Family Identity Protection Options for Everyone’s Security
Impersonating someone else in order to commit fraud is not new but with so much personal information floating around and the information that is given away freely on social media, there is no shortage of personal information for fraudsters. Experiencing identity theft can be a traumatic and painful experience. Having family identity protection options can give you peace of mind when it comes to identity theft.
Choosing Family Identity Protection Services
When choosing family identity protection services, there are certain things to keep in mind.
Protect Your Family and Yourself. Creditry Can Help.
Find What Features Are Important to You: First, figure out what features best fit your needs. Doing so will allow you to create a rubric that you can use to compare the different services. Some common features are Social Security Number tracking, dark web scanning, high-risk transaction alerts, one or three bureau credit monitoring, bank account takeover alerts, and other alerts. When narrowing down the features, you can ask yourself why you are interested in identity theft protection since this can help you decide which features are important to you. For example, if you are interested in these services because your personal information was exposed in a data breach then you may want Social Security Number tracking and dark web scanning.
Review What Is Covered by Individual Insurance Plans: Once you know what services you want you can compare what is included in the insurance policies. Many plans will have an insurance policy that is tailored to cover expenses if you do in fact become the victim of confirmed identity theft. What is covered differs by company. Take a look at what the maximum amount is and what expenses are reimbursed. For example, some only cover personal funds while others are broader and will cover filing fees and lawyer costs.
Read Customer Reviews: Since identity theft is a growing crime, the need for protection services has grown. This has led to many more options in recent years. With so many choices, be sure to research your options and read customer reviews. If you are a victim of identity theft, the difference can be customer service. Customer service plays big role in whether or not the company gets good reviews.
Consider Names You Know and Trust: You may want to consider familiarity. Have you heard of your first choice before? Have you seen the advertising or have family members recommend this company to you? When you are singing up for these services, you are giving vulnerable and sensitive information, such as your Social Security Number, birthday, and name. If you move forward with the company, you need to trust them. While all companies are going to be new at some point, you will need to decide if being an early adopter is a good ting. This is your identity so it sometimes is best to go with something that is familiar and has stood the test of time, as long as they have the services you are interested in.
Different Types of Identity Theft Protection Services
When deciding between family identity protection services, it helps to note that there are different kinds and they may or may not be worth it for you.
Credit Monitoring
Credit monitoring will track one or more of your credit reports and alert you if there are any changes. Credit monitoring doesn’t extend to any noncredit databases or accounts so it may be ineffective for catching issues with Social Security or bank accounts. It’s also not preventative and it just alerts you after the fact. You can monitor this on your own if you are diligent.
Identity Monitoring
Identity monitoring services will scan the web and databases for any unusual activity and then alert you if it has taken place. Each monitoring service varies in terms of the databases it will search and how often it does the searches. You may find these services for only a few dollars per month but be sure you know what is included.
Identity Recovery Services
These services contact the creditors and proper agencies to set up roadblocks against further loss and help you in efforts to recover. These services can include advising you on the correct documentation and requests to submit and representing you in communications with the agencies. This is a service that only will respond if there is a problem and it's not necessarily protection.
ID Theft Insurance
This coverage reimburses you for certain costs involved in restoring the information. This insurance can also be included on your homeowners or renters policy. Coverage may vary but it won’t usually be a full reimbursement.
How Much Do Identity Protection Services Cost?
You can get a subscription to a family identity theft protection services for pretty cheap. Entry level plans for companies such as IDShield or LifeLock start at $9.95 a month. LifeLock has a tiered system. You aren’t able to open an account on behalf of another adult. This means your spouse or significant other will need to buy his or her own plan in order to benefit from the service. However, with IDShield, you can have family identity protection with a plan that enrolls you and your spouse, along with minor children.
When Should You Do Family Identity Protection by Yourself?
You can do identity theft protection on your own. In order to do this, you should keep an eye on changes to your credit reports. However, you will likely only be able to access your credit reports for free once a year from each of the credit bureaus.
The decision to sign up for a service depends on your own trust and peace of mind. If you feel that you would rest easy knowing you and your family have a service that would help if you had to deal with identity theft then you should sign up for these services. If it feels like you are throwing money away then you shouldn’t.
