Safety Tips 411
I.D. Theft Insurance - is it Right for You?
While you’ve been busy with your day-to-day life someone could have stolen your personal information and racked up debts or committed fraud – all with your name on it. What happens then can be anything from being denied employment, credit or even being arrested for a crime you didn’t commit. Identity theft is that serious.
According to a survey conducted by the FTC (Federal Trade and Commission) 4.6% of Americans involved in the survey responded that they had been a victim of ID theft within the past year. That means about 10 million Americans dealt with some form of identity theft.
How can you help yourself if you are the victim of ID theft? One way is to consider purchasing ID theft insurance, which will help you in the event you or your business suffers financial loss due to ID theft. For more information on ID theft insurance, and if it's right for you, we're providing the following information to help you make an informed decision.
Determining if Identity Theft Insurance is Worth it
By Jon Arnold
If you are not concerned about identity theft, the assumption would have to be that you either already have identity theft insurance or you have been living under a rock in recent years. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes of this century, and if you are not watchful about who you provide your personal information to and what they are going to do with it, you are leaving yourself open as an easy target for thieves.
Most people don't even become aware that they have become a victim of identity theft until the thief is long gone. One day you are checking your credit reports, as you should do at least annually and you notice one or more accounts that were recently opened that you have no clue about. Or perhaps you have received a phone call from some Visa or MasterCard issuer wondering about when you are going to make a payment, and to the best of your knowledge, you do not have an account there.
One of the best ways to keep tabs on whether or not you have become a victim of identity theft is to regularly get a copy of your credit reports from all three credit reporting agencies, and look for accounts that have suddenly appeared that you have no knowledge of. Contact that company immediately. It could just be that one of your accounts was sold to another company or that some new company is now handling the account processing for your credit card billing. Or, it could be that you have become a victim of identity theft.
As with almost anything else when there is a need, there are companies coming into existence that address the problem, and identity theft is no different. One of the many companies that provides identity theft insurance is LifeLock, where the company CEO has been so bold as to have posted his Social Security number on the front page of the company's web site last year. Wow, that was indeed a bold move, since that is one of the key pieces of information that would enable a thief to open new accounts in your name and commit the crime of identity theft.
Interestingly enough, it was recently reported that someone used that Social Security number to open a new account, where they got a $500 loan and deposited those funds in a local bank.
At face value, that information may sound like the company's services are not worthwhile, but like anything else, you need to look under the surface. What happened in this case was that the thief was caught, the institution that approved the loan is facing fines for having done so without getting proper identification from the requester, and at the end of the day, the services performed as they should have. In fact, this is evidenced by the fact that the CEO's Social Security number is STILL posted on their web site.
But many people, even if they were not aware of this story may wonder if identity theft insurance is worth the effort or provides a good ROI (Return On Investment). You need to look at exactly what the provider of that insurance is providing to make a decision. For example, LifeLock provides a guarantee of $1 million, which is a huge amount of money to be attributed to identity theft. Other companies offer higher and lower amounts of money, but you need to ask yourself how confident the company is with their service if they do not offer ANY such dollar amount of protection.
Another thing you need to carefully consider, amongst many things, is what kind of damage could be done to you or your business if you or your business became a victim of identity theft and you had no such insurance. You could be liable for thousands of dollars in bogus charges as well as having a huge blemish on your credit report for many years. Don't forget the months and even years of personal time you will need to invest with creditors to explain how this is a case of identity theft, and of course to have them not believe you.
How much is your time worth? Nobody is immune from identity theft. Just like with car insurance or house insurance, it is a "waste" if you don't make any claims, but it can save you a bundle if your house catches fire or someone backs into your car.
About the author:
For more insights and additional information about Identity Theft Protection please visit our web site at http://www.identity-theft-info.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jon_Arnold
http://EzineArticles.com/?Determining-If-Identity-Theft-Insurance-Is-Worth-It&id=661921
According to a survey conducted by the FTC (Federal Trade and Commission) 4.6% of Americans involved in the survey responded that they had been a victim of ID theft within the past year. That means about 10 million Americans dealt with some form of identity theft.
