity theft can complicate your life to an extent for which there’s very little that can be done for you as the victim. The risks are high in this area and having this feature available in an identity theft protection plan can make all the difference. Currently Trusted ID is but one of a very short list of providers that offer this feature, other plans through less well known companies are also available but the costs are much higher.

Internet and Home computer security – Plans that do not include this level of security are just not adequate enough, if you like millions of Americans conduct research, work and business at home then you have to have some kind of protection on your computer system that can prevent trojans and spyware from infecting your computer and compromising your personal information. Trusted ID and Identity Guard are two such providers that offer this important feature.

Scouring the internet for your personal information – It’s important that consumers understand clearly that their information can be distributed across different channels on the internet and through other means by organizations and institutions they entrusted their information to. When these entities fail to protect this information properly, data breaches occur and the personal information of hundreds of thousands of individuals can be lost and exposed. When this happens, your information can end up listed for sale on financial black markets online. To protect your identity properly, you’d need to have a way to find your information online quickly before someone else does and take the proper steps to avoid being had by an identity thief. Without the adequate technology you won’t easily accomplish this on your own. That’s why just about all identity theft protection services employ state of the art technology to offer this important feature and alert you when your information is found.

The biggest benefit of outsourcing fraud prevention and protection of your identity to these companies is to simplify your life, keep you focused on your own affairs and give you peace of mind. Even when you take all the necessary steps on your own, and you should be, to protect your identity you can’t possibly cover yourself to the extent that these providers can. Trust in the systems established by these security specialists and should these systems fail to protect you, they will spend up to whatever designated amount in your policy is (typically between 20K and 1 Million) to help you recover and clean up your good name.

Beatrice

Lisa Carey asked:




If you’ve ever considered investing in the peace of mind an identity theft prevention and protection service, the good news is that today you many more options than in the past.

]]> http://identityprevention.org/legal/compare-the-top-three-id-theft-protection-services-and-find-out-whats-new/feed/ 0 http://identityprevention.org/legal/the-diy-identity-theft-prevention-guide/ http://identityprevention.org/legal/the-diy-identity-theft-prevention-guide/#comments Wed, 24 Nov 2010 01:57:41 +0000 admin http://identityprevention.org/legal/the-diy-identity-theft-prevention-guide/ Continue reading →]]>

Gary Bunn asked:




Identity theft is still the number one consumer crime in the United States today, with the fastest growing form of this being unauthorized access to banking, credit and checking accounts. This has led to a huge rise in demand for Identity Theft Prevention services. Generally these types of services tend to be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be! Here’s our short ‘DIY’ Identity Theft Prevention Guide to help you avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.

Most people these days have access to the Internet, either from home or from a public point such as an Internet caf

]]> http://identityprevention.org/legal/the-diy-identity-theft-prevention-guide/feed/ 0 http://identityprevention.org/legal/what-you-need-to-know-about-identity-theft-insurance/ http://identityprevention.org/legal/what-you-need-to-know-about-identity-theft-insurance/#comments Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:59:49 +0000 admin http://identityprevention.org/legal/what-you-need-to-know-about-identity-theft-insurance/ Continue reading →]]>

Caleb Markinson asked:




Identity theft insurance coverage is big business for companies looking to profit from consumer fears. Insurance coverage provides consumers with many different ways to pay for losses. Generally, all consumer identity theft coverage policies fall into one of two categories: prevention services and insurance coverage. The problem is best avoided but since no one is one hundred percent invulnerable to identity fraud, insurance provides a nice soft place to land if you do fall victim.

Prevention Services

Credit monitoring, fraud alerts, and consumer counseling are all prevention services that provided when seeking coverage. Most lenders, all three credit reporting bureaus, and many independent companies offer some form of prevention services, but they usually provide this service for a fee. Occasionally, a lender will provide credit monitoring for free as a bonus for using their financial institution.

