An Identity Theft Prevention Program At The Next Level

DALLAS - July 8, 2014 - PRLog -- Most services offer credit “monitoring.”  Any Identity Theft Expert will tell you that monitoring is practically useless.  Why?  All monitoring does is inform you, that you are now a victim.  That is far too late.  You want someone to prevent you from becoming a victim in the first place – more specifically an ID theft prevention program that blocks ID theft.  That is what www.keepmyID.org does best (for only $19.95-25.95/month).  If you see the words “monitoring” save your money.  Don’t sign up.

In addition, almost all the companies out there only protect you from financial ID theft.  That sector represents 51% of ID theft.  There is also:

• Medical ID Theft

• Child and Elderly ID Theft (up 35x since last year)

• Tax Fraud (filing fake tax returns, etc.)

• Benefits Fraud

• Criminal ID Theft (getting arrested in your name)

• Employment Fraud (a felon or an illegal getting a job in your name)

• Social Security Fraud (yes, they will start to collect your benefits)

• Family Fraud

What is your monitoring service going to do about those?  I can tell you -- nothing.  Monitoring services do not block anything; an identity theft prevention service will.  So how does a person know the difference.  Make sure you get a service that (1) prevents (not monitors) identity theft and (2) covers ALL ID theft events; not just half of them and (3) does all the work for you if you are ever victimized.  Maybe you are not sure what they provide (understandably, as many companies blur the lines).  Watch out.  Many provide little to no protection.  Put them to the test:  Ask them these four questions:

(1) Do you hire an attorney for me from Day One?  In order to ensure preventative services are provided (fraud alerts, credit freezes, extended fraud alerts, credit reports, etc.) they must hire an attorney for you, to act as your personal representative.  That is the law.  Don’t settle for “we’ll show you how to do it.”  No, that is their job.   If they say NO, move on.  They are really just a monitoring service pretending to be a prevention service.  Again, be wary of any company touting monitoring as their primary service.

(2) Do you ensure that fraud alerts are put on my accounts every 90 days?  This is ID Theft 101.  Alerts are your main tool for blocking financial ID theft.  If they say NO, move on quickly.

(3) Do you protect me from ALL ID theft events (Medical, Tax, [see above])?  Now, you may want to pay less and roll the dice on just covering yourself for financial ID theft.  That is certainly fine and the most common ID theft worry.  But know you are taking the risk.  It is a cost/benefit analysis.  Total protection costs more (ours is $19.95/mo. and $25.95/mo. for the whole family).  But the company should, at least, offer the protection if you want it.  If they do not, red flag, move on.  For example, we don’t make any profit on the additional $6 service (family coverage).  Really.  But we felt it was important enough to add anyway.  Sometimes doing the right thing is not profitable, but it’s the right thing to do.  Make sure your company has it as an option.

(4) Do you offer unlimited recovery services and assign a case worker to do ALL the work for me, if I ever get my identity stolen?  The FBI reports that you will spend 331 hours trying to clean up the mess that ID theft leaves behind.  You do not have time for that.  That is their job.  If they do not assign a case worker who does ALL (not part) of the work for you, move on.

At the end of the day, we want to protect you and your families from ID theft.  That is our sole mission.  Whether you use us or a competitor is of lesser importance. We just want you to get protection.  You have a 1 in 3 chance each year of becoming a victim.  It will happen to you eventually.  You must have something to protect you this day and age.  Make sure that something is ID theft prevention, not monitoring, and that you will be covered in the event your ID is stolen.  There is no 100%.  So get full protection.  That is our advice.

Note: Your credit card company and bank do not protect you from ID theft (just bank fraud).  They just protect that particular account from monetary loss; not your identity.  That idea is a very common misconception.  Also, stealing an existing, legitimate,  account (like your credit card number) is not really “identity” theft; that is credit card fraud.  And your credit card company will bear 100% of the loss.  Identity theft occurs when they take your information and open a new account in your name and you are responsible.

MORE ABOUT KEEPMYID

Founded by former law enforcement.  keepmyID has over 200 years of combined law enforcement experience.  We have investigated, tracked, prosecuted, and stopped identity theft rings.  Our founders devoted their life to law enforcement and now bring that experience to you.  They understand what the victims experience and how damaging the effects of this crime can be.  They know how to best prevent it from happening; and fix it if it happens to you.

Why We Are Different.  www.keepmyID.org ensures the legal protections are put in place beforehand.  Our goal is that you never become an ID theft victim in the first place.  We don’t wait until you are victimized to take the steps.  We ensure they are taken from the get go. This is very different from the “monitoring” services.  They simply alert you by phone AFTER you have been victimized.  That is far too late.  In the end we provide a better service, from more experienced people, for less cost.

100% Recovery Services.  And keep in mind – there is no such thing as 100% protection. That is why we also offer 100% recovery services.  While we dramatically reduce your chances of ever becoming a victim, there is still a chance you can become a victim.  If anyone tells you otherwise, they are not telling you the truth.

We provide 100% recovery services.  If you are ever a victim while with us, we will cover your losses up to $1 million dollars.  You will also get a case agent assigned to you.  They will make the calls, challenge the inaccuracies, and do whatever it takes to return you to pre-fraud status.  In short, they do ALL the work.

Visit Keemyid - http://www.keepmyid.org/blog/ for more details.