Identity Theft Prevention Benefits: Do We Really Need More Proof?

On May 1st I posted in this space that I believe Identity Theft Prevention benefits are something EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD HAVE. I mentioned how Identity theft is not isolated to credit card fraud. I shared my own experiences as well as citing statistics of how overwhelming this problem is.

The fact is, I can probably write a book that ties together the statistics, stories and experiences I have seen with ID Theft, and how vital credit monitoring services are to our lives. I am still baffled when I hear people I know, especially in the credit industry, say they do not have ID Theft Protection, nor do they feel it is necessary to offer it to their clients/ employees.

Here are THREE experiences I had TODAY!

1) How many times do we receive these types of emails? These e-mails are mostly considered "noise" and we only pay attention "if it effects me." Consider this email I received and then ask yourself "why don't I need ID Theft?"
To: Bob.Germano@ suburban solutions corp.
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2009
Subject: Jury Duty Scam

Jury Duty Scam DO NOT DELETE WITHOUT READING ! Pass this on to your grown children. This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included below). Please pass this on to everyone in your email address book. It is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call. Most of us take those summonses for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of fraud has surfaced. The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity was just stolen. The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma , Illinois , and Colorado . This (swindle) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they are with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.
Check it out here: http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm
And here: http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

2) I was speaking to a service provider that I do business with. We were discussing executing a document and submitting payment and my contact says to me "Bob, if you are going to pay via credit card, please do not submit the information on our website. Although our website is secure and has the security controls built in, please do not forward that information over the internet because we do not want to risk the information going into hyperspace."

3) I received another email communication from another service provider today, as a follow up to a message they sent on 5/29/09. I give them a lot of credit for diligently following up on something this important. Here is the message they sent out and think about how this can happen to all of us:

It has come to our attention that some of our customers have received an email that appears to be from SERVICE PROVIDER, claiming that your account has expired and you must renew.

These emails are 100% fraudulent, are not from (US) and may include the subject line “SERVICES EXPIRED.”

Please do not click on the links in this email or supply your login information. If you have, please change your password immediately.

If you ever have any questions as to the authenticity of a particular communication from us, please forward the correspondence in question to ....

Thank you for your understanding and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.


After reading the above experiences I had TODAY, is there any reason why someone would delay in getting Identity Theft Protection Services immediately? I hope not.