As stories of identity theft rise so does our concern over how to protect ourselves. Many people purchase identity theft protection services, but are they worth it?
Not really when you think of what they don’t cover. For up to $189 per year you will not be protected against:
*someone fraudulently filing tax returns in your name
*account takeovers
*misuse of credit or debit cards
*prior instances of identity theft
*the establishment of personal identity in your name
That leaves a lot of things unprotected but even worse than that, most of the “services” they provide consumers can get for themselves, for free.
Some of the most important things you can do to prevent identity theft are:
*periodically review your credit report. You can get a free one every year, they really are free, all these services that ask you to sign up for a monitoring system to get the free credit report are just another scam, everyone is entitled to an absolutely free credit report every year. Contact the credit reporting agencies directly.
*place a 90 day fraud alert on your credit report. This is free, you just need to renew it every three months. It will alert potential creditors to investigate any application prior to issuing credit or goods.
*You can also freeze your credit report which will keep potential creditors from getting access to your credit report so they will not approve the application.
*stop all unsolicited credit offers by opting out at www.optoutprescreen.com
*purchase a cross cut shredder. Most identity theft still comes from dumpster diving.
*replace your mailbox with one that will lock with just a slot for mail. An amazing number of credit cards and checks are stolen right out of your mailbox.
None of these things require you to pay someone else a monthly fee. You also have rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Take charge of your own identity protection.