Who
Are You?
By
Jan Nirri
Over 500 million identities have already been stolen.
This has become the most pervasive crime of our day. Nearly half of the US
population has already had an identity theft issue to some degree.
I’ve heard people say, “I don’t have much, so they won’t
get much!”, but it goes much deeper than that. People tend to think identity
theft is all about getting money, but there are many privileges a person can
enjoy on your behalf besides taking your money and going on a vacation!
Now, before I go any further, I don’t agree with
motivating people with scare tactics to get a desired response, but I have to
say, if the house is on fire, I’m going to be screaming, “FIRE!!”, at the top
of my lungs!! I’m a firm believer in taking stock of the facts and using them
to make wise decision going forward. In that spirit, let’s look at the reality
of what can happen with your identity if it falls into the wrong hands.
Let’s first consider your driver’s license number. It’s
connected to the motor vehicle department, your vehicle registration, and
voting, no biggie, right? But think about this, criminals who have your
driver’s license number are able to create fake ID’s with their picture and
information but with your license number. A driver’s license is often required
as proof of identity for many things from employment to loans to vehicle
purchases, voting, and many other things. Imagine being stopped for a minor
traffic citation only to be arrested and detained because there was an
outstanding warrant for your arrest. And you learn the perpetrator got a DUI,
didn’t show up for the court date which you, of course, knew nothing about but
were now being arrested for. One lady was arrested 6 times by different law
enforcement entities because they couldn’t get the records straightened out. Each
time, she had to go through the process again to try to convince them it wasn’t
her because no effort or level of documentation, even affidavits from her
employer stating she was at work when the crime was reportedly committed, would
convince them she was not the person who committed the crime. Think about how
much distress this created for this single mother, who worked three jobs, and
who had to try to fix this mess, 6 times no less, by herself.
There have been cases where a person used a stolen
identity to take a job. Can you imagine trying to convince the IRS that you
never worked at company XYZ and earned that income!
A mother (we’ll call her Jane) of four children was
detained and questioned and her children were in danger of being taken into
child protective services because a woman, using Jane’s stolen identity,
checked into a hospital, gave birth and then skipped out. The baby tested
positive for drugs, so law enforcement was tracking down it’s mother and instead
found Jane. Jane offered to have a physical done to prove she had not given
birth recently, but the officials would not believe her and would not agree to
giving her a physical exam. Jane’s insurance was hit for the birthing expenses
so on top of the hospital, Social Services, and law enforcement, Jane had to
deal with her insurance company. Of course, this put Jane, her husband, and her
children through a lot of distress and took months to resolve.
You can see how something like your driver’s license which,
honestly, until recently, I didn’t really think much of as far as identity
theft, can turn into a huge, hairy, green eyeball of a problem, with no easy
answers.
So, what can you do? I’d like to spend the rest of the
article on solutions and how to evaluate many of the identity theft plans out
there to know which ones are best.
Freezes or
Locks
Many companies offer “Freezes” or “Locks” on your credit
report. A Freeze is where you request
the credit bureau to freeze all activity. Nothing can get approved. No credit
card charges, no employment credit checks, no new accounts opened, nothing. A
freeze on your credit through the credit bureau is governed by laws that
protect you.
A ‘Lock” on your account is governed by the company you
signed up with for the credit monitoring service. The lock is often not all
inclusive, meaning that certain situations like a credit check from an employer
may still be allowed, and as we’ve already seen, that’s not necessarily secure.
These credit monitoring companies may also include language making them not
liable if the lock does not perform as advertised. Be sure to read the
contract.
Companies may advertise freezes or locks as a free
service, but be aware, nothing is ever FREE! They may offer a free “Lock” but
charge for freezes or vice versa, or offer the lock or freeze for free in
exchange for allowing your information to be sent to advertisers… uh, still not
secure!
Consumer Reports agrees
that a freeze is better in general than a lock simply because it is governed by
laws and not by what some company decides to put in their contract to protect
themselves from liability in case their service doesn’t work.
