Identity Monitoring and Your Risk Of Identity Theft
Ken S asked:
Did you know an identity is stolen every three seconds? It is true. Identity theft the fastest growing crime in America. Over the last three years, approximately 49 million Americans were told that their personal information was lost, stolen, or improperly disclosed by government agencies, banks, or various other companies, according to a recent study. Although most respondents said nothing negative happened as a consequence, 19% reported that those breaches led to unauthorized credit card charges, bank account losses, or other forms of identity fraud. Nineteen percent may not seem like a lot, but when you do the calculations, that equals over 9.3 million people!
Just four months ago, personal information was compromised for about 800,000 individuals who applied for jobs at the Gap when a laptop was stolen from an employee. The stolen computer held personal data, including social security numbers, for people who applied online or by phone for positions with the company’s Old Navy, Banana Republic, Gap, and outlet stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico between July 2006 and June 2007.
As recently as last month, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey notified its members that an employee laptop computer containing personal information for about 300,000 individuals was stolen in Newark, New Jersey on January 5th. Although the computer contained no medical information, it did contain the names, addresses, and social security numbers of these individuals.
The health insurance giant, serving more than 3.3 million people across the state, said there was no reason to believe any of the information was compromised because it was protected by password and other security features on the computer. The scary thing though, is that the data was not encrypted. Because of this, affected individuals were offered free credit monitoring for one year. That way, if any seemingly fraudulent activity were to occur, individuals would be notified by the service right away.
Identity theft is an ever growing risk. Identity monitoring should be a part of your ongoing identity theft prevention and detection practice. There are two of ways that you can go about it. Do it yourself, or have a service do it for you. If you do it yourself, be very diligent and check your credit report every four to six months at the very least. Monitoring your credit report may not prevent your identity from being stolen, but statistics show that if an identity theft goes undetected for 6 months or longer, the victim will suffer greater financial damage averaging $5,000, and a more difficult resolution taking an average of 400 hours to resolve.
Whether you choose to do it yourself, or use an identity monitoring service, recognize that the risk of identity theft is real. You must be proactive to combat this crime. If you do not protect yourself, you are at risk. It is that simple.
Joseph
Did you know an identity is stolen every three seconds? It is true. Identity theft the fastest growing crime in America. Over the last three years, approximately 49 million Americans were told that their personal information was lost, stolen, or improperly disclosed by government agencies, banks, or various other companies, according to a recent study. Although most respondents said nothing negative happened as a consequence, 19% reported that those breaches led to unauthorized credit card charges, bank account losses, or other forms of identity fraud. Nineteen percent may not seem like a lot, but when you do the calculations, that equals over 9.3 million people!
Just four months ago, personal information was compromised for about 800,000 individuals who applied for jobs at the Gap when a laptop was stolen from an employee. The stolen computer held personal data, including social security numbers, for people who applied online or by phone for positions with the company’s Old Navy, Banana Republic, Gap, and outlet stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico between July 2006 and June 2007.
As recently as last month, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey notified its members that an employee laptop computer containing personal information for about 300,000 individuals was stolen in Newark, New Jersey on January 5th. Although the computer contained no medical information, it did contain the names, addresses, and social security numbers of these individuals.
The health insurance giant, serving more than 3.3 million people across the state, said there was no reason to believe any of the information was compromised because it was protected by password and other security features on the computer. The scary thing though, is that the data was not encrypted. Because of this, affected individuals were offered free credit monitoring for one year. That way, if any seemingly fraudulent activity were to occur, individuals would be notified by the service right away.
Identity theft is an ever growing risk. Identity monitoring should be a part of your ongoing identity theft prevention and detection practice. There are two of ways that you can go about it. Do it yourself, or have a service do it for you. If you do it yourself, be very diligent and check your credit report every four to six months at the very least. Monitoring your credit report may not prevent your identity from being stolen, but statistics show that if an identity theft goes undetected for 6 months or longer, the victim will suffer greater financial damage averaging $5,000, and a more difficult resolution taking an average of 400 hours to resolve.
Whether you choose to do it yourself, or use an identity monitoring service, recognize that the risk of identity theft is real. You must be proactive to combat this crime. If you do not protect yourself, you are at risk. It is that simple.
Joseph
