October 8, 2020 | By Nicholas Goodwin, Esq.
With all of the data breaches and stories about identity theft, it’s easy to get numb to all of the bad news and scary stories. After all, how can identity theft really affect my family? The answers might surprise you!
First, the identity theft “crisis” isn’t any more a crisis than the epidemic of home fires or auto accidents. It’s not a reason to disengage from technology, or to run and hide from the internet (unless you need some quiet time from social media!) or shut down all your credit cards. It’s just “a thing”.
Don’t get me wrong, identity theft is a very serious issue just like a house fire or an auto accident, but just like those, you simply need to make sure you totally understand the risk, and then make sure that you have the right protection in place to fix any damage when it happens (just like your car insurance!). And you can do that!
KNOW THIS: as much as we have heard about credit freezes and credit card frauds, most true identity thefts come from outside your finances. When it comes to identity theft, you should really be asking yourself:
- What would you do if you found that your driver’s license had been suspended because someone else used it?
- What if your teenage daughter was denied entry to her chosen university due to the criminal record she didn’t know about?
- What if you woke up tomorrow to find the police at your door to arrest you for drug trafficking?
- What if someone reported $30,000 of income in your name and left you to pay the taxes?
I know it sounds crazy, but ALL of these are real situations of identity theft that happened to real people and the bottom line is that you need to know when they are happening to you!
So make sure you are watching ALL areas of your identity. Remember that the thieves aren’t after your credit card; their goal is to BE you!
They want to be you for many reasons you might not ever think of. So instead of watching just credit, make sure you carefully monitor the 5 key identifiers that make you who you are; your name, address, date of birth, social security number, driver’s license.
And if you are choosing a service to help you do this, just like the right car insurance, protecting yourself from identity theft gets even easier! Just make sure your coverage accomplishes two things:
- It watches your 5 key identifiers (at least!) as close to their source as possible and for activity on places like the dark web.
- It provides guaranteed “Power of Attorney” restoration services that will have professional investigators restore your records with no limit on how long that might take.
These days, just like great insurance companies, there are great identity theft services! Just like you’d want know how your health, auto, and home owner’s insurance works before your home, car, or health burned down, make sure you know exactly how your identity theft restoration will be handled, because the day that your identity burns down is not the day to find out.
If you would like help from experts to determine how to put an identity theft firewall in front of your family or business call DataGuard Partners at (855)294-0888. We would be happy to help!
