Identity theft has reached plague proportions in the United States. So much so that in many surveys, Americans indicated that they fear Identity theft more than the usual top concerns like burglary.
With the pressure of identity theft being used to commit crimes like terrorism, America has been trying desperately to overhaul its privacy laws and bring all of its states onto the same page with its new Real ID laws.
Despite the positives of Real ID many Americans see negatives associated with privacy concerns. What consumers seem to be preferring, is the concept of insurance and /or retaining a company to watchdog their credit history and alert them if something has gone wrong.
Identity Guard
Enter Identity Guard, one of many players in America’s war against identity theft and fraud.
There’s a host of companies providing identity theft protection, but what attracted me to Identity Guard was their attitude towards online protection of their client’s identity, which will make it ideal for heavy users of the internet and wireless modems which pose a huge security risk. Identity Guard does all this ;
- Daily credit bureau monitoring, email alerts plus unlimited toll free customer service
- Daily monitoring of the Internet’s “black market” and “back alley” chat rooms.
- Daily scanning of all three credit bureaus with reports, scores and quarterly updates
- Public record reporting, scanning for application and social security fraud, and more.
Whilst the internet does pose a new risk of fraud and identity theft to its users, by far the most cases of identity theft and fraud are committed by stealing information the old-fashioned way - stealing bills or watching people entering their details like pin numbers. Sensitive information like birth details, Social Security numbers and credit card details are like gold to fraudsters.
The Crimes they Commit
Identity theft can happen in seconds and once a criminal has hold of a few details they can do a lot of damage. In fact, many victims of identity theft don’t actually know that someone else is using their details until it’s too late.
Criminals often open new credit cards in your name and change the bill delivery address to something else so that the victim cannot see the totals building. And, they can spend a victim’s money fast!
There are cases of criminals taking out home or car loans in someone else’s name, claiming scholarships to study or simply using the details to gain employment.
When an identity thief uses another person’s details to gain employment, it’s likely that they are an illegal immigrant. The consequences for the victim are the IRS contacting them expecting income tax on wages they never earned.
Victims can spend years trying to clear their name and repair their credit history, sometimes this isn’t successful. Some people even face jail for the crimes of a doppleganger using their name.
It’s frightening how fast an identity thief can destroy a person’s life emotionally and financially and this is exactly why companies like Identity Guard are prospering.
http://www.identityguard.com/ for more details
