| 03 March 2010
Identity theft is on the rise, partly thanks to a weak economy. A recent article (Report: ID Fraud Grows At Record Pace) summarizes an annual survey done by Javelin Strategy and Research that shows approximately 11 million people experienced identity theft in 2009. We know of people here in Minneapolis that are still cleaning up the mess from losing their identity. So BGM brought in an expert to do a workshop in early February for our clients and we will include these discussions more in our client meetings. We loved some of the ideas that were discussed. Here are the top three:
- Review your credit reports (www.annualcreditreport.com) - Since you can get one from each of the three credit reporting agencies on this government website, we suggest you stager it and look at one every four months. That way you spread out your review over the entire year and will catch things more readily.
- Check your homeowner's policy - The reality of identity theft these days is that most losses will be covered by credit card companies and banks as long as you did not contribute to the loss. But that does not reimburse you for your time, legal fees or other expenditures (mailing, notary public, out of pocket costs). For a few dollars you can usually add a rider to your homeowner's policy that covers these expenses up to a certain dollar amount.
- Copy the front and back of every card in your wallet; and keep those copies in a safe at home. Many people will do this and place the copies in a safety deposit box at the bank. But what if you get a credit card stolen on a weekend? You will want to get in touch with companies quickly; so have the information close at hand.
There were many more than this but it is also important to note that just paying attention is half the battle. Paying attention means not ignoring the basics. Be careful who you give your credit card to, do not hand out your social security number for almost any reason, and go home right now and look at your passwords on your computer. According to PCMagazine, the most commonly used password is "password" with the second one being "123456."
Identity theft is growing and in the end you can do things to protect yourself while still living your life. Paranoia is not needed, but we need to start considering our risks from the point of view of the criminal.