What to Look
for in Identity Theft Protection
-Make sure the company you go with will provide
information regarding questions you may have about best practices, current trends,
consumer privacy, shopping online, about your credit report, common scams, and
so forth. And even provide support in the event you lose your wallet.
-The company should be able to consult with you and
provide information about the various methods of identity theft including
medical, deceased, and minor identity theft.
-Be sure you understand who the investigating authority is
behind the company or how they are backing the protection services they are
offering you.
-Many companies are touting that they are monitoring Black
Market sites. Be sure that includes global black-market sites, IRC (Internet
Relay Chat) channels, chat rooms, Peer to peer sharing networks, and social
feeds for your Personally Identifiable Information (PII) which would look for
matches on things like your name, birth date, SSN, email addresses, phone
numbers, driver’s license number, passport number, or medical ID numbers.
-Social Media monitoring to include privacy and
reputational risks
-Monitoring for address changes
-Monitoring for Credit card, bank account, store care
account information activity and changes
-Monitoring court records for any criminal activity with
your information on it across county, state, and federal data sources.
-Credit monitoring & inquiry alerts
-Payday loan monitoring
-Minor identity protection
-Make sure public records are monitored in all 50 states
to include real estate data, new mover information,
property and recorder of deed registration, county assessor/record data,
internet job site providers, state occupational license data providers, voter
information, public records/court proceedings, bankruptcies, liens, and
judgments.
What to Look
for in Identity Restoration
-Make sure first of all, that YOU won’t be the one doing
the restoration!
-Make sure the company you go with is backed with licensed
and experienced investigators who can deal with the issues in multiple
countries.
-Be aware that you will need to authorize these
investigators to be able to act on your behalf. They may request documentation
from you in order to proceed.
-Be sure they will handle all the research into the depth
your identity has been compromised and will handle dealing with those agencies
where your records have been corrupted such as the DMV, collection agencies,
local and federal law enforcement, FTC, State Attorney General’s office,
Federal -Reserve Bank, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Association of
Collection Professionals International, and others as deemed necessary by your
case.
-As with any plan there are exclusions which may include
things like: if you refuse to provide information required for the
investigation to proceed or are unwilling to prosecute the perpetrator, if you knowingly participated in the deception of your
identity, if you knew about the identity breach before enrolling in
the program
-Financial losses as a result of the identity breach
-Be sure you understand what will be done on your behalf,
what the exclusions are, and what the guarantee is. The best guarantee I’ve
seen promised to completely restore your identity, no matter what it takes or
how long it takes.
How much should
it cost?
In general, 2018 pricing for ID Theft Protection plans
range from $17-$27/month. A word of caution though: Be careful with online
reviews. A top ten review of 2018 companies
does not even include the company I consider to top them all. Their review of
the ten companies states:
“All the
services we reviewed offer a $1 million recovery insurance policy. This covers
any out-of-pocket costs you may incur as you work to recover from
the theft of your identity.”
“Most basic
ID theft services will provide you with contact information and written
instructions for dealing with identity theft.”
This kind of plan is like having a heart attack and
having the doctor give you a list of instructions on how to give yourself CPR
and open-heart surgery.
The key here is catching the data breach immediately. It
is like a fire that starts with a spark. The longer it takes to find the smoke
the more likely it will become a fire and left unattended it can burn the house
down. The more pieces of your information data that are monitored and the more
places that data is monitored exponentially increases the likelihood that your
data breach will be caught before it has a chance to do much damage. Early
detection followed by swift and thorough freezes and complete restoration are
the best way to handle your identity in the event it is compromised.
So, just remember, catching the breach early is powerful,
but the real strength of the plan is having the backing of an international
team of investigators to deal with the issues of getting your identity
restored. At the writing of this article, I have only found one plan that meets
all the criteria mentioned. If you’d like to know more about plans and pricing
specific to your state, please contact me or visit
my Website.
Jan
Nirri
(803)
767-2755
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