LifeLock Promo Code – 9

No one is immune to identity theft. Rich – poor – famous – ordinary. We all are vulnerable to having our personal information stolen at any time no matter how much care we take to safeguard ourselves.

One of the ways that we are the most exposed is from data or security breaches. In so many instances, we've given our DOB and SSN along with address, spouse, children, insurance cards and more. Identity thieves know this and have made a point to target databases that contain large numbers of people.

Watching a trend from the PrivacyRights.org database of breaches, educational institutions, hospitals, insurance companies, banks and government agencies are tops on the list of security breaches. Many times its from something as careless as a laptop being taken home and just left sitting in the open. Other times, there's an insider employee who creates the leak. Or it can just simply be by throwing files in a dumpster.

One of the kickers is that the breach isn't even noticed right away.

Once your personal information is in the hands of criminals, it's going to sold and resold over and over again. You'll never know if or when you'll be attacked next.

I've personally had my identity stolen in 2002 and didn't even know it until I applied for a new mortgage in 2003. Up until then, no one talked much about fraud alerts, checking your credit reports or looking for your information being sold online. It didn't matter that my credit score was tanked by someone else – banks just looked at the score and turned me down or offered a loan with a higher interest rate.

When identity theft protection companies like LifeLock were created, I jumped on that boat right away.  I know this sounds like a cliche, but knowing I have someone watching out for me really does give me peace of mind.

Blog identity theft, Identity Theft Protection, lifelock, security breach

There's no shortage of security and data breaches happening. PrivacyRights.org reports on them and it's just plain scary on how our personal information can land in an identity thief's hands.

Here's a report from their website from January 30, 2010 on a breach that happened recently:

A man had a job at Ameriquest Mortgage Company for about 6 weeks. He was a mortgage associate and helped people get loans. He managed to get himself paid pretty well for those six weeks of work: he stole the identities of almost 100 people by using the personal info from mortgage applications.

This guy was able to make off with more than $150,000 from at least 8 banks. He created fraudulent ID's and checks with the stolen information. Then he got cash and services as well as going on a spending spree buying things.

With one of the victim's info, he got a credit card through a bank in the United States. Using that card, he withdrew $30,529.63 in cash from ATM machines scattered through Minnesota.

How long do you think it's going to take to clear the name of the poor soul who had the 30 grand stolen? I'd sure hate to be in his shoes. I'd be willing to be that thief had himself a pretty big TV for the Superbowl game.

Blog identity theft, security breach