What Does an Identity Theft Protection Company Do?
ID protection companies can’t really prevent identity theft but instead, the service monitors for several key warnings signs of identity theft in one place. In order to prevent an identity from being stolen, you need to control personal information very closely.
There are three main services that ID theft protection companies have.
Monitoring
A company will monitor your credit files and then alert you about the activity, such as any credit inquires received or new accounts opened in your name. This way, you are able to react quickly.
Alerts
You get an alert if your personal information is used. This can be helpful since a lot of individuals don’t realize that identity theft has occurred until it’s already too late, such as when they suddenly have a lot of new debt in their name or their bank account is depleted.
Recovery
If someone does hack your information and then uses it maliciously, the company can help you recover the lost money and help with the damage that was done to your credit. Some also offer insurance policies up to $1 million.
Why a Strong Defense Is the Best Recovery
Just knowing you have been a victim of identity theft won’t help you much. If your identity has been stolen then you want action and an identity theft protection service that can provide it. If your service has this then you are assigned an individual to help you through the process of getting everything back on track. It can help with the little things, such as replacing your credit card, or bigger things, such as dealing with debt collection services. Getting things back in order is going to help you protect your financial future.
Ways to Protect Your Identity
One of the best ways to protect your identity is by getting a password manager. While passwords are not the best authenticator, they are often still the most used solution. Passwords should be protecting your account and you should use a different one for each. The best option is to let the password manager generate and remember your passwords for you. This step can help prevent thieves from getting control of the accounts you already have.
You can go even further by using two-factor authentication on every service that will allow it. There are many ways to do it, such as generating a code or receiving a one-time passcode by text. Pick what makes the most sense to you but know that with a strong password, two-factor authentication can make it harder to control your accounts.
Since debit and credit card numbers are stolen frequently you can also beef up your security when you shop with services that let you purchase with virtual credit cards. These virtual cards are linked to ones you already own but can be disposed or regenerated as you need. If one of the virtual cards is stolen then you can just delete it and your real credit card information still remains hidden. The technology has actually been around for quite some time but is now been utilized more with services such as Apple Pay and Android Pay.
Be careful about what you share online. You want to avoid any suspicious attachments on your email, especially if it contains a request for financial or personal information. It’s best to opt out of pre-screened credit offers. This will reduce the likelihood of someone intercepting your credit card offer in the mail or getting them out of the trash. If you want to stop pre-screened offers permanently, you can do so for five years.
If you don’t have a credit card yet, you can check the offers down below. You can put in your information if you are interested in a credit card, and see if you get some offers:
Be mindful of where you store your personal documents and financial information. This is true for both online and hard copies. If you have hard copies that are no loner needed, be sure to shred those documents. You can also monitor your credit reports online.
Benefits of Family Identity Protection Services
The main benefit of family identity protection services is to help alert you if there is something that seems off with your accounts or what’s being monitored. It can be hard to keep track of all of this on your own because many people don’t have time for this or remember to do it on a regular basis. If you don’t have the time to do this then it’s best to have a service to do it for you.
While it’s important to monitor your accounts as an adult, it’s also important to monitor your children. The average child isn’t keeping a close eye on their credit rating. A thief can take advantage of this and may even get away with the crimes for years before someone notices. This is also the reason why scammers target the elderly for their crimes. It’s less likely that someone will catch on and the elderly are even more targeted because there may be a large savings account or regular benefits.
Cons of Family Identity Protection Services
Some claim that identity protection services aren’t worth the money and can be expensive compared to the level of protection they offer. Identity theft protection services may not be able to track different forms of identity theft, such as a person applying for a job under your name. Some of the services fail to protect you from initial identity theft and can only take action after your identity has already been stolen. Some contracts are confusing and the reimbursement may not cover certain financial losses. It’s important to review the contract carefully so you know what you are paying for.
Choosing Family Identity Protection Services
When choosing family identity protection services, there are certain things to keep in mind.
