Make a Sound Investment with Identity Fraud Protection

We almost always make necessary and sound investments in our lives. These are investments that will not only enhance our profits but most especially one that would protect us from harm. Preventing our identity, properties and money from falling into the wrong hands should be on our top priorities. However, the incidents of identity fraud have been on the rise over the past few years and more people are falling victims of this crime. Unfortunately, most victims only discover this crime when it is already too late. Hence, it is important to know how we can prevent it from happening to us and to take action immediately.

·         Start by checking your credit reports.

Your credit report contains all the accounts opened under your name as well as your security number. You can get free copies of you annual credit report from Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. By checking and monitoring your credit reports, you can easily check for inaccuracies and detect any suspicious activities.

·         You can avail of identity fraud protection services.

This program allows you to detect your identity risk score to determine your actual risk of becoming a victim of identity fraud. If you know your risk score it would be easier for you to decide on which steps to take to make your identity more secure. It also helps in identity fraud  detection. It alerts a person of any suspicious activities, changes in risk level as well as fraud allowing you to take immediate actions to prevent perpetrators from succeeding. Taking the most effective identityprotection measures is a sound investment you will never regret. 

Consequences of Identity fraud and How You can Prevent It

Identity theft happens when a third person uses your name or identity without your authorization to enter into fraudulent transactions and to commit a crime. They use your own personal and confidential information to derive gain at your expense. By using your name, Social Security number, contact details and credit card numbers, they make it appear as if you are the one who is actually using these without any knowledge on your part. Identity theft definitely costs you money as these thieves are using your own resources to benefit themselves. This is surely a big burden since you are left to deal with money loss and have no guarantee that you will be able to get it back. Aside from losing time and money, you can also be mistakenly imprisoned and incur debts without your knowledge.

To prevent all these things from happening to you, you have to get extra security and protection. Identity fraud protection helps in monitoring your financial and credit activities so you will immediately know of any suspicious activity. You will also be provided a program or software to protect your computer from hackers who try to obtain the relevant personal information contained in your system. Such software will also detect computer viruses and spywares which enables a third person to access your computer. Other than offering protection, they also provide recovery services in case you become a victim of identity theft. This means that your pre-theft credit status is restored and your savings cannot be readily used by thieves. Ideal identity protection services should be one which covers all the bases from prevention to treatment or in the case of identity theft, restoration.

Features of Professional Identity Fraud Protection Services

Identity theft is becoming a major problem as we move on to paperless and online transactions. Almost all of the confidential and essential personal information are stored and accessed through computers. Thus, identity thieves and hackers can download this information and use it to benefit themselves to your detriment. Your name and other personal information are used to pay their bills, credit accounts, online transactions, loan applications and other activities. Usually, these happen without you knowing and when you find out about it, it’s already too late. Thus, it is important to be vigilant and to avail of as much protection as you can. You can do this by taking actions personally through keeping track of your credit reports with a detailed credit activity. You can freeze it so that new creditors cannot access your credit report and may be wary to issue credit to unauthorized persons. Though these steps greatly help in protecting yourself from identity theft, you may want more security. More protection is certainly better than less protection. It is best to get professional identity fraud protection services from a reliable provider.

Professional Identity Protection

These services provide a more airtight identity protection. You can undertake steps to be more secure but you can only do so much. The people who hack into your accounts and enrich themselves at your expense are experts in this type of fraud. Thus, professionals and experts are more equipped and skilled to protect you. By having identity fraud protection services for a reasonable fee, you can rest easy that while you are not constantly keeping an eye on your online activities and transactions, someone is. This is less hassle and less worry on your part. Surely, peace of mind is enough return for your investment in these services.

Features

 Security

Not all providers or software offer the same level of protection so you must choose an identity fraud detection service which protects more information than others. Additional security features to ensure that your information remains safe include protection against computer hackers and viruses, spywares and malwares and fraud monitoring and detections. Fraud alerts may be triggered by any suspicious activity or changes in risk level. 

 Recovery Assistance

While the identity fraud protection system is a preventive tool against identity fraud, it is also equipped with the proper tools and solutions just in case it happens. It can restore your credit and recover erroneous payments, stolen information, provide notification to creditors and aid you in filing the required reports among others.

 Customer Support

Customer support is available to aid you every step of the way in ensuring your protection. Personnel who are willing and able to help are always available to answer your queries and provide solutions in case you encounter problems. This way you gain more knowledge on how to secure yourself in addition to the services provided. 

 Others

Identity fraud protection services also have extra or added features to ensure more protection like excluding your name from mailing lists and a customized plan to protect your entire family.

It is better to be safe than sorry so invest in products and services that will ensure your protection in the most effective way. 

