It's not something I thought about - my identity and that of my children. It's not something I considered a top priority to monitor and make sure it was protected. Then we pulled our credit reports, and I saw a suspicious account using my name. After investigation, and even talking to the police, I learned that the account was opened by my mother while I was a still a minor. She used my information to open an account. A little messed up, but after providing the company with solid proof that I was a minor at the time the account was opened, it was cleared from my credit report.
Had we not decided to start monitoring our credit, I would have never never known.
It's important to keep an eye on what's going on, and with LifeLock, you can rest a little easier. They'll send you alerts if anything pops up, anything suspicious and bam, you can get an email or even a text alert. No more waiting for that free annual credit report from the top three credit bureaus to spot anything strange, now as soon as it happens you can know.
Have you ever thought about just HOW your identity can be stolen? Let's look at a few ways:
Dumpster Diving: Criminals pull trash and find receipts, old bills, whatever you've thrown away with your personal information printed on it
Stolen Wallet: Pretty obvious one. Take a look at the contents of your wallet - bank cards, credit cards, license, maybe even your Social Security card is in there. All gone in a second.
"Shoulder Surfing": Use a public computer, like at a library or school? Someone could be watching over your shoulder and taking notes on your account information while your pay your electric bill.
You can read more about how your identity can be stolen on the
LifeLock website.
Since we've kept tabs on everything, I have no alerts for my name or address according to the site. There is a whole profile of information to fill out - the contents of your wallet, credit cards, even your home address to make sure no one is using any form of your personal information in a criminal manner.
You can check out the services that LifeLock offers on their website.
To help you in 2013 protect yourself and your family, we're giving away a ONE YEAR MEMBERSHIP to LifeLock to one lucky reader!
How to enter:
*Mandatory* Leave a comment and tell us if you are monitoring your personal information or not. Do you shred your personal papers? Encrypt passwords and vary them amongst accounts? What other measures are you taking?
Bonus entries:
*Leave a comment for each action that you complete*
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Giveaway is open to all US residents only, age 18+. Giveaway will end 12/14 11:59pm EST and winner will be drawn at random from all valid entries.
Membership was provided to facilitate review. All opinions are of post author.
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Comments (2)
This was excellent information. I keep equinox information where I can find it. Also, a file cabinet that locks helps, I know it's not perfect, but it's also fireproof. Receipts from the bank that are not needed are usually soaked in water and rolled in a ball. When dried, they just flake up when someone tries to get to them. Or, they can be burned, outside, easily. We change our debit and credit card numbers yearly. My first sister-in-law had a mother who grabbled all her social security checks from her and her brothers while growing up for herself. Their father had passed, and I'm sure it can't be done now, it's been a long time, but when my sister in law went to get her money to register for school it was gone. I'm sure there are check systems for those who have received government funds while underage.
I'm probably not doing as well at this as I should. I do not monitor my personal info other than I do check my credit records occasionally and I shred personal papers. I vary my passwords among accounts too.. I am very careful about websites where I enter info.
magloro@gmail.com