No time is a good one to get hit by an identity thief, but the current recession can make a bad situation even worse. A recent Nationwide Insurance poll found that most Americans, at this point in time, don’t have the funds set aside to be able to recover from identity theft.
The good news, if there can be any good news about identity theft, is that it’s usually pretty easy to get your money back if a thief steals your credit card. However, things start to get hairy if a debit card, insurance account or loan is involved or even when a new credit card is issued in your name to the thief. In fact, Nationwide found that in these more complicated cases it was not uncommon for them to still be unresolved after an entire year has passed. It also cited that the victims surveyed spent on average around 81 hours on their cases. This amounts to more than two weeks of work time.
Who has time for all that, or money to spare trying to prove they are really who they say they are? No one ever really did, and they especially don’t when the stock market resembles a ping pong ball with all of the erratic bouncing up and down. Identity theft is unique to all other crimes in that the victim is found guilty till proven innocent. Sadly, the thieves are also impacted by the economy, only making them want to steal more, either to buy things for themselves or to sell the information and make a quick buck.
Speaking of a buck, why not put a few aside each month to pay for an identity theft protection service? It’s certainly cheaper than all the legal fees, paperwork, fines and interest charges you may have to pay if a thief crosses your path. Plus, it’s something you can do before you’re victimized to prevent it from happening in the first place.
With this recession which seems to have no end in sight, depending on who you talk to, you have enough to worry about without having to guard your personal information day and night, online and off. Just do as much as you can, and you can let the identity protection plan do the rest. You can even take advantage of the insurance policies some offer for a further guarantee you’ll be spared the expense and hassle associated with identity theft. Well worth it for the peace of mind alone.
Here’s one more statistic that may get you thinking identity protection is not such a bad idea. Identity theft is by far the most common crime reported to the Federal Trade Commission. There are not merely hundreds of cases a year in the United States. There are millions; yes, millions. To be exact, that number was over nine million in 2008 alone. In fact, identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States.
You probably have enough problems trying to keep your 401k from dipping into negative numbers and figuring out what the name of your bank is from month to month. Make identity theft someone else’s problem. Put a protection plan in charge. Don’t become a statistic for next year’s Nationwide survey or one of the skyrocketing number of victims. If you think nine million is way too many, keep yourself, and your family, from adding one more to that list. Protect yourself today!