Last week one evening when I had made it home and began bringing my work day to a close, I noticed that I had a miss call from my bank. As I proceeded to call my bank back a recording came on to say, Ms. Harper there has been some activity on your account that has alerted our fraud department. It went on further to ask if these transactions were mine and if not press 2 to speak to a representative. At that moment my heart almost stopped because those transactions were not mine. After speaking to the representative my card was cancelled and a new one was reissued. In that split second my life and my family's lives could have been adversely affected.
Although what happened to me is an example of account takeover, I was extremely blessed that it did not go any further. Every year millions of people are affected by this number one growing white collar crime that even the government is unable to get a grip on, and that is identity theft. This crime takes over your entire identity. These criminals are not looking for your checking account and Visa card, they are looking for you! They want to become you! They want to establish new lives for various reasons to be undetected.
It is safe to say that you haven't worked this hard in your life to acquire the things for you and your family to just give away to some stranger who could care less about you or your family. Well right now that could be happening to you! When you are not protecting you, your family, and your assets properly that is the choice that you have made. The fact is that most people that have been affected by identity theft do not even know that they are a victim until after the damage is done, and please believe me that the damage isn't just they purchased new homes, cars, and etc in your name. There are 8 areas that people are affected in by identity thieves every day:
Although what happened to me is an example of account takeover, I was extremely blessed that it did not go any further. Every year millions of people are affected by this number one growing white collar crime that even the government is unable to get a grip on, and that is identity theft. This crime takes over your entire identity. These criminals are not looking for your checking account and Visa card, they are looking for you! They want to become you! They want to establish new lives for various reasons to be undetected.
It is safe to say that you haven't worked this hard in your life to acquire the things for you and your family to just give away to some stranger who could care less about you or your family. Well right now that could be happening to you! When you are not protecting you, your family, and your assets properly that is the choice that you have made. The fact is that most people that have been affected by identity theft do not even know that they are a victim until after the damage is done, and please believe me that the damage isn't just they purchased new homes, cars, and etc in your name. There are 8 areas that people are affected in by identity thieves every day:
- Financial
- Social Security
- Medical
- Insurance
- Criminal
- Driver's License
- Child
- Synthetic
Why are you still playing around with not having identity theft coverage?
Just as it is mandatory to have health insurance and car insurance but essential to have life insurance, identity theft insurance should be mandatory and definitely essential. If you become a victim today or tomorrow, or worse your child(ren) become a victim, it will cost you on average $4,000 and 600 hours of your personal time to recover per incident (click here for statistical resource).
Still don't think it could happen to you?
During the course of a 60 day period I ran into 2 different people who had family members file their income tax returns and expected a refund to only receive a letter from the IRS that they had already received their return and issued a refund. Now it was their responsibility to show were the IRS made a mistake. It is already a daunting task to file your tax return but now to prove to the IRS that they made a mistake.
I remember when I first applied for my learner's permit at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) I was told that my social security number was attached to someone else's drivers license. It took days for this to get fixed and unlike all of my other friends and family I ended up with a driver's license number (a series of letters and numbers placed on your license instead of your social security number) which later became the way all Motor Vehicle Departments operate.
Lastly, it was about 5 years ago when I first really became aware of identity theft and it's horrible affects when a young lady shared her story of someone stealing her identity and committing a series of crimes. She was arrested and detained. However because she had the protection she needed when she called her attorney and then her id protection carrier they were able to get her released the same night and later restore her name.
Identity theft is not something to play around with! You may not have been affected yet, but live long enough you will!
The scenarios I shared their banking institutions would not have been able to protect and restore them. We all need a resource that will analyze our current behaviors on and offline to help to position us so that we aren't an easy target, but also someone that will monitor and then restore when needed. If you now see the importance of identity theft protection and no longer want to be selfish to your loved ones and an open mark for someone to take advantage of, click here.
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