Identity Protection Solutions You Should Know to Keep You Secure

There are plenty of individuals who are turning a blind eye to the importance of Identity theft protection because they think that it is an investment that is not worth it. Well, I can concur with the notion that identity theft insurance companies are no good because they can only help when the theft has already occurred and not prevent it from happening. They will only come to the rescue after a client has been victimized and the total money that has been stolen cannot be wholly recovered or replaced. But take note, this is only about identity theft insurance; there are actually a myriad of other ways where you can secure yourself and even your business with the right type of fraud protection service.

To help you decide whether getting identity theft insurance will be beneficial for you or not, you can check your financial status first through your credit scores. If the scores are good, then there is no need to get insurance at this point and you can opt for other forms of ID protection instead. But why go through the hassle, not to mention the extra expense of securing your identity from scammers and thieves? Statistics have shown that identity theft victims in the United States are already reaching by the millions every year. That means that these thieves are enjoying a lucrative business venture by stealing your credit card information, then using your identity to transact with merchants and poof! Your hard earned money gets lost and you will not be able to recover it even if the thieves get caught. Hence, it is highly important that you are prepared for such an unlucky situation for the simple reason that it can very happen to you anytime and anywhere.

The good news is, there are now tools and applications that you can utilize to proactively manage your online identity and save yourself the hassle of having to deal with a ruined financial reputation should your credit card details get stolen. These can help you with timely detection through identity vulnerabilities, suspicious activity, fraud and changes in risk level. For protection, the tools will guard you against hackers, spyware, malware and computer viruses, saving you fees on repair should severe damage result from these malicious programs. What’s more, the identity theft protection tools can also aid in the restoration of your information in the unfortunate event that the thieves are very smart to penetrate your system. These are the restoration of your credit right from the pre-theft status and the reimbursement of any out-of-pocket expenses incurred related to the theft.

Aside from the tools and programs, you should also do your part in making your identity safe from prying eyes by observing proper measures that do not have to cost money. These include checking credit card bills thoroughly, shredding financial documents immediately, being vigilant of sharing your information while doing online transactions and taking note of multiple swipes. Practice them diligently so that your card and your identity will be safeguarded with the best security, that of being mindful whenever you use them.

Ways to Maximize Identity Theft Protection

Since employers receive a lot of online communication from their employees, it is just a practical business practice to have their backgrounds checked. Other than that, they also have to be trained not to be lenient about their own data and accounts while at work to minimize their vulnerability towards identity theft. They may not have been aware of it, but big chances are when one of their company email accounts falls on the wrong hands, the whole company can be in peril too. In fact, even if they maintain protective measures for their various accounts to ensure the safety of both their personal and company emails, hackers can still break through their system and that of the company, as well. Hence, if you are an employer who wants to strengthen your employees’ and that of your business’ online presence, you should make the necessary steps in securing the identity theft protection of every personnel. Having a back-up plan even when the problem have not happened yet falls under risk management and must be implemented even with SMEs. Remember, prevention is so much better than cure and how much more when it comes to protecting your data and trade secrets.

As for individuals, credit card transactions whether done in behalf of the company or as a personal purchase can be easily hacked too. We all have heard the horror of others when they discovered that someone has used their credit card accounts without them knowing to the tune of thousands of dollars. So how to add more security measures to these very real online threats? What are the ways to ensure that your identity will not be stolen despite the proliferation of various technologies that hackers easily abuse? Good thing, there are now numerous types of software that aims to counter these vulnerabilities and makes identity protection stronger.

One such effective solution is a kind of software that is called IDSmarter that provide tools and applications which will proactively manage the health of your identity. The following are its main features that companies and individuals can take advantage of.

Protection

IDSmarter gives you the tools to proactively defend your identity against:

• Computer Viruses
• Hackers
• Spyware
• Malware

Detection

IDSmarter helps halt fraud before real damage is done by detecting:

• Suspicious acitivity
• Changes in risk level
• Identity vulnerabilities
• Fraud

Restoration

IDSmarter members are appointed an ICFE Certified Restoration Specialist to help:

• Restore your credit to pre-theft status
• Reimburse you for any out-of-pocket expenses

Another key feature of ID Smarter that helps its users maximize identity fraud protection is the Identity Risk Score. It is a score ranging from 1-999 which is generated statistically and describes your overall risk to identity theft. This identity score will optimize your identity protection by leveraging the same monitoring technology utilized by large corporations involved in financial services, telecommunications, retail and many other industries. Aside from the ID Score, a qualitative assessment such as Low, Moderate and high will also be given to you so that you will better understand the level of risk associate with your score.

identity protection