How can you help yourself if you are the victim of ID theft? One way is to consider purchasing ID theft insurance, which will help you in the event you or your business suffers financial loss due to ID theft. For more information on ID theft insurance, and if it's right for you, we're providing the following information to help you make an informed decision.
Determining if Identity Theft Insurance is Worth it
By Jon Arnold
If you are not concerned about identity theft, the assumption would have to be that you either already have identity theft insurance or you have been living under a rock in recent years. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes of this century, and if you are not watchful about who you provide your personal information to and what they are going to do with it, you are leaving yourself open as an easy target for thieves.
Most people don't even become aware that they have become a victim of identity theft until the thief is long gone. One day you are checking your credit reports, as you should do at least annually and you notice one or more accounts that were recently opened that you have no clue about. Or perhaps you have received a phone call from some Visa or MasterCard issuer wondering about when you are going to make a payment, and to the best of your knowledge, you do not have an account there.
One of the best ways to keep tabs on whether or not you have become a victim of identity theft is to regularly get a copy of your credit reports from all three credit reporting agencies, and look for accounts that have suddenly appeared that you have no knowledge of. Contact that company immediately. It could just be that one of your accounts was sold to another company or that some new company is now handling the account processing for your credit card billing. Or, it could be that you have become a victim of identity theft.
As with almost anything else when there is a need, there are companies coming into existence that address the problem, and identity theft is no different. One of the many companies that provides identity theft insurance is LifeLock, where the company CEO has been so bold as to have posted his Social Security number on the front page of the company's web site last year. Wow, that was indeed a bold move, since that is one of the key pieces of information that would enable a thief to open new accounts in your name and commit the crime of identity theft.
Interestingly enough, it was recently reported that someone used that Social Security number to open a new account, where they got a $500 loan and deposited those funds in a local bank.
At face value, that information may sound like the company's services are not worthwhile, but like anything else, you need to look under the surface. What happened in this case was that the thief was caught, the institution that approved the loan is facing fines for having done so without getting proper identification from the requester, and at the end of the day, the services performed as they should have. In fact, this is evidenced by the fact that the CEO's Social Security number is STILL posted on their web site.
But many people, even if they were not aware of this story may wonder if identity theft insurance is worth the effort or provides a good ROI (Return On Investment). You need to look at exactly what the provider of that insurance is providing to make a decision. For example, LifeLock provides a guarantee of $1 million, which is a huge amount of money to be attributed to identity theft. Other companies offer higher and lower amounts of money, but you need to ask yourself how confident the company is with their service if they do not offer ANY such dollar amount of protection.
Another thing you need to carefully consider, amongst many things, is what kind of damage could be done to you or your business if you or your business became a victim of identity theft and you had no such insurance. You could be liable for thousands of dollars in bogus charges as well as having a huge blemish on your credit report for many years. Don't forget the months and even years of personal time you will need to invest with creditors to explain how this is a case of identity theft, and of course to have them not believe you.
How much is your time worth? Nobody is immune from identity theft. Just like with car insurance or house insurance, it is a "waste" if you don't make any claims, but it can save you a bundle if your house catches fire or someone backs into your car.
About the author:
For more insights and additional information about Identity Theft Protection please visit our web site at http://www.identity-theft-info.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jon_Arnold
http://EzineArticles.com/?Determining-If-Identity-Theft-Insurance-Is-Worth-It&id=661921
Synonyms: Dentity, dientity, ientity, iedntity, idntity, idnetity, idetity, idetnity, idenity, idenitty, identty, identtiy, identiy, identiyt, and identit are typos for "identity." Heft, hteft, teft, tehft, thft, thfet, thet, thetf, and thef are typos for "theft."
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