Typically, prevention services work about the same manner no matter the company. The service allows the company to track inquires and accounts on your credit report and notifies you immediately if something suspicious shows up on your record. Often, if identity theft does occur, the companies that offer insurance coverage will also offer assistance in the form of advice or resources. The fees for these services are customarily charged on a monthly basis and range from less than $10 to around $40 a month.

Insurance Coverage

Insurance companies wasted no time in jumping on the bandwagon by devising policies to provide coverage to identity theft victims. Some policies providing stand-alone coverage for people who don’t own homes or don’t want to include the protection with their homeowner’s policy while other policies roll the client’s homeowner policy and identity theft insurance into one. The important thing to know if you are a consumer interested in coverage is whether or not you already are covered. Read your homeowner’s insurance policy to make sure that identity theft is not already covered before purchasing additional insurance that you don’t need.

If you find that you are in need of insurance, you can rest easy knowing that premiums for coverage are very inexpensive, only about $25 to $50 a year for coverage of about $15,000 or $20,000. The policy will cover any out-of-pocket costs associated with identity theft above the deductible value.

Keep in mind that although the average victim only pays about $500 in fees and lost wages, this figure can sometimes be much larger in special circumstances. Consider your needs carefully and talk over the extent of coverage you should invest in with your insurance agent.

Ben

Jeff Kiser asked:




Identity theft prevention services do not exactly prevent identity theft. They simply make it much harder for thieves to use the personal information they have stolen, thereby protecting you against many of the techniques identity thieves use.

We give away personal information all the time. Any time you write a check at the store, charge airline tickets, rent a car, mail your tax returns, change cell phone service providers, or apply for a credit card you are giving away bits of personal information, such as your bank and credit card account numbers, your Social Security number and your name, address, and phone number. These bits and pieces are a treasure trove to an identity thief. Once thieves have this information, they can use it without your knowledge to commit fraud or theft.

For example, identity thieves can take your personal information to redirect your financial data, such as bank and credit card statements, to prevent you from noticing that your existing credit card or bank account is being used without your knowledge. Identity theft prevention services prevent this from happening. This doesn’t mean, of course, that a thief couldn’t have charged things on a stolen credit card, only that you would know about it sooner…assuming you check your monthly statements.

Protection services also prevent new accounts from being set up by identity thieves in your name. This protection is important because the only way you would know this had happened was when you began to be harassed by collection agencies or when you try to get credit, only to find your credit rating has been trashed.

Identity theft prevention services also help you should the thieves be successful, in that they will help you with the police regarding warrants as well as assist you with getting collection agencies to stop harassing you for debts that aren’t yours.

If you think that you don’t need these services because, after all, if you report your credit cards stolen, you won’t get charged for the bogus charges, think again. Identity thieves don’t just use credit cards. They can set up new cell phone accounts in your name. They can take out a car loan in your name. They can give your name should they be arrested then, when they don’t show up at court, a warrant is issued in your name!

Identity theft prevention services are inexpensive…generally around $100 a year per individual or $150 for households. If you aren’t a careful type, guarding your personal information, reading your statements carefully and noticing if they don’t arrive, shredding mail with identifying information, then an identity theft prevention service might be right for you.

Andrew

Chad Kiser asked:


With the continue growth of the Internet as a marketplace for buying and selling merchandise, conducting banking and credit card transactions and more, a nefarious underworld has popped up in the form of identity thieves. Since the problem has grown to such a problem that government agencies cannot effectively protect us, private industry has stepped in. Identity Theft Prevention Programs offer consumers piece of mind by monitoring your credit report and stopping identity theft in its tracks.

In the course of our daily commerce, we unwittingly give out much of our sensitive personal data. We write checks for bill paying, we rent a hotel room using a credit card, we apply for jobs and list our social security number, we use our cell phones to call friends and generally we act as if no one has access to these avenues of communication. Each time we communicate with others, we put ourselves at risk. Not protecting your personal information is like leaving the front door open and putting up a sign welcoming thieves inside to take what they want.

