Identity Protection Solutions
According to a study released Feb 10,2009 by Javelin Strategy & Research, the number of identity theft cases jumped 22 percent to 9.9 million in 2008 . The good news is that the cost per incident – including unrecovered losses and legal fees – fell 31 percent to $496.
The reason for the cost reduction is because people are now very smart in protecting their identity either through their banks or third party providers. You need somebody to watch your credit because their street smarts out there just waiting to find the right time to steal your identity. If you never thought about it, start thinking about protecting it.
As per our experience, we like to recommend few Theft Protection Solutions and solutions providers which are either free or charge monthly fees for their services.
1. Saving money is our motto. So lets first go with free solutions. Many banks and credit unions provide the identity protection free and automatically covering their credit cards issued. If you don’t know about it, call your bank or credit unions.
2. If the banks don’t provide the free service, they atleast offer them for a reasonably cheaper fee compared to going with 3rd party service provider.
We current tried out Bank of America service called Privacy Assist offered thru INTERSECTIONS INC., leading provider of branded and fully customized identity management solutions. They offer 30 day trial with free 3-in-1 credit report which is $29 value. Check it out at their website.
Next CITIBank also offer similar service as IDENTIFY THEFT Solutions which is already built-in benefit for your citibank card. Call them and confirm it.
3. Finally, there are lot of 3rd party providers in the market which offers IDENTITY Theft protection services. Be wary of them. Choose the right service provider which has good years of experience and select them from the recommended by your friends or family not just because you heard them on the radio or TV.
We like to recommend, COSTCO IDENTITY GUARD. We strongly trust anything offered by Costco because they only go for quality and service. We checked their offerings and found very reasonable. They offer two packages Credit Protection and Total Protection and the fees various according to your Costco membership. It is bit cheaper for Executive members compared to Gold Members. It is also provided by INTERSECTIONS INC.
I know there are other good IDENTITY Protection solutions providers available in the market. We will keep evaluating them and add them to the list. You can also help us by sharing or recommending reliable providers from your experience. Please contact us for any information.