You’re 50 times more likely to have your identity stolen than have your house broken into. You wouldn’t go to bed at night without locking your doors, so why would you go through life without protection for your identity?
You’ve probably seen headlines in the past few years calling out security leaks with major companies like Target, Yahoo, and Chase. Identity Theft has gone up by 18% in the last year alone. And these days, it’s not only financial fraud we are worried about. Having your identity stolen causes a world of problems, and right now it’s the number-one cause of consumer crime in the U.S.
But if you’ve never been a victim yourself, you may wonder what all the fuss is about. Or, you may assume that if it does ever happen to you, the damage can be undone with a simple phone call. That’s probably because Identity Theft still feels like some mysterious, cryptic concept to many people. So let’s shed some light and take a look at how it happens, why it’s a real threat, and what you can do if it happens to you.
Identity Theft is when someone steals any piece of your personal information to pose as you. Your social security number, checking account number, online passwords, and more are valuable to an identity thief. They can use this information about you to open credit cards or bank accounts, change your address, order a driver’s license or start a new lease—all in your name. And more and more, we’re seeing new types of identity theft, including: income tax fraud, medical ID theft, utility fraud, social security benefit fraud, and insurance fraud.
It’s never been easier for hackers to steal our identities.
Just take a moment to think about all the different places and devices where you store your personal information—your name, birth date, social security number, phone number, etc. Over the last several decades, we have become very comfortable with handing out that information to every business and entity that asks for it.
That’s why there have been and will continue to be so many data breaches. No matter how careful you are, the reality of the world we live in is that your information is stored in so many places and can be accessed from almost anywhere, completely outside of your control. Thieves hack into utility companies, doctor’s offices, government agencies, car dealerships, insurance companies to get your information.
Think about it: Your personal information doesn’t really change. You only have one birth date and one social security number. Because of that, your identity could already be threatened without you even realizing it. An identity thief could be sitting on your information right now and wait another year before they do anything with it. Once someone has your information, it puts your credit history, criminal record and even career at risk.
The after-effects of Identity Theft are messy.
Working with creditors and law enforcement takes an average of 600 hours to undo the damage. That’s why ReliaShield provides extra safeguards on the front end, and all the support you need if you become a victim. With a reliable prevention and a restoration program in place, you can avoid the heartache and time lost if it ever happens to you.
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