Among the easiest ways identity thieves can gain access to your personal information is by means of your personal computer.

Several months ago, I had breakfast with an old co-worker, Johnny at a pizza joint, Hungry Howies. If you’ve never tried pizza here, you don’t know what you’re missing.

We started catching up when he shared with me how identity thieves had recently wrecked havoc in his life. Computer hackers had somehow installed a program called a keylogger onto Johnny’s computer. Whenever he used his computer to go shopping or logged into accounts including his bank, the program recorded usernames, passwords, credit numbers and expiration dates. It would then transmit this information back to whoever had installed it.

Johnny discoverd he was victim of identity theft when he opened his credit card statements and realized his card balances had been maxed out and his bank account had been virtually drained. He had to spend hundreds of hours cleaning up this mess and the worst thing he said was he doesn’t know what the identity thieves will do next with his information. It’s like he’s constantly playing catchup with the thieves. He scared to use his computer to go shopping and does all his sensitive transactions over the phone.

Johnny’s story really frightened me and I decided right there I was going to get some form of identity theft protection.

After you’ve researched a handful of the identity theft protection companies, you begin to see that there actually isn’t a whole lot to differentiate them. But if you actually try to search deeper, you’ll start to find differences. The provider I opted for was TrustedID. I deciced on this service mainly because with 3-bureau credit monitoring, TrustedID will inform you at once when any kind of changes are submitted to your Experian, Equifax or TransUnion credit file.

If you’re wondering why I opted for TrustedID instead of Lifelock, I found a good review detailing the differences between Lifelock and TrustedID.

One thing I realized after doing my research is that Johnny’s story is alot more common than I realized. Crimes like this are happenning everyday and it’s not just keylogging I need to worry about, there are hundreds of scams and new ones popping up everyday. Get protected today.

Some days ago I was at the shopping mall shopping for a graduation present for my niece. I had ended up at Guess? And as I was paying, the cashier offered me 10% off if I completed a credit application. My total was going to be more than a few hundred dollars so 10% sounded wonderful. I started out to fill out the application but just before handing it over I looked over at the cashier and recognized how young she appeared to be. The majority of the staff looked like high school kids. I was going to hand over the kind of personal information identity thieves would kill for.

I recalled looking at a post inside the Wall Street Journal concerning an instance about how credit applications were being utilized to commit identity fraud. In one example, law enforcement learned the personnel had simply been criminally irresponsible in the handling of sensitive consumer information. They discovered hundreds of applications sitting for anybody to view in a trash bin at the rear of the building. Authorities cracked the case after investigators came to the realization all the victims had visited the same clothing store. Could possibly the events in this article occur to me? This article greatly concerned me nevertheless what were my options? Make my own clothing? That wasn’t the answer. You can’t live your lives in a cave but this all got me seriosuly thinking about identity theft protection.

But what criteria do you use to choose which identity protection service is right for you? I basically don’t believe anything companies say anymore so I started to do some on-line research. I decided to begin searching on the web and I found a ton of data but it really wasn’t helpful knowledge. I came across thousands of web sites ranking services but offering no account for their rankings.

Identity theft protection is accomplished in two ways. The first is through detection which includes closely monitoring your credit history. The second is through prevention consisting of placing fraud alerts or credit freezes with your credit file and deleting you from spam listings. Most of the companies I reviewed also offered a 1 million dollar guarantee.Although most of the plans shared features that were the same, some of the differences were significant like credit freezes from TrustedID or advanced credit monitoring from Identity Guard. Most of the services were priced around $10per month.

After using a couple of hours preparing my own basic research , I came to the realization the proper company for me was TrustedID. In addition to the fraud alerts other companies offer, TrustedID gives you credit freezes also. Lifelock does not. They will also review your medical benefits to ensure only you are accessing them. I came across an enlightening TrustedID review here that teaches everything you could possibly want to find out concerning identity theft and fraud.

So now, I will fill out store charge card offers without being concerned I’m handing it to a kid not out of highschool.

Steven Comeau realised he appeared to be a victim of identity theft when he began getting enquiries from collection agencies demanding repayment. This wasn’t a average identity fraud case however when Steven found out the criminals had compromised his private identifying info to get a bank loan for income property in Brooklyn.

That was in 2001, and Comeau, an IT administrator in South Brunswick, New Jersey, was in 2005 still trying to convince people he’s not a slumlord. When Comeau and his wife, Magda, tried to purchase a home in March, they found out that Steve’s credit history listed a mortage default. In May, he received a phone call from an attorney representing an investment bank that desired to buy the structure. “It never ends.” he says.

The good news is nowadays, buyers have several choices to counteract identity fraud. The identity theft sector has exploded with companies such as Lifelock, TrustedID, and Identity Guard which provide innovative solutions to not only safeguarding your credit history but support you with recovering from it also.

Identity fraud is something that most individuals just don’t think about until it actually happens to them. Considering what could happen, it is someting people need to think about. Having a job application rejected because of questionable bad credit? Being rushed to the hospital and given the wrong type of blood because another individual used your medical coverage? Going to jail for somebody else’s crimes? Having to spend countless hours dealing with creditors as you try and clean up your credit file? Each of these are scary scenarios, but how vulnerable are you to having this happen? The truth of the matter is nothing can totally protect you from identity theft. These are just a few more case studies:

• A graduate student was robbed within walking distance of the university parking lot and the mugger took her backpack, which contained her driver’s license, credit cards, and Social Security card. Three months later, she discovered that someone had opened charge card accounts at Neiman Marcus, Forever 21, and Hollister.
• Police apprehended a single mother in front of her children for supposedly having conceived and deserted a cocaine-addicted baby. To clear her name, she had to establish that someone else had given the hospital her information when giving birth.
• A thief used the identity of a large corporation’s president to conduct drug trafficking. One day, the innocent victim was awakened by government agents in his home, who tried to arrest him at gunpoint. He eventually proved that he was the innocent victim of identity theft, but only after quite a bit a trauma.

You may have already noticed, consumer vigilance might not be sufficient. Despite the fact that you secure your personal info like the family jewels, you have very little control over situations like careless credit insurance policies, the sloppy security methods of certain companies , and ineffective privacy laws. What occurred to Steve Comeasu and his wife may standard example of criminal identity theft, nonetheless according to authorities and government bodies, this type of crime is on the surge. Identity thieves occasionally save stolen identities for the sole intention of presenting it to authorities in case they get arrested. Even though not a single thing can insure you will not become an identity fraud victim, it is possible to definately elevate your chances of long-term success by prevention and early detection. You can learn about preventing identity theft and how identity theft protection services compare against each other here.