Protection Resources

Learn about the crime of identity theft. Our best defense is education. Get your education started--right now. Learn more...

Tip #2: Protect Your Whole Identity.

Whole identity protection is much, much more than just credit monitoring. After a year of searching, I finally found the solution that meets all of my criteria: iDefend. Learn more...

Tip #3: View Your Credit Report

Don't fall for companies that advertise getting your credit report for you, then charge you extra fees. Use the official website sponsored by the 3 major credit burueaus. Learn more...

Tip #4: Be Safe Online. Get iCare.

Everything on your computer is still at risk, even if you're using the anti-virus and anti-spyware that came with your PC. Good news is there is a one-step, one-stop solution. Learn more...

Tip #5: Secure Your Postal Mail.

To identity thieves, your mailbox is like your jewelry drawer, only easier to access. Get a P.O. box or secure the mailbox at your residence. Learn more...

Tip #6: Protect Your Social Security #

Your SSN is like a first class ticket to fraud when in the wrong hands. Know your rights and how to protect your number. Learn more...

Tip #7: Make A Difference!

Sign my online petition and help get laws changed to combat the fastest growing crime--identity theft. Learn more...

Protecting Your Whole Identity

Identity theft- related crimes occur in the United States at the alarming rate of one every 79 seconds! Yikes! When my identity was first stolen, I thought, "I've got to find a way to prevent this from happening and let others know." What I found out is that there is no way to "prevent" identity theft. What we need is protection--whole identity protection. Credit monitoring is not identity protection. Read about my search and solution:

1. My Search for True Identity Protection
2. Truths About Identity Theft
3. The Solution, Over a Year of Searching

More Protection Tools

Identity theft- related crimes occur in the Unisted States at the alarming rate of one every 79 seconds! Yikes! Vigiliantly monitoring your credit profile is one of the best things you can do to ensure the safety of your personal credit information. There are basically two ways to go - either monitor it yourself or purchase a service that will monitor your credit for you. Below we offer some tips for do-it-yourselfers and some resources for those wishing to purchase a service.

Did you know identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America? Did you know only 1 in 700 identity thieves are ever caught? And if these criminals do get caught their punishments are so minor they have no deterrent to stop. The experts say either you are a victim of identity theft or you will be a victim of identity theft. No one is safe anymore, partly due to our financial institutions which choose to sweep this crime under the rug instead of alarming us. With our information so readily available to these criminals, and since punishment for identity theft and the recovery of stolen funds are so rare our only viable course of action is prevention. Here are some of the musts for preventing identity theft:

• One way to protect identity theft is to monitor your credit report regularly. You can request one free report a year. You can also sign up with the three major credit bureaus to be alerted of any activity.

There are three national credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You are entitled to one free credit report every year from each of these. Its well-known that there are always variations between the three agencies so its important to review all 3 reports often.

Type "credit report" into google and you will be overwhelmed. I got 154 MILLION hits. It turns out that there is one and only one site that is authorized by the Free Credit Report Program: www.annualcreditreport.com so that's a mighty fine place to start. AnnualCreditReport.com is the only service authorized by the three national credit reporting agencies for this purpose. You can order your reports over the phone, online, or through the mail. If you order online, you can download them over a secure link and view them immediately.

• I can’t stress this enough, stop giving out your social security number. Just because there is a blank space for it on an application doesn’t mean you have to fill it in. Only a few places have the authority the ask for your social security number – your employer, the motor vehicle departments, welfare services, and the IRS, as well as institutions that deal with your taxes like a bank or a brokerage house, and that’s it!

• Protect your computer with virus and spyware protection. Plus, if you use wireless make sure it is a secure connection. And use internet browsers like Mozilla or Safari which are more secure than Internet Explorer. Only download items from a secure website never from pop ups or random emails. Type in IP addresses instead of the url name if you want to question the validity of a website, many times these criminals copy cat popular websites; like amazon.com.
  

• This is where it helps to be organized. Make sure you are receiving all your bills and if one is missed that month contact the company immediately. If you have many bills it might help to keep a list of them. And finally, look over your credit card statements diligently. Make sure each purchase is yours. And you must check your bank statement each month. Just get into a monthly habit. I know it seems time consuming but you only have one month to put in a claim of fraud if you want the bank to recover your money; that is bank policy. If you need help getting organized go here Custom Living Solutions.

• Purchase a shredder. The experts say a shredder is more important today for the home than a coffeemaker or a dishwasher. Be sure to shred bills, papers that contain your personal information, especially your SS# and account numbers, and pre-approved credit card and loans offerings. Get a cross-cut shredder that turns the paper into confetti. Also beware of our old computer you donate to Goodwill make sure all your information is removed by wiping the hard drive or take it out and destroy it. Plus, those old plastic credit cards - it’s not enough to cut them in half anymore. They need to be shredded.

• Beware of sketchy looking ATM machines. I stick to bank ATM machines only all other machines are privately owned. Plus, I always make sure no one is standing too close to me and I always cover up my hand as I type in my pin number.

My Search for True Identity Protection

What can I do to prevent this from happening again? How can I help my family, friends, and business associates prevent identity theft? How can I make a difference?

I started Fighting Back Now to help educate potential victims who might be looking for answers to those same questions.

It was clear that law enforcement agencies were overwhelmed. The FBI, state, and local police simply don't have the resources to investigate 8, 9, 15 million reported cases. It's not that they don't care. The detectives on my case were professional, thorough, kind, and sympathetic. They were wonderful. They work every case diligently. But identity thieves are hard to catch, and every department I spoke with has a huge and growing backlog of cases. Sadly, the catch and convict record is dismal. Only one out of 700 cases is solved and an arrest made.

