Free Isn’t “Free” When It Comes to Protecting Your Identity
Although the federal government has made it possible for each citizen to protect their identity by accessing free credit reports, initiating free fraud alerts and, placing their name and contact information on “do not call” or mail lists, many individuals do not realize that they must continuously request these “free” services in order to continue to protect their identity. When you consider the amount of time it takes to repeatedly request these “free” services and calculate the risks involved in forgetting to put these protective measures in place, “free” can turn into thousands of hours spent trying to restore one’s good name and credit and thousands of dollars of financial ruin. When it comes down to it, if time equals money, then free is not “free” when it comes to protecting your identity. There is however, an economic way to protect your identity and prevent identity theft through a company called LifeLock. LifeLock’s Identity Theft Prevention services can help you protect your identity and prevent identity theft in six valuable ways.
1. Fraud Alerts - Fraud Alerts are one way to protect your identity. Although placing a fraud alert on your credit file with each of the 3 major credit bureaus is free, in order to benefit from having a fraud alert on your credit file, you must request a new alert every 90 days. LifeLock takes the time and effort out of remembering to request fraud alerts by requesting these alerts for you every 90 days. Through this service, LifeLock ensures that there are no lapses in Fraud Alerts on your credit report.
2. Do Not Call or Mail Lists - LifeLock protects your identity by removing your name from pre-approved credit card mailing lists and by placing your name on “do-not-call” lists on an annual basis. Identity thieves can easily steal your identity and affect your credit status is by taking pre-approved credit card offers from your mailbox. They can also act as telemarketers and call to tell you that you have won a free trip and then ask for your credit card number in order to pay for the expenses not covered by the award. LifeLock makes it easy for you to remove your name from solicitation lists and prevent this type of identity theft.
3. Credit Reports - Being sure to check your credit report is a good way to help protect your identity. By checking your credit report, you can see if you have had any unauthorized loans or credit cards opened in your name. Although the federal government has made it a law for you to receive a free credit report from each of the 3 credit agencies yearly, the only way to ensure that your credit is checked all year long is to request a credit report from one of the credit agencies every 4 months. This can be very time consuming and cumbersome. LifeLock takes the time and effort out of remembering to pull your credit report by sending you a copy of your credit report four times a year.
4. WalletLock - If you really want to protect your identity, don’t lose your wallet. Of course, that is easier said than done. If you have ever lost your wallet, chances are you have experienced a sense of fear and panic and thought, “What was in my wallet and how do I stop someone from using my credit cards?” With LifeLock’s WalletLock system, there is no need to feel fear or panic if you lose your wallet. Through WalletLock you will be able to identify what was in your wallet and will be assigned a WalletLock specialist who will help you contact each credit card company, banking institution, and any state and federal agencies who issue driver’s licenses, etc. to cancel the accounts and to begin the process of reinstating missing documents.
5. Identity Monitoring -LifeLock provides an additional way of preventing identity theft from occurring through its eRecon and TrueAddress systems. eRecon protects your identity through searching criminal websites for the selling or trading of your personal information and notifies you if such use is discovered. TrueAddress works by detecting any change of address information attached to your name in nationwide databases. You will then be alerted if a criminal tries to steal your mail or obtain your financial information by attempting to change your address. LifeLock also ensures that new bank accounts are not opened in a member’s name by monitoring check systems.
6. Recovering Your Identity - Because there is no way to prevent all forms of identity theft, LifeLock offers a $1,000,000 total service guarantee if someone happens to discover a weakness in their system and uses it to steal your identity. If necessary, LifeLock will provide attorneys, investigators, accountants, case managers, etc. to restore your good name and, if you lose money as a result of the theft, LifeLock will reimburse you the amount of money lost. In fact, Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock has been quoted as saying “If you get thrown in jail [because of identity theft], we’ll bail you out of jail.”
Deciding to protect your identity and choosing the way in which you go about protecting your identity is completely up to you. There are ways to protect your identity which will only cost you in terms of time and effort vs. money; however, there is no guarantee that you will recover your money and good name if your identity is stolen. The time, effort and money involved in protecting your identity and in having your identity stolen and credit ruined is incalculable. A smart consumer knows when it is time to ask, “When is free actually “free” when it comes to protecting my identity?” LifeLock’s Identity Protection and Theft Prevention services take the time and effort out of you protecting your identity and backs up their work with a guarantee that any money involved, up to one million dollars, in restoring your good name, credit and money lost if your identity is stolen while you are a member of LifeLock will not come out of your pocket.
About the Author:
Jed Jenson is full of identity theft tips. To get more advice about how to prevent identity theft, keep reading.