Last week I wrote about a scam that could sucker you out of 50 bucks but this week I am going to talk about the greatest possible scam out there, Identity Theft. 457-55-5462 You may recognize this number as the Social security number of the Lifelock CEO Todd Davis. They are the innovative identity theft protection site that is ROCKING THE INDUSTRY. Their shtick is that they are so confident in their service that they are willing to publish the CEO’s SSN.

What’s the process? This is how it works, Lifelock ask the credit bureaus to set fraud alerts on your behalf. This is done through their automated systems and the alerts are set within an hour. These fraud alerts last for about 90 days, and then they proactively go in and update the system at about the 80th day and reset the process again.

I have been using the Equifax protection service for years and once I knew that there was an alternative out here that is not just a reporting engine but is actually proactive about my identity protection I just had to give it a try. Let me give you an example, if someone is down at Sears and is applying for credit with your social security number, one will block prior to approval and the other would notify you that a new account has been established.

FAST FACTS:

• Identity Theft is the fastest growing crime in America
• More than 27 million identities have been stolen
• More than 15 million identities will be stolen this year
• You are 25 times more likely to have your identity stolen than to have your car broken into.
• You are 40 times more like to have your identity stolen than your home broken into.
• It takes consumers an average of 177 hours and two years to restore their identities after it has been stolen.

One of my favorite features of the services is the removal from pre-approved credit card and junk mail lists and they keep updating these requests as they expire. Discarded mail or stolen mail is one of the most common ways that thieves hijack identities.

The Guarantee
If your Identity is misused while you are our client, we’ll spend up to $1,000,000 to make it right. I have been a client for a while, and I have yet to receive that dredged phone call that someone is trying to open up an account with my name, but I have done my due diligence and I feel comfortable that I am really protected.
If you don’t think this is a problem, take a look at these news articles just from August.

Texas Billionaire Identity Theft target
FTC Page on Identity Theft

Man gets 6 years for Identity Theft

Consider signing your parents up for this service even if you don’t need it. This article written today states that 20% of Identity Theft happens to Senior citizens.