A false sense of security?
One of the things safety experts warn against is a false sense of security. Many people have a false sense of security when it comes to identity theft. With all of the warnings, reported security breaches and victim horror stories many people still think it can't happen to them. It can.
You say you shred everything with your personal information. That is the best move you can make. But are you truly shredding everything that is dangerous. What about that junk mail? Yes it's junk but not harmless. A reverse directory and a piece of junk mail can lead an identity thief straight to you.
You say you control your personal information. Do you control your bank? Your doctor your creditors and all of the other business and government agencies that have your information on file. Can you personally guarantee that they will not have a breach and expose your information? No you can't. Any entity that has your information can have a breach and their is no guarantee you will know they lost your information.
You say your identity theft protection service guarantees that your identity will not be stolen? Refer to the last paragraph. So they will fix it. What will they fix? Your finances? Fixing your finances won't help when the police show up with a warrant for your arrest. Fixing your finances won't give you a heads up about the illegal immigrant working under your social security number.
So your credit card company notifies you if someone tries to make a questionable purchase. Good, but are they catching all questionable purchases? If someone is purchasing a surfboard in Waikiki and you live in Maine it's pretty obvious that's a questionable purchase. What if someone is purchasing snow tires in Maine would they catch that or figure it's reasonable?
One of the biggest traps in life is a false sense of security. It makes us relax our guard. Always be vigilant about protecting your identity. Even if you are doing everything right, it can still happen.
2 people like it
Advertise on APSense
This advertising space is available.
Post Your Ad Here
Post Your Ad Here
Comments (3)
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
Another word of caution. there are companies that offer outrageous guarantees against identity theft. Read the small print. One of the most well known actually reserves the right to decide if you qualify for the guarantee. And you cannot in any way contribute to the theft. Most people think that means you can't assist the thief. The wording is so broad that they can basically use any excuse NOT to honor the guarantee.
Before signing for any identity theft protection product, do your due d
Jennifer Underwood11
Promoter
Can you actually PREVENT identity theft? NO!
There are some things you can do to keep thieves from stealing your personal information from your home, your garbage, your computer, etc. (For example – be sure you shred all your bills and other papers with personal information.)
The reality is that identity thieves can find your personal information in many places (as shown above) that are out of your control. So while you can’t actually prevent your identity from getting stolen,
Jennifer Underwood11
Promoter
Someone’s identity is stolen 19,178 times per day. That’s 799 times per hour, 13.3 times a minute.
You are more likely to become a victim of identity theft than you are to be in a car accident or develop heart disease. (2000 Census; 2004 Bureau of Transportation Statistics; 2006 FTC Report)
15% of all identity theft crimes are committed by someone close to you – a family member or friend.
Young adults between 18 and 25, especially college students, are the most vulnerab