With the continue growth of the Internet as a marketplace for buying and selling merchandise, conducting banking and credit card transactions and more, a nefarious underworld has popped up in the form of identity thieves. Since the problem has grown to such a problem that government agencies cannot effectively protect us, private industry has stepped in. Identity Theft Prevention Programs offer consumers piece of mind by monitoring your credit report and stopping identity theft in its tracks.
In the course of our daily commerce, we unwittingly give out much of our sensitive personal data. We write checks for bill paying, we rent a hotel room using a credit card, we apply for jobs and list our social security number, we use our cell phones to call friends and generally we act as if no one has access to these avenues of communication. Each time we communicate with others, we put ourselves at risk. Not protecting your personal information is like leaving the front door open and putting up a sign welcoming thieves inside to take what they want.
Thieves will use your credit card number to charge merchandise and you will not know about it until you have a great many charges rung up. Thieves will use your social security number to take out a car loan and then make off with the car. You won't know about this until the loan payment statements start arriving in your mailbox. All of this creates major headaches for you unless you have an identity theft prevention service in place. These thefts may still occur but you will be notified about them much earlier thus keeping the damage to a minimum. Diligence in checking your monthly statements is still needed though. Some identity theft prevention services are set up to call you when any suspicious activity occurs in your accounts, be it large purchases or purchases made from a different location from your home area.
These services will prevent collection agencies from calling you repeatedly and will keep your credit rating at the level where it is supposed to be. Law enforcement agencies are helped greatly by these services because they are more easily able to zero in on the thieves before the trail grows cold.
Identity thieves have been known to purchase cell phone service with stolen information and ring up thousands of dollars in calls. They have also given stolen information when arrested for a crime and then not show up in court. The authorities then issue an arrest warrant for you.
The pricetag for identity theft services range from $100 to $150 depending on the coverage criteria. Many people are so busy, careless or just plain stuplid that they inappropriatly handle their sensitive data. Besides safeguarding your own information, these identity theft prevention agencies are the best way to guard against theft.
