My wife just found out there’s a car loan and several other credit accounts showing on her credit history that are not hers.
But I’m not worried, and I’ll tell you why. But think about this first:
If you’re a real estate investor and you get hit with identity theft, you might be out of business for a while. There won’t be any way for you to get new loans, or do refi’s and it will even become difficult or impossible
to get basic utility services.
The reason I’m not worried is because I pay a measly $12 or so per month to have a really reputable company keep me updated on changes to my and my wife’s credit history. I’m not big into promoting this type of stuff but I’ve got to tell you that my mind is far more at ease than it otherwise would be.
(This has NOTHING to do with that idiot on the radio who tells everyone his social security number. He has several class action lawsuits against him right now…)
Please check this out. It’s dirt cheap and a really great solution that’s saving our hides right now: Identity Theft Shield.
I also have Identity Theft Shield and like that I get monthly updates.
Hi Bryan,
Glad to see you are using Identity Theft Shield. My wife and I also have this plan and you are correct, it is very inexpensive. $12 covers the both of us. None of us is immune to Identity Theft. It is merely what protections you have in place to lessen the impact of having to restore your identity. I heard one story where a woman applied for a job and found out that she already worked there.
Thanks for giving people the heads up. I was going to solicit you =;o)
Doug
For quite some time I have credit alert through my Bank, which notifies me of all queries against my account and provides a monthly update plus quarterly update of credit reports (each of the 3) and quartelry credit score updates, all for a cost of $12.95/month, well worth it for the peace of mind.
I had that type of service too, but I realized that credit report fraud was only part of the problem. For example, identity theft leading to excessive income being reported to your SSN or identity theft leading to improper criminal history. These are urgently serious problems having nothing to do with a credit report. That’s why I’m such a huge proponent of Identity Theft Shield, because (as I understand it) it addresses these concerns as well. — Bryan Ellis
Great point Bryan. But when is Identity Theft Shield going to start monitoring all 3 Credit Bureaus? Although Experian is the most popular, the other companies are used as well and should not be overlooked! I recently had a Collection Agency on my back and it turns out they had reported me to Equifax and TransUnion, but not with Experian. With your program, I would still be in the dark and not know there was a problem I needed to address with the other bureaus!
That’s a reasonable point Alex, only it appears it’s incorrect. See comments below from Doug. Thanks! — Bryan Ellis
Idenitity Theft Shield is a slick subset of the network marketing company Pre-Paid Legal. I suppose if it makes you feel comfortable paying someone a monthly fee to let you know when the horses have already been let out of the barn, so be it.
I can see from my statistics that other people have actually read the information about the program (which I’ve used and had great results with). It’s clear from your comments that you have not. I’ll give you the benefit of another opportunity for doing so before I skewer this uninformed comment.
Frankly all you really NEED to do to STOP Identity Theft BEFORE it starts is to make a simple phone call to any of the so-called credit bureau agencies and put a FREE Fraud Alert on your credit profile. At least that way anyone wishing to extend credit in your name MUST contact you personally BEFORE Any Credit can be extended.
That’s what many of the identity theft companies say. And then when ID theft leads to things like excessive income being reported against your name because of an illegal alien’s theft of your SSN, or something like you end up being locked up in jail after a minor traffic violation due to the prior theft of your identity by an actual criminal, you discover that ID theft is significantly more far-reaching than merely credit issues. That’s why I’m no fan of the credit report-only services, like the one you appear fond of.
Keep in mind that this is much different than a credit FREEZE which requires written notarized documentation in order to get the freeze removed … in the meantime, NO Credit at all can be extended.
With a Fraud Alert (which by the way is ALL that *NAME OF COMPANY PROMOTED BY ROBERT MILLER IS REMOVED* is doing) you can continue doing business as usual, just remember to reinstall the Fraud Alert every 90 days when it expires.
I can’t approve your mention of the particular company you’re promoting. The owner of that company has consciously decided to “take one for the team” by sharing his SSN with the public as evidenced by the fact that the number of lawsuits against his company is huge and growing daily.
As an expert in the field of Identity Theft and the U.S. Credit System, i’ve written a free report on Identity Theft Prevention and Recovery available at http://*****. Let me confess here right away that you’ll find a link for *NAME OF COMPANY PROMOTED BY ROBERT MILLER IS REMOVED* in the book, but i’m NOT recommending you buy their service. A visit to their site will simply prove that all they’re doing is exactly what you can do for free.
I’m curious: What makes you an expert in Identity Theft?
If it’s convenience and piece of mind you want, you don’t really need to pay for anything … just take advantage of what’s been made available by law.
Sorry, that’s simply untrue. You need to learn more about the rest of the legal system, and not just credit. And I’d recommend you check the media reports about the company you’re so aggressively (and apparently blindly) supporting. The information isn’t positive. Sorry for the negative tone, but I checked them out myself because their advertising was so intriguing. What I found was not good. — Bryan Ellis
Dr. Robert Miller
A couple of things:
1. Identity Theft Shield does monitor all 3 credit bureaus.
2. Identity Theft Shield is much more than credit card monitoring. The theft of your SSN has the potential to create a lot more havoc than one would realize. If the thief commits a crime using your information and a warrant is issued YOU could be arrested and charged with a felony. One lady went through al kinds of hell because of that very same scenario. Had she had Identity Theft Shield the experts at Kroll would have sprung into action after notifying them. Are your medical records safe? Is your information safe everyplace you may be listed in?
