How to protect yourself from Identity Theft

Identity theft is on the rise and every year hundreds of thousands Identities are stolen for fraudulent purposes. ID theft can happen to everyone. Sometimes it is a family member with easy access to your personal data, in other cases your personal data is stolen from a database or when some “loses” your data (stolen company laptops, etc.). Sometimes you get notified that your data was stolen, sometimes you don’t know about it until it is too late.

The best way of protection is being pro-active. Pro-active means to put countermeasures in place that reduce the risk of fraudulent activity under your name or completely eliminate the risk of your data being misused. The most practicable solution is somewhere in the middle. Sure, you can put a credit freeze onto your credit report accounts with the 3 major credit bureaus, but it becomes a hassle when you need “access” to your accounts (example: applying for a car loan at a car dealership, etc.).

An easier way to protect yourself is to use a credit report monitoring solution + ID theft protection. There are different providers offering these services, but all offers are different. I recently tested an offer from Experian. They market this product under the “Protect My ID” brand name. I like this offer quite a bit as it comes with a free 30 day trial – allowing plenty of time to review and test the service.

“Protect My ID” provides standard credit report monitoring combined with additional features in regards to ID theft. They also protect your credit cards and debit cards and cover losses from theft or fraudulent activity that is not covered by your bank. If ID theft activity is discovered, they will partner you with a dedicated Identity Theft Resolution Professional who will help you a) stop the ID theft and b) restore your good name and credit report to its original state. ProtectMyID.com will also reimburse you for lost wages, legal fees and stolen funds not reimbursed by your creditors, as long as you are a member and report an identity theft in a timely manner.

The features of this plan go beyond of what other plans offer. I really like the part that they cover my losses not covered by my bank or credit card company + that you get a dedicated contact to work with to clean up. This alone is worth thousands of dollars. On average it will cost you $3,000 – $5,000 to cleanup ID theft – unless you employ the protection of an ID theft protection plan like this one. The associated cost of $9.95 for being protected is extremely affordable. I have found several other plans that offer  less protection at a much higher price. Check out “Protect My ID” if you want your Identity protected from theft.