ID Theft Protection

Like a lot of victims of identity theft, Steven Comeau was alerted to the crime when a collection agency called and wanted to know why he was behind on his payments. Nonetheless Comeau’s case became anything but common. Criminals had utilized his private details to get a personal loan for real estate in New York.

That was in 2001, and Comeau, an IT manager in South Brunswick, New Jersey, was in 2005 still going through the effects from the identity fraud. When Comeau and his wife, Magda, tried to buy a home in late April, they learned that Steve’s credit profile listed a mortage default. In May, he received a phone call from a lawyer representing an investment group which wished to buy the building. “It never ends.” he says.

What’s different currently is the plethora of identity theft protection services existing for the general public. The identity theft services industry has exploded with services like Lifelock, TrustedID, and Identity Guard offering innovative solutions to safeguard you against identity theft.Choosing the right identity theft service for your needs can be confusing. While some companies offer you similiar services, others vary widely in their solution to identity fraud protection. You can obtain more information and facts on preventing identity theft here, including the highest rated protection plans and top editor picks.

Have you ever imagined what could happen to you if your identity were stolen? Getting turned down for a loan or job because of supposed bad credit? Being rushed to the hospital and given the wrong type of blood because someone else piggybacked on your health coverage? Having your checking account drained of all your money? These may be menacing situations, but how likely is this to happen to you? Unfortunately, an identity is stolen every 4 seconds in the US. Here are just a few recent case studies:

  • A single mother was arrested for supposedly having given birth to and deserted a cocaine-addicted baby. To fight the charges of neglect and endangerment, she had to establish that another individual had given her information during birth.
  • An international crime ring used the identity of a large corporation’s chairman for unlawful drug transactions. One morning, the unsuspecting victim was awakened by law enforment agents in his home, who tried to arrest him at gunpoint. After spending quite a bit of time and money, he eventually proved that he was involved in any criminal activity, but only after quite a bit a trauma.
  • A federal prosecuter who’d put hundreds of identity thieves beind bars found out she’d become the victim of identity theft when thousands of dollars was withdrawn from her checking account. Her data had been stolen from a medical facility database.

You may have observed, your own vigilance might not be sufficient. Although you may protect your personal details like a Secret Service agent protecting the president, you have little control over issues such as indifferent credit insurance policies, the careless security measures of certain companies , and ineffective privacy laws. Someone might not purchase property with your information for instance what happened to Steve Comeau, still you can never be positive what criminals will be able to do with your information. Even though not anything can promise you will not become an identity fraud victim, you can certainly raise your odds you won’t be by taking a few simple precautions. You can find more information about identity fraud protection and how identity theft protection services compare against each other here.