Identity Theft and Government Security Breaches
February 28, 2008
Our government will keep our personal information safe from identity theft.
If you believe that statement, I have a nice bridge for sale - cheap….
Unfortunately, our government isn’t doing a great job to protect us from identity thieves. It’s been almost two years since millions of our veteran’s names, SSN and birth dates were made available in a huge security breach. You’d think they’d have learned a lesson from that, but I guess there’s just too much red tape needed to actually get the ball rolling in Washington to implement tighter security.
The Government Accountability Office, Congress’ investigative branch, has found that most of the federal agencies haven’t put federal recommendations about protecting our identities into play. One of those recommendations was just better file encryption. The wheels just keep turning very slowly if at all.
In an effort to make the public more aware of identity theft, the post office did a mass mailing in February 2008 to all households. Everyone got a little FTC brochure titled “Deter - Detect - Defend - Avoid ID Theft”. That was probably easier to mail that out than to tighten up their security measures. On the back page of the brochure are listed common ways ID Theft happens. They left out security breaches.
Besides the Feds, our local governments need to tighten up on security measures, too. The Davidson County Election Commission Building in Nashville, TN lost 370,000 registered voter’s info in a break-in on 12/28/07. On the same day, the US Air Force lost a laptop with info affecting 10,501 active and retired Air Force members and the Minnesota Dept. of Commerce lost a laptop with info on 219 identities.
Actually, there’s so many security breaches happening all the time, keeping up with them is a full-time job. The best website to track security breaches is PrivacyRights.org.
So if you’re thinking you’re safe from identity theft because you shred, protect and have totally secure passwords, you’re mistaken. Doing all these things is great and helps a lot to protect yourself from identity theft. We aren’t the only ones with access to our info. It’s out there and like Pandora’s Box, we can never get it contained again.
Take proactive steps to protect yourself from identity theft. Any victim of this devastating crime can tell you horror stories of what they went through to repair their credit and get back their good name.
LifeLock or Credit Monitoring
February 26, 2008
Credit monitoring has been a traditional way to control identity theft. It’s generally offered by the three credit bureaus - Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. In the past, this was the best type of protection available. LifeLock has become the new force in identity theft protection by offering a more proactive solution for a lower cost.
How Credit Monitoring Works
When you go to sign up for credit monitoring, you’ll get some choices. You can choose credit monitoring just from one credit bureau [least expensive] or you can get a 3-in1 package that will monitor your files at all 3 credit bureaus [most expensive].
Whenever a new account is opened with your name and information, you’ll receive an alert letting you know about it. If it was you - no problem. If it wasn’t you - you’ll know someone has just stolen your identity. At this point, you need to contact the new account and let them know it wasn’t you who opened it. You’ll also have to dispute any charges made on it.
Credit bureaus normally have an ID Theft help line you can call and ask for advice on how to do this. They give advice only - no hands on help. Identity theft insurance comes with their plans - usually $20,000-$25,000 in coverage in case you can’t recover all your stolen money.
Prices range from:
- Equifax’s Credit Watch Gold - $9.95 monthly, Equifax monitoring only
- Equifax Credit Watch Gold 3-in-1 for $12.95 monthly - monitors all 3 bureaus
- TransUnion - $14.95 monthly - 3-in-1 monitoring, credit report and score included
- Experian - $14.95 monthly - Experian monitoring only from freecreditreport.com, credit report and score included
The biggest drawback with credit monitoring is that you have to wait until AFTER your identity is stolen before you can take any action. The good news is you’ll learn about the theft quickly, but you still have to fix it - by yourself.
How LifeLock Works
LifeLock works in a way that’s proactive - meaning it’s designed to stop identity theft BEFORE it happens. They do this by placing a fraud alert on your credit file and renewing it every 90 days.
A fraud alert places a note on your credit files requesting any new creditor call you before a new line of credit is opened. So if you or anyone else applies for credit, you’ll get a phone call at the number you specify confirming that it’s OK to open the account.
Now, a fraud alert is free. You can do it yourself and LifeLock tells you that on their website. So exactly, what’s the point of using their services?
Identity thieves are becoming more and more clever and inventive. Occasionally a fraud alert doesn’t work properly in every case - nothing is ever 100% perfect. This is where LifeLock offers a service that’s almost priceless - if your identity is stolen, they’ll fix it for you. All you have to do is call and let them know.
And if your wallet is stolen - they’ll fix that for you, too. They call that ‘WalletLock’.
Whatever lost money they can’t recover for you, they’ll replace - up to a million dollars. Seriously, you’ll probably never lose a million dollars in identity theft, but you can lose hundreds of hours of time, worry and frustration fixing it yourself.
You get this for only $9 a month or $99 a year [$8.25 a month] with a 30 day free trial if you use the promo code - 9 - when you sign-up.
Credit monitoring absolutely plays a valuable role in many financial situations. But it’s not designed to prevent identity theft from happening. Credit bureaus prefer not to talk too much about fraud alerts because they don’t make any money with them.
To prevent identity theft, use a company like LifeLock who specializes in prevention and will be there for you every step of the way if your identity should be stolen.
LifeLock Protects from all Types of Identity Theft
February 19, 2008
LifeLock identity theft protection can keep you safe from any type of identity theft.
Online identity theft is becoming more and more common as thieves find out how easy it is to steal identities in large quantities instead of one at a time. One way they accomplish this by hacking into data streams from stores who don’t use up-to-date data encryption. Other times, companies and even top universities make mistakes and release personal information on customers and students.
Then there’s the good old stand-by of dumpster diving. It’s truly amazing how much sensitive information is thrown away without being shredded - by individuals and businesses. Thieves quickly learn where to look and go diving often.