Thieves will use your credit card number to charge merchandise and you will not know about it until you have a great many charges rung up. Thieves will use your social security number to take out a car loan and then make off with the car. You won’t know about this until the loan payment statements start arriving in your mailbox. All of this creates major headaches for you unless you have an identity theft prevention service in place. These thefts may still occur but you will be notified about them much earlier thus keeping the damage to a minimum. Diligence in checking your monthly statements is still needed though. Some identity theft prevention services are set up to call you when any suspicious activity occurs in your accounts, be it large purchases or purchases made from a different location from your home area.

These services will prevent collection agencies from calling you repeatedly and will keep your credit rating at the level where it is supposed to be. Law enforcement agencies are helped greatly by these services because they are more easily able to zero in on the thieves before the trail grows cold.

Identity thieves have been known to purchase cell phone service with stolen information and ring up thousands of dollars in calls. They have also given stolen information when arrested for a crime and then not show up in court. The authorities then issue an arrest warrant for you.

The pricetag for identity theft services range from $100 to $150 depending on the coverage criteria. Many people are so busy, careless or just plain stuplid that they inappropriatly handle their sensitive data. Besides safeguarding your own information, these identity theft prevention agencies are the best way to guard against theft.



Gladys

Pj Germain asked:


 

Identity thieves are becoming more sophisticated with every passing day. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Identity theft can happen anywhere to anyone. In line at the store, online at home or when you’re buying your morning coffee. Identity theft is one of the most common problems that people face today. Any of your personal information can be used to commit the crime.

Identity theft-protection company Lifelock is in the news this morning. The company, headed by CEO Todd Davis, is known for its challenge ad (reproduced below) which has been running for a couple of years. Identity theft can happen anytime, anywhere, to anyone. Identity fraud has become a huge concern in today’s new age and even though precautions have been taken to correct the situation there has not been much success. In the US approximately 120 million citizens had their private records exposed in the last three years causing approximately 27 million Americans to become identity theft victims.

Identity theft in the most extreme cases allows people to get insurance in your name, open false bank accounts and even can provide a cover when arrested for other crimes. Ident-A-Kid’s Immediate Response Card systems utilize an extremely fast digital data acquisition system. A complete profile of each child, including fingerprint, photograph, height and weight, is acquired in less than 15 seconds. Identity theft is the most rapidly growing crime in the world. It’s now bringing in more money than drug trafficking.

Credit

Credit card fraud is the most common form of ‘identity theft.’ It threatens no liability and only a little bit of inconvenience to most consumers in the United States – consumers that are prudent, anyway. And I’ve never understood what these services would or could do to prevent or mitigate a true impersonation fraud. Credit card companies still sent actual credit cards in their pre-approval mailings and one was stolen out of my mailbox. A year later, I received a collection notice that over $2000 was charged at a retailer blocks away from my home. Credit card fraud is often confused for identity theft because of those clever commercials with the funny voice-overs but it’s really a walk in the park compared to identity theft. It won’t take just a few phone calls to clear it up either.

Credit monitoring is an afterthought. What credit monitoring is, is selling you your own data.

Credit Fraud

In the long run, credit fraud consistently hurts all of us. No one is totally absorbing these costs by themselves. They continually get passed on to the consumers. There are several fraud alert mechanisms that ensure that creditors notify you and verify your identity before any new line of credit is opened in your name. One of today’s most common mechanisms is the new and famous LifeLock.

LifeLock

You can protect your credit (and your family’s credit) with some outstanding features provided by LifeLock. At the time of this writing, there are even several websites offering LifeLock coupons. You can simply run a simple search engine query on “LifeLock coupons” and you’re sure to come across several sites to review and choose from. LifeLock is indeed a big name in identity theft prevention today. Some say it is a bit overkill, some say it’s exactly what they needed. Review the information carefully and you decide.

 



Melanie