subject: Should I buy Identity theft protection? [print this page] There has been a lot of hype in the mediaThere has been a lot of hype in the media. People been having a lot of concern about if they should get an identity theft protection plan.
According to the FTC 9 millions americans get their identity stolen each year and as the economy worsen , more case of Identity theft will be reported. They have just discovered some new way Identity thieves are operating Im going to quickly share them with you.
Dumpster Diving this is the most popular one.. Identity thieves will literraly go into your trash and look for important papers or any bills with your personal information on it. You probably didnt care too much about that since You usually shred your papers. But now shredded papers can be reassembled almost as fast as it is shredded . Identity thieves use high level scanning softwares that restores the image like puzzle pieces. They can even adjust the brightness and contrast and are able to produce outputs that can even be better than your original paper.
Skimming. Not many people know about it. They steal credit/debit card numbers and information by using a special storage device . These devices can be easily placed at any ATM machine. Most of the Bank ATM are outdoors so it doesnt take a rocket scientist to easily install one while acting like he's taking some cash. This device will store your credit card numbers and they will come back at night to pick it up and download all your credit card informations on their computer...
Phishing. Scammers pretend to be financial institutions or companies and send spam or pop-up messages to get you to reveal your personal information. The site could be a mimic of your bank website that asking you to login and once you login these informations automatically downloaded to their computer.
And of course the all fashioned way.. wallet and purses can be stolen at any time. And we usually carry at least our ID in one of these things.
The main reason why you should buy identity theft protection is because no matter how hard we try, we can never be in control of everything all the time, somehow or someways we should try to find expert to help us in some situations. But in the case of identity theft there's been some serious repercussion. People who got their identity stolen usually find out when bill collectors contacting them for overdue balances. They usually find out when they get declined for that dream house or the dream car that they were saving to get.
So to be in total control of your identity you need to allow companies who are experts in the field to help you. Chosing the right Identity service can be always be a daunting task, especially now with all the other companies out there. If You re looking to buy the right Identity theft service we always recommend ID guard , . The membership comes with: Monitoring alerts to inform you of important changes to you credit reports. Card cancellation assistance and reimbursement if your credit or debit cards are lost or stolen. Toll-free access to fraud resolution representatives if you detects fraudulent activity or if, god forbid, you become a victim of identity theft $1 Million Guarantee protectiion against ID theft. They make it a bit no brainer. But It's always up to you to make.