Theft of laptops and computers has turned into a lucrative business for thieves. Security breaches caused by these thefts can affect hundreds of thousands of people at once. Even government info is vulnerable as shown with the theft of laptops from the Elections Building in Nashville, TN just after Christmas 2007. Over 300,000 registered voter’s information was stolen. That’s a huge payday for an identity thief.
Telephone scams are still popular and work well. A scammer has a well-written script designed to frighten you and get you off balance. You suddenly become alarmed and blurt out the small bit of information the thief needs to steal your complete identity.
The same is true of email phishing schemes. You’ll get an email telling you there’s a problem with your account and that you need to go login. If you click the link in the email, it will take you to a site that looks just like the real one. As soon as you login, an identity thief has your info and can wipe out your money in a matter of minutes. Whenever I get an email from my bank, it ALWAYS says not to click on any links but to go to my account the way I normally would and check for new messages there.
Identity theft can happen in many ways and LifeLock is designed to protect you from all of them. But just because nothing is ever perfect, they give you a million dollar service guarantee if your identity gets stolen while being one of their clients.
Every three seconds another identity is stolen. Don’t wait around thinking it can’t happen to you. Either find out what you need to do to protect yourself or just do it the easy way and get LifeLock. You’ll rest easier knowing you’re protected.
LifeLock Promo Code
February 19, 2008
Use the LifeLock promo code ‘9‘ to get a great discount on your LifeLock membership. You’ll also get a 30 day FREE trial so that you can give Life Lock a test drive and see if it’s the right fit for you.
Your monthly cost will be only $9. You’ll continue to get this savings year after year - there’s no expiration on it and you’re totally locked into that price. It can never be taken away. Nine bucks a month can fit into just about any budget and give you the peace of mind knowing your identity is protected and you have a company like LifeLock standing behind you watching your back.
This screen shot shows that you also have the option to choose an annual payment plan of $99. That makes your monthly cost work out to be only $8.25.
Life Lock has been endorsed by radio personalities like Paul Harvey, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Dr. Laura. They understand the dangers of identity theft and want to give their listeners a head’s up on a good plan to turn to for protection.
LifeLock Promotion
February 17, 2008
LifeLock has a promotion with a free 30 day trial. This special offer also includes a discount on your monthly membership.
You can get LifeLock for $9 a month or $99 a year by using the promotion code - 9.
This discount is an annual savings of $21 off of the regular price. You can keep it for as long as you want - no expiration date. Take advantage of this promotion now and see for yourself how secure you feel knowing your identity is protected.
LifeLock vs TrustedID
February 17, 2008
LifeLock and Trusted ID are both very good companies. They do however have a couple of differences.
Things they both do:
- Place fraud alert on your credit files and renew it every 90 days
- Stop pre-approved credit offers - eliminates a lot of junk mail
- Order your credit reports from all three credit bureaus yearly
- Offer a $1,000,000 service guarantee or warranty
How are LifeLock and Trusted ID different?
- TrustedID will put a credit freeze on your credit files for an additional fee
- Trusted ID will do daily monitoring of your credit cards and send you email alerts of new activity
- Trusted ID offers a family plan package
- LifeLock offers WalletLock protection for lost or stolen wallets
- LifeLock offers Child Identity Protection
- LifeLock scans the internet and databases looking for misuse of your information
- LifeLock scans address change databases watching for any changes of addresses
- LifeLock’s million dollar service guarantee includes hiring lawyers, accountants, investigators and case managers for you if your identity is stolen
Who endorses LifeLock and Trusted ID?
- LifeLock is endorsed by Rush Limbaugh, Paul Harvey, Sean Hannity and Dr. Laura
- TrustedID is endorsed by Suze Orman
How much does LifeLock and Trusted ID cost?
- LifeLock is $9 a month or $99 a year w/ a 30 Day FREE Trial
- LifeLock child protection is $2.25 a month
- TrustedID is $10.00 a month or $19.99 a month for the family plan.
Read more in-depth reviews of LifeLock and TrustedID.
Compare Identity Theft Protection Plans
WalletLock
February 17, 2008
Imagine the panic of losing your wallet or purse. I’ve done it.. you probably have, too. Your first thought is that you just misplaced it and you go on a tear trying to find it. Your heart starts racing and your hands begin to shake.
According to a recent Javelin Strategy & Research survey, 38% of all identity crimes stemmed from a lost or stolen wallet, checkbook or credit card. After all, your driver’s license was in you wallet. That’s got your name, address and date of birth. Too many people carry their social security card in their wallet along with the SSN’s of their spouse and children.
The time and aggravation you spend on canceling your credit card account numbers and getting new one, getting a new driver’s license, new health insurance card, social security card…. on and on. That can take hours.
LifeLock identity theft protection knows your frustration. That’s why they offer a service called WalletLock when you enroll as a member of their identity theft protection service.
Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock says, “If you have ever had your wallet stolen or lost, you understand the panic and anger you feel, not to mention, how much time it takes to cancel and replace the important items. It’s frustrating and completely unnecessary.”
He goes on to say, “By adding “WalletLock” to our service we have found another way to help lift the burden that surrounds identity theft. If a wallet is lost or stolen, “WalletLock” will provide the complete recovery services necessary to allow our client to go on with their lives and not spend hours on the phone.”
One call to a WalletLock specialist at 1-800-LIFELOCK will assist you with replacing all the document items in your wallet with the exception of the cash, monies or pictures in the wallet. Replacement documents include:
- Credit/debit cards
- ATM Cards
- Driver’s License
- Social Security
- Insurance Cards (Health, Auto, etc)
- Professional License
- Passport
- VISA
- Immigration documents
- Diplomas or Certificates
- Owner’s Checkbook
- Traveler’s check
With LifeLock, you’re protected from Identity Theft no matter how it happens.