Find What Features Are Important to You: First, figure out what features best fit your needs. Doing so will allow you to create a rubric that you can use to compare the different services. Some common features are Social Security Number tracking, dark web scanning, high-risk transaction alerts, one or three bureau credit monitoring, bank account takeover alerts, and other alerts. When narrowing down the features, you can ask yourself why you are interested in identity theft protection since this can help you decide which features are important to you. For example, if you are interested in these services because your personal information was exposed in a data breach then you may want Social Security Number tracking and dark web scanning.
Review What Is Covered by Individual Insurance Plans: Once you know what services you want you can compare what is included in the insurance policies. Many plans will have an insurance policy that is tailored to cover expenses if you do in fact become the victim of confirmed identity theft. What is covered differs by company. Take a look at what the maximum amount is and what expenses are reimbursed. For example, some only cover personal funds while others are broader and will cover filing fees and lawyer costs.
Read Customer Reviews: Since identity theft is a growing crime, the need for protection services has grown. This has led to many more options in recent years. With so many choices, be sure to research your options and read customer reviews. If you are a victim of identity theft, the difference can be customer service. Customer service plays big role in whether or not the company gets good reviews.
Consider Names You Know and Trust: You may want to consider familiarity. Have you heard of your first choice before? Have you seen the advertising or have family members recommend this company to you? When you are singing up for these services, you are giving vulnerable and sensitive information, such as your Social Security Number, birthday, and name. If you move forward with the company, you need to trust them. While all companies are going to be new at some point, you will need to decide if being an early adopter is a good ting. This is your identity so it sometimes is best to go with something that is familiar and has stood the test of time, as long as they have the services you are interested in.
Common Types of Identity Theft
Protecting your identity is so important and there are many reasons why a criminal may want to steal your identity. There are different types of common identity theft you should be aware of
A criminal wants to steal your bank information or credit card to make unauthorized purchases. A thief may also want to steal your identity in order to get a loan or open a bank account or credit card in your name.
In this case, a criminal wants your insurance information to get medical services at a reduced rate or for free. Due to the privacy laws set forth for health information, these cases can be hard to fix.
A stolen identity can be used to apply for public assistance, Social Security, or other government benefits.
Criminals want to steal your identity in order to file an income tax return and intercept a refund.
This type of theft is committed by someone with a prior criminal record who wants to have someone’s credentials for employment.
This is a type of identity theft that happens when someone uses your personal identification when dealing with the police and authorities.
Thieves sometimes target minors and those under 18 since they have no bad marks on their credit and minors will rarely check their credit history.
What to Do if Your Identity Is Stolen
No matter how careful you are, and even if you have family identity protection services, there can still be a chance that your identity is stolen. There are several steps you should take as soon as possible to minimize the impact on your financial and personal life.
Contact Agencies: The first step is to contact the lender, government agency, or financial institution that is connected with the theft. Explain what happened and what charges you didn’t make. You should also contact your other financial institutions to also warn them about any potential fraud on your accounts.
Track Everything: It’s important that you are documenting everything that is related to your identity theft, including the fraudulent charges and any correspondence you have about those charges. Be sure to check your accounts everyday and then record any behavior that is questionable.
Request a Fraud Alert: You can contact one of the three main credit reporting agencies and request that there is a 90-day fraud alert placed on your account. With this request, you are also entitled to a free copy of your credit report.
File Report with FTC: The Federal Trade Commissions investigates all types of reports about identity theft.
File Police Report: The FTC may need you to also file a police report in your area. Even if you aren’t required to, you may also want to contact the local police department for peace of mind.
Contact Government Agencies: You should check with the United States Postal Service, Department of Motor Vehicles, IRS, and Social Security to make sure information at these agencies hasn’t been compromised or changed.
Final Thoughts
Preventing identity theft is important in order to keep your financial health. There are plenty of family identity protection options for you to consider. While this is something you can do on your own, you would have to be diligent about it and this isn’t possible for everyone. Services can monitor your information for you and then alert you if there is something wrong. The services can also help you with recovery and provide insurance to help you get some of the money back after the fraud. While there are other ways to prevent identity theft, these services can help you rest a little easier knowing that assistance is there.