Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes of this century and it continues to increase for consumers and businesses that are not aware of it, and are not aware of really how easy it is.
With credit card companies doing bare minimums on credit checks these days in their efforts to get more credit cards out there (and rake in an amazing amount of money in interest), this only serves to make the problem worse.
Consider the case of Matt Johnson.
This is not his real name but the situation described here is very real and Matt remembers it like it was yesterday.
Matt owned a small business that was doing quite well, and had always paid his bills on time even while in college.
Matt and his wife started talking about a new car so they went car shopping, and eventually fell in love with a particular car where the car dealership was going to make a very good offer to them.
Matt filled out the application form, anticipating that there would be no problems whatsoever.
But when the salesman came back with a definite cloud over his head, Matt knew something had come up.
The car salesman proceeded to tell Matt that they could not approve him for a loan for his new car.
Matt was astounded and asked to see the credit report that the car dealership had quickly pulled.
Matt could not believe what he was seeing - page after page of opened accounts with nearly maxed out credit limits, all of them many months past due.
Yes, Matt had become a victim of identity theft, and in the ensuing weeks, Matt started to get calls from various credit card companies asking when he was going to start making payments.
It was a real nightmare, and trying to explain that he was a victim of identity theft to the credit card collection agents was met with extreme skepticism.
Even today, more than two years later, the problems on Matt's credit report have not been cleaned up to the 100% level, and Matt has spent an incredible amount of his personal time chasing down the problems and getting them corrected.
This can happen to you too.
Do you have an extra 2-4 hours every day for weeks and months on end to rectify this type of problem if it were to happen to you, without having that time you are spending negatively impact your family life or your work?If you are like most of us, the answer is a resounding NO.
There is a solution.
Several companies are starting to offer protection against the crime of identity theft.
It is like an insurance policy in some respects, because although you hope you never need it, it sure is nice to know that you are protected if the need should arise.
When you are looking at companies that offer such a service, be sure to look beyond just the cost of the service.
For a business, the cost is probably a tax write-off, but even if not, compare the cost of the service against the losses you would sustain without it.
Then be sure you are clear on exactly what is covered and what is not, and what your limits of liability are.
Make sure the identity theft service works with the credit bureaus, who are the first to know when new credit is requested in your name.
Like insurance, you hope you never need it, but consider the degree to which your life and free time would change if you became and victim and did NOT have the protection!