Credit Monitoring Services – Are They Worth It?
Many people still overlook credit monitoring services to opt for DIY identity theft protection but have you reviewed the newest dangers?
Data mining companies are in the business of collecting information on every individual to categorize for demographics. Where you live, your full name, address, home phone, cell and business numbers, the type of car you like, what you purchase online and that’s just a sample of information. But here’s the shocking news – anyone can buy this information from these data mining companies.
Credit Monitoring Services help repel the risk, stop much of the invasive research into your life and can help even if a thief manages to access your personal information.
Criminals are persistent in every way. Someone right now is falling victim to identity theft and with the combination of companies buying and selling personal information and people simply enjoying the web we have a lingering problem that’s difficult to stop.
Keep in mind; businesses have made it easier to open up new accounts. You can order services from motor vehicles online; start new utilities online; open a bank account online; technology has turned out to be advantageous for criminals. Some of the top credit monitoring services has invented concrete methods to stop thieves from stealing your life.
Believe me you cannot rely on the police or the credit bureaus to do much once your identity has been stolen. A police report only protects you from further damage and proves to financial institutions that your identity was compromised but it doesn’t rectify the negative after effects.
Reality tells us that bill collectors do not care that someone stole your identity. They will call and hound you and just sell the account off to a new bill collector who will start the same assault. It will take years to clear up this travesty.
What can Credit Monitoring Services really do?
Nothing can completely stop thieves from finding ways to steal your personal information. I doubt there will ever be a way to eradicate all identity theft but the credit monitoring services can send alerts to you if any new accounts are opened or inquiries are made for new accounts which can greatly impact your problems later.
If an inquiry for a new credit card is made the credit monitoring service can alert you before a new credit card is issued. The same process with a car loan; you would get alerted and then all 3 credit bureaus would be notified about the potential fraud.
If that scenario were to happen and you were not using any credit monitoring services you probably would not find out about any new credit cards or potential car loans for months or even years until you applied for new credit.
We face new threats of credit identity theft [continue reading this] each day and thieves are researching new methods to steal your life. You can either make it easier for them or utilize every way possible to stop them.
Greg McKeon is an expert on identity protection services after having been victimized in 2007. He is also a contributing writer for the popular identity theft site, IDProtectionGuide where you can read about what he thinks is the best credit monitoring service and more information about identity theft protection.
