ID TheftSmart: The Smart Choice for Safeguarding Your Identity
In today’s digital world, most of our daily interactions and transactions take place online. Video conferencing, email, online shopping, social media, and online banking all involve people willingly putting their personal information on the internet to thrive in our modern society.
If you are not careful, however, you can make yourself susceptible to identity fraud. That’s why protecting your personal information in the digital age is more important than ever. Fortunately, there are solutions like ID TheftSmart that can help keep your information safe and assist you through the resolution process if someone steals your identity.
Continue reading to learn more about identity theft, the signs of this crime, and the benefits of signing up for ID TheftSmart to prevent, protect, and restore your personal information.
What is Identity Theft?
Identity theft is the criminal act in which someone steals your personal information and claims it as their own to purchase goods or services, while damaging your credit in the process.
The question isn’t if identity theft will happen, but when. According to the Federal Trade Commission, your odds of becoming a victim of identity theft are about 1 in 15 – and many people become victims of identity fraud without realizing it if they are not aware of the signs.
The most common indicators of identity theft may include:
- Failing to receive bills or other mail.
- Receiving credit cards that you didn’t apply for.
- Being denied credit or being offered less favorable credit terms, like a high interest rate, for no apparent reason.
- Being denied employment due to bad credit or a criminal record.
- Getting calls or letters from debt collectors or businesses about merchandise or services you didn’t buy.
Identity theft differs from account takeover fraud (or current account fraud), which occurs when a cybercriminal gains access to your digital login credentials to steal money or other information. While both are serious situations that require immediate action, people who commit identity theft pose as the other person for an indefinite amount of time (unless they are caught) and do not necessarily use your existing accounts.
How Do Thieves Misuse Your Personal Information?
Without adequate protection, thieves can obtain your name, Social Security number, credit card, or other personal information and misuse it to do any of the following:
- File for bankruptcy to avoid being evicted or paying debts.
- Obtain a fake driver’s license.
- Open credit accounts.
- Perpetuate criminal acts.
- Purchase goods and services.
- Rent a home or apartment.
- Obtain employment.
- Take out auto loans to buy a car.
Identity thieves are only successful when people do not actively protect their information, monitor their accounts, or report suspicious activity. Solutions like ID TheftSmart offered through Murphy-Wall State Bank’s Elite Packages can give you peace of mind that licensed identity theft investigators are actively monitoring your sensitive information.
How Does ID TheftSmart Protect Your Identity?
In a market overflowing with solutions that focus on credit monitoring, ID TheftSmart is provided through Kroll’s Licensed Private Investigators, the nation’s leading provider of identity theft services. Kroll’s has worked with consumers to uncover and resolve identity theft issues since 1999.
Through access to databases that are not available to the public, Kroll’s private investigators do the bulk of the work for a fraud victim. Not as a counselor. Not alongside them or in conjunction with them, but as an advocate on their behalf.
ID TheftSmart encompasses a variety of services that include credit monitoring, minor monitoring, ID Integrity Scan, and ID Theft Restoration.
Credit Monitoring
If you have open lines of credit, you should order a credit report from at least one of the three major credit reporting bureaus – Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion – once a year to ensure all of your personal information is accurate.
As a member of ID TheftSmart, investigators will do the work of credit monitoring for you by providing daily reports on your credit activity through a secure online portal. Members also have access to ID TheftSmart credit specialists who will act on a member’s behalf when action needs to be taken with any of the three major credit bureaus. This will give you peace of mind that a trustworthy source is actively working to protect you from identity fraud.
Minor Monitoring
Children’s identities are valuable to thieves because they provide a clean slate that they can exploit for years without being detected. ID TheftSmart’s Minor Monitoring program keeps track of activity associated with your child’s Social Security number to protect him or her from identity fraud.
If unauthorized names, aliases, and addresses associated with a minor’s name and date of birth are detected, the enrolled adult is notified through their secure ID TheftSmart online portal. If needed, a Licensed Private Investigator will conduct additional research to determine if the fraud is legitimate and proceed with the restoration process as part of the parent’s ID TheftSmart membership.
ID Integrity Scan
Within minutes of creating an ID TheftSmart account, investigators begin your identity theft protection by scanning the dark web for your personal and financial information through the ID Integrity Scan service.
If they encounter suspicious activity, they will notify you and resolve the issue to stop identity theft before it has a chance to ruin your good name. ID Integrity Scan also monitors your address history with the United States Postal Service and your Social Security number to ensure your personal information has not been stolen.
ID Theft Restoration
If you do become a victim of identity fraud, rest assured that as a member of ID TheftSmart, investigators will take action to resolve and restore your personal information by:
- Confirming identity fraud and identify its nature and scope.
- Assisting you in obtaining a police report.
- Providing a tri-merged credit report and performing full non-credit searches.
- Working on your behalf as a member until all identity theft issues have been verifiably resolved.
- Placing seven-year fraud victim statements with credit reporting agencies when applicable.
Your identity is your business. Protecting it is ours. To learn more about ID TheftSmart, and our Elite Packages, contact a representative at Murphy-Wall State Bank at (877) 358-6554.