ALLCHOICE Insurance :: Blog

Identity Theft is a very real threat in our society.  Undoubtedly, you have read the staggering statistics regarding Identity Theft.  If those facts do not make you step back a assess your current Insurance Program, I don’t know what will.  As I have spoken to countless people about the threat of Identity Theft, I have been amazed at the common attitude that exists.  Everyone believes that it can not happen to them.  My intent in writing this series on Identity Theft was to show those same people that, “Yes”, Identity Theft can happen to you!  Let’s start with a series of questions I would like for you to ask yourself (and be honest).

• Have you ever used a Credit or Debit Card?
• Do you sign the back of your Credit or Debit Card?
• Have you ever supplied personal information via the internet?
• Do you keep your Social Security Number in your wallet?
• Received Mail in your personal mailbox?

If you answer “Yes” to any of these questions (by the way, there are hundreds of questions just like this that I could add to the list), then you could be a potential target of Identity Theft.

If you have read Part One and Part Two of this series, you have seen some basic steps or precautions you can take to help stop Identity Theft.  You have also seen the financial impact that an Identity Theft can have on you, not to mention the amount of time an Identity Theft can cost you.  Hopefully, you will understand that you should treat your Identity the same way you treat your other major assets (home, car, life) and look for a good “insurance policy”.

The fact is that the people who look to steal identities, are countless steps ahead of any “Identity Theft Programs” available.  You have undoubtedly heard countless advertisements for various Identity Theft Solutions.  These solutions tend to portray themselves as stopping identity theft.  The fine print, however, lets you know that NO system is 100% effective.  Most solutions involve placing a “freeze” on your credit account (which is something you could do yourself for free).  More importantly, the vast majority of these solutions only deal with Identity Theft involving “finances”.

As you have hopefully learned by now, Identity Theft involves more than just Financial Identity Theft.  The most advertised solutions do nothing to help with the other forms of Identity Theft.  The premise behind these solutions is for them to simply STOP Identity Theft.  Again, no solution can guarantee this.  If I were to design an Identity Theft Solution there are a few things that I would want to have.

• Identity Monitoring (Credit Monitoring, Social Security Number Monitoring, Drivers License Monitoring)
• Dedicated Identity Restoration Specialist
• Service that takes the restoration out of my hands

In a nutshell, I want a service that will monitor everything that deals with my Identity and alert me when something suspicious happens.  Should we determine that someone has stolen my identity, or is attempting to steal my identity, then I simply say “go get ‘em and call me when you are done”.

Unfortunately, after reviewing countless Identity Theft Solutions, it seems that the majority of the solutions offer band-aids.  I found two solutions that best fit my criteria for an Identity Theft Solution:

1. IDwatchdog
2. Identity Theft Shield

While both solutions act in a similar fashion, I do lean more toward the Identity Theft Shield.  The main reason is similar to how I choose any other Insurance Provider.  I look at the track record.  The Identity Theft Shield is a solution from Kroll, Inc.  Kroll is the leading risk management firm on the planet.  In fact, they are the company that was used to track the financial records of Saddam Hussein.  The solution is marketed by Pre-Paid Legal Services.  While there are many people who look down upon Pre-Paid Legal, If you do your research, you will see that they have been in business over 30 years.

Protecting your Identity should be a major concern.  The threat is real.  There are steps that you can take to reduce your exposure, but you should seriously consider purchasing an Insurance Policy for your Identity.

About The Author:  Jack Wingate is the co-founder and President of ALLCHOICE Insurance in Greensboro, NC.  For more information about Identity Theft, Jack Wingate, or ALLCHOICE Insurance, please visit http://www.allchoiceinsurance.com

Identity Theft is a relatively new phenomenon.  Unfortunately, this new phenomenon is also highly misunderstood by the general public.  In Part One of our series on Identity Theft Protection, you learned some high level facts about Identity Theft and some various precautions you can take to guard your Identity.  While Part One gives some practical tips to reduce your exposure to Identity Theft, you must first gain a better understanding of what Identity Theft actually entails.

Identity Theft – It’s Not Just Financial

Unfortunately, most people believe Identity Theft is just about “Financial” Fraud.  The fact is, “Financial Fraud” accounts for approximately 30% – 40% of all Identity Theft.  While this form of ID Theft is the most obvious, it is also the easiest to discover and recover from.  Most financial institutions (Banks & Credit Card Providers) have systems in place to detect fraudulent activity on a person’s account.  These same institutions typically have “reimbursement” plans in place to return any funds taken from or charged against their customers’ accounts.  There are limitations and time constraints placed on these “reimbursements”, so it is imperative you read your financial institution’s policies as they relate to fraudulent activity.

