The Importance Of Being Proactive When It Comes To Identity Theft

With identity theft stats getting worse, it is more important than ever to be proactive and partner up with a service that will help you protect your good name.

You can take companies in the identity theft business and break them down into two categories. There are the monitoring companies and the protection companies.

Let’s start with the monitoring companies. This is what you are looking for:

1) Monitors all three credit reporting agencies – Using a system that monitors one is better than nothing. However, it doesn’t allow for the best protection. Creditors don’t always report to all three. You want all three agencies monitored for complete safety.
2) Has alerts – Most companies will alert you when something changes on your credit report.
3) Gives you unlimited access to your credit reports and scores – I think that this is critical. It is important to be able to access your credit reports once a month to check over them and make sure everything remains accurate.
4) Identity theft insurance – Most companies have some form of insurance coverage in the event that you are a victim. This could cover lost wages, loss due to identity theft, etc. You want to look at total coverage, deductible, and amount that they cover for lost wages and for how long. This is the one component that can really affect the price.

Then there is the new breed of identity theft protection companies. Take the guy who gives out his social security number in commercials and dares someone to steal his ID. This company is doing nothing more than activating fraud alerts on your credit reports every 90 days. You are paying them to make this phone call for you. In my opinion, they are doing something you can do for yourself. It is not a good use of money.

A fraud alert prompts a creditor to call you first in order to alert you that someone is trying to take out credit in your name. The problem is that this doesn’t always work. Also, according to the law, it is intended to be used if a consumer THINKS they could be or they already are a victim of identity theft.

If you are living in the state of Texas, you could take one step further and place a credit freeze on your credit reports. There is a cost associated with freezing and “un-freezing” your credit. However, this is the most effective way to protect your credit reports.

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