Example – a couple of years ago the State of NH Dept. of Motor Vehicles was hacked and AND all the licensed drivers of the state had their information compromised.
Last Year in MA the Real Estate licensing boards database was compromised and all Real Estate licensees information was breeched.
I received a letter from IBM that my information was on a stolen hard disk.
A department store called TJ Maxx had all it’s credit card records hacked. You may have seen that on the news as it made national headlines.
My credit union’s databases were compromised. Banks are being hacked all the time.
OUR INFORMATION IS NOT SAFE.
3. Yes, Prepaid Legal is a Network Marketing company offering services such as Identity Theft Shield and Legal Plans. These services empower individuals and at very affordable levels. Thus giving access to a broad range of people.
You can take steps to protecting your identity but no one can guarantee that your information will not be stolen and sold or used by someone else. Identity Theft Shield is a proven, practical and affordable way to offer yourself some peace of mind. This plan lets the experts restore your identity instead of YOU spending countless hours and hard earned money trying to do it yourself.
Thank you for your comments and clarifications, Doug. You explained it far better than I could have. — Bryan Ellis
Brian,
I had previously said that I wasn’t going to post on your site anymore, but since this topic is less volatile than others that you have initiated, I’ll rescind that statement.
I’m not familiar with Identity Theft Shield, but it seems flawed to me. It seems much more reactive than proactive. How good could this service be, if someone was able to get several credit cards and a car loan in your wife’s name?
I also have the service that Dr. Miller mentioned above. With that service, this never could have happened to your wife. It is virtually impossible to open a credit account, when you have a fraud alert on your credit file. I saw a great interest rate on a credit card offer on the Internet last month, so I decided to apply for it. Instead of getting an instant decision, I got a message that said further informtion was needed. I thought I was getting denied, which I shouldn’t have been. The next day, a Rep from the credit card company called me, and asked me three questions to verify my identity. When I answered them all correctly, the account was immediately approved and my card was shipped. Now that’s what I call security.
I know that your service provides some other features, but it all still seems very “after the fact” to me. Am I missing something?
Welcome back! You’re right – Identity Theft Shield is a service to repair identity theft. It does have some preventative strengths, but it’s primary value is in correcting identity theft issues.
The point you raise is valid. There are two reasons I didn’t go with the service you’re endorsing:
1. I did some research ahead of time and discovered that there are currently hundreds of lawsuits against that company for failure to perform as promised. Those lawsuits seem likely to convert into a class action suit which could destroy the company in one fell swoop.
2. According to my understanding, the company you’re recommending addresses issues of identity theft only as it relates to a credit report. There are many other types of identity theft, including: arrest/criminal records, medical services, etc. The identity theft shield product addresses those issues as well – and anything else that involves identity theft.
Unfortunately for us, my wife’s issues happened before we signed up for the service. Fortunately, they are covering it for us anyway.
Based on my research, it appears that the service you and Dr. Miller endorse is nothing more than a “freeze” and “password protecting” on your credit report. That’s good, and frankly I wish that it was included in Identity Theft Shield. However, there’s ample evidence that the “credit report freeze” feature is far from impenetrable, even though it is a very good start. — Bryan Ellis
Lots of interesting comments so far and most of Bryan’s and Doug’s are very on the mark.
My wife is a fraud expert, She has several years working for two different major banks and most people don’t really want to know how most identity theft takes place. If they did many people would never use a bank or post office. Well over 50% takes place at a bank or post office.
One thing to be very concerned about is when you are notified of a hard disk theft or hacking breach, that is most likely not what really happened, most of the time it is an actual sale by an employee of the data. Not a legal sale mind you but a sale just the same.
The real danger of this goes to what Bryan said,” However, there’s ample evidence that the “credit report freeze” feature is far from impenetrable,”, one reason is this information is sold by a criminal in the company claiming a theft. Often this means all the information is sold. Think about that for a minute, secret questions, SSN, place of birth, everything you gave the company.
So the good identity theft criminals have everything they need to change e-mail notification, telephone number, etc… This gives them a identity they can sell to illegals, credit thieves, telemarketing lists, e-mail lists, a number of places many won’t think of and will cause you huge problems if you are the victim.
So while the concept of a proactive approach sounds good it is hardly fool proof and may lull you into a false sense of security.
Which is why you want to make any protection mutli-layered not just one dimensional like some of the ads suggest.
Checking at least once a month what is happening is needed, dealing with companies that really take an active approach to protecting their clients from fraud, getting away from any company that tells you they have been hacked or something stolen is all very important. Also having someone that is invested in protecting you whom is a third party like Identity Theft Sheild will really help.
When you have a third party helping you with a problem you have a lot more likelyhood of getting some help. As an idividual you will most likely be ignored or worse told you are lying, if you have help that makes the agencies take you more seriously and you really want them to take you seriously.
So sounds like a good way to go by using this service, couple this with some good asset proctection like JJ Childers and you can spend a lot more time being comfortable you won’t wake up in jail or the poor house over night.
Chris B
“Yawn”….Not for nuttin here Bryan but …were’nt you just bashing “all the other guys” for advertising this thing and that thing in every other e-mail?
Dont get me wrong here …I look forward to your posts but….