While you know about Identity Theft with regard to Financial Fraud, you must also understand that the majority of Identity Theft involves theft for something other than Financial Fraud.  Let’s look at a break down of the Non-Financial Forms of Identity Theft:

• Driver’s License
• Employment
• Government
• Medical (fastest growing segment)

Of course, you could potentially break down Identity Theft into many more segments and categories, for our purposes we will focus on these major categories.

Who Are The Victims?

According to a recent study, there were approximately 10 million victims of Identity Theft in 2008.  As should be expected, households with higher incomes were twice as likely to be victims of Identity Theft as low income households.  What may be unexpected is that those households considered to be “higher income” had household incomes of $70,000 or higher (that is only a man and wife making $35K each).

Discovery & Recovery

One of the disturbing facts about Identity Theft is that 38-48% of people discover the theft within three months and that approximately 18% of victims do not discover the theft until 4 or more YEARS have passed.  While identity thieves have access to advanced technology and systems to steal our identities, there are similar technologies and systems in place for the public to discover these thefts.  The problem is, the general public has been slow to adopt these strategies (the it won’t happen to me syndrome).

As disturbing as the previous statistics are, the most important statistics deal with the Recovery of one’s identity.  The average victim of Identity Theft (according to a 2004 study) spends 330 hours repairing the damage caused by a theft.  The vast majority of victims spend between 3 months to 1 year.  As we all know, time is precious.  The fact is the actual monetary loss resulting from an Identity Theft is only about $1,200.  The real cost of an Identity Theft is in the time spent recovering from a theft.  The math is simple, take your hourly wage rate and multiply by the time spent recovering your ID (example a person that make $30K per year earns approx $14.42 per hour / multiplied by 330 hours (average) equals $4,758).

Hopefully this article has given you an understanding about the types of Identity Theft as well as the cost(s) associated with a theft.  Combined with the knowledge gained in Part One of this series, you should now be prepared to determine if you need to look for “Insurance” and what “Insurance Plan” is best.

About the Author:  Jack Wingate is the President and Co-Founder of ALLCHOICE Insurance in Greensboro, NC.  FOr more information about Identity Theft, Jack Wingate, or ALLCHOICE Insurance please visit http://www.allchoiceinsurance.com

Identity Theft is the number one white collar crime in the United States.  According to the Federal Trade Commission, Over 10 Million people fall victim to Identity Theft each year.  Stories of Identity Theft are all around.  Whether you heard about a neighbor or friend who had some mysterious “stuff” show up on his or her credit, or the news of over 130 Million personal records being jeopardized by a former government employee, the threat is there.  Unfortunately, most people still have no form of protection for their personal identity.

Fortunately, there are numerous companies offering varying plans that claim to protect your identity.  Unfortunately, most of these “plans” can’t live up to the promises that they have made.  One of the largest players in the Identity Theft market spends a lot of money on advertising his program.  The commercials show this guy handing out his social security number to people on the street, and even has a billboard truck riding down the road displaying his social security number.  “Wow!  If that guy does that then his system must really work!”  Not so fast!  This guy, who goes around touting his own system has had is Identity Stolen at least 8 times.

Let’s face facts.  There is no solution out there that can 100% Guarantee you that your identity will not be stolen.  The thieves that master Identity Theft are one step ahead of these protection systems most of the time.  So, the question that arises should be, “what can I do?”  First, you must change the way you think.  Identity Theft is an ever evolving crime.  You can never account for or protect all of the ways that your identity could be stolen.  Instead, I want you to think of protecting your identity the same way you think of protecting your home or automobile.

Just like your home or automobile, you take steps to protect those assets.  You make sure you keep the asset in good working order.  You lock doors.  You remove fire hazards.  You do a multitude or things to help prevent losses.  However, you know that no matter how much you do, there is always a chance that something will cause your precious asset to be harmed, like a fire or hurricane.  So what do you do?  You purchase an insurance policy for those risks that you just can shield from loss.

Identity Theft should be viewed in the same light.  Here are a few steps you can take to reduce your exposure to Identity Theft:

• Monitor Your Credit Report
• Don’t Give Out Personal Information Indiscriminately
• Be Careful With Your Mail
• Guard Your Trash
• Only Give Out Your Social Security Number When Necessary
• Pay Attention To Billing Cycles
• Exercise Caution Online
• Remove Personal Information From Old Computers
• Monitor Your Motor Vehicle Report
• Review Your Social Security Statement
• Monitor Your Medical Records

Now that you know the precautions and steps to take to reduce your exposure, it is now time for you to look for some “insurance”.

Future Articles will provide more information on exactly what Identity Theft is and the best type of “insurance” to buy.

About The Author:  Jack Wingate is the President and Co-Founder of ALLCHOICE Insurance in Greensboro, NC.  For more information about Identity Theft, Jack Wingate, or ALLCHOICE Insurance please visit http://www.allchoiceinsurance.com