So I began a search that consumed the better part of a year.

I interviewed the CEOs of some of the high-profile marketing companies that flood the airwaves with ads about identity theft prevention products. They all wanted me to promote their credit watch products on my website. I expressed my concern that their products would not have deterred the woman who stole my identity. My experience was not related to credit fraud. What could they do in cases like mine? They each admitted, somewhat reluctantly, that their services wouldn't help people like me. At the time, I didn't realize that people like me were in the majority of identity theft cases.

LifeLock and TrustedID both invited me to affiliate with them. The arrangement was that I would place their banners on my website, and they would pay me a fee for each account that signed up after clicking on the banner. Despite my misgivings, I wanted to help my readers to avoid identity theft. Credit monitoring doesn't prevent situations like mine, but it was at least something. Something, I reasoned, was better than nothing. So I accepted the invitation and posted the banners.

But I kept looking. I talked with every expert I could find. Most repeated the same advice. Watch your credit. Get a good anti-spyware program, "like adaware. It's free." I dug into every resource I could find to learn more about identity theft. I looked at statistics. Saw the growth trend in reported cases. Eight million in 2005. Nine million in 2006. Fifteen million in 2007! (There are no "hard" numbers in this field. Different agencies have different stats, and the numbers can vary widely.) One authoritative source estimates about 20,000 people now lose their identities every day. That's about 14 every minute, or one every 4 seconds!

I discovered that credit fraud accounts for just 33% of identity theft cases. Non-credit ID theft cases like my own make up 67% of the total. The reality is that it's easier to get your personal information from public records than it is to get your credit card information.

Our personal information is stored on databases and computers everywhere. For example, 75% of the counties in the U.S. use social security numbers on public documents. Retail stores, hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, mortgage companies, schools, banks, accountants/tax preparers are just a few of the holders of your information.

Between January 2005 and December 2006, 165 million records containing personal information such as social security numbers, drivers licenses, dates of birth, bank account numbers, etc. were lost or stolen from companies, organizations, and agencies nationwide. The non-profit Identity Resource Center in San Diego reports that in 2007 alone, more than 127 million such records were stolen. The numbers are staggering: 165 million plus 127 million is 297 million stolen records in just three years! The population of the U.S. is about 330 million.

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Truths About Identity Theft

By now I had learned some important truths about identity theft. Truths that would help me answer the questions I mentioned at the top of the page.

1. You Can't Prevent Identity Theft. I used the word "prevention" myself for a long time. But the reality is that this is a crime that cannot be prevented. There are too many thieves, too many ways of stealing identities, too many forces. You might as well try to stop the tides. The right word is "Protection." You can take steps to minimize your exposure, and be ready to fight back when the unthinkable happens. That's part of the mission of Fighting Back Now.

2. Credit Monitoring is NOT Identity Protection. It's not about your credit. It's about your identity. The vast majority of ID theft programs on the market focus on just credit fraud. Credit fraud is just a small part of the problem.

3. Credit fraud alerts don't work. Up to fifty percent of the time, credit is still issued to the thief because creditors don't bother to check credit records. Thieves know that and they play the odds.

4. True Identity Protection is multi-sided. I came to the conclusion that to truly protect my identity, I would need four components, like the four sides of a fort. I believe a true identity protection plan must:

• Protect your whole identity, not just your credit.
• Protect your entire family, including children, with no exclusions for fraud by a family member. (Children are prized targets for ID thieves.)
• Monitor your whole identity--watching out for all forms of identity theft, including credit fraud. Some way to scan for any unauthorized use of your name and social security number.
• Include comprehensive identity recovery, with trained professionals handling every detail for you from beginning to end (pre-theft status). Believe me, you can't do this by yourself. You need a lot more than a kit and an adviser.

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A Solution, Over a Year of Searching

I had been searching for the right identity protection solution for more than a year when Readers Digest published my story in an article titled "To Catch An Identity Thief" in its January 2008 issue. That article generated a lot of mail from people offering all manner of products and partnerships. But only one described a solution that included all four of my requirements, and then some. It was from a representative of a company I had never heard of. I was interested, but cautious.

I spent the next two months on due diligence, including interviewing the company's CEO, before I was satisfied that this company was solid and that its whole identity protection service really met every one of my requirements. It actually delivers more than I was looking for. For example, the plan includes recovery cost reimbursement insurance. It covers up to $10,000, including lost wages (even if you are self-employed), which far exceeds the average costs of up to $3,000. With iDefend, you'll probably have little or no out-of-pocket costs, since trained professionals handle all of the recovery work for you at no charge.

iDefend was introduced in September 2007 by a Utah company named Invisus Direct, a company that had pioneered in making corporate grade security software available to consumers 7 years earlier. It's the one program that I found that I can wholeheartedly endorse. I was very impressed when CEO James Harrison explained that Invisus Direct partnered with a number of companies with long experience in the field of identity protection. Its identity recovery partner, for instance, has been in the business for some twenty years. They actually go after thieves, and they have a record of helping law enforcement apprehend a perpetrator in 1 out of every 20 of their cases. A far cry from the national average of 1 in 700!

I subscribed to iDefend myself, and I'm so enthused about it that I decided to partner with Invisus Direct to make it easy for my readers to get this protection, too.

I encourage you to join me as an iDefend subscriber. The cost is in line with programs that only monitor credit, don't cover children (iDefend covers children all the way up to age 25), and don't cover situations where the thief is a family member (15% of cases). It's just $14.99 per month for an individual, or $24.99 for a family. There's a setup charge of $29.99, and that includes your first month.

Full details on the iDefend whole identity protection plan are here, along with a subscription form. Please don't go another day without this protection. You'll never forgive yourself if a thief gets to you or one of your children first.

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