Your Identity Is Yours, Protect It!
According to CNN Money, every two seconds another American falls victim to identity theft. USA Today advises that Florida alone reported 37,059 identity theft complaints in 2014. That is 186.3 per 100,000 people, making Florida the state with the second largest amount of identity theft complaints in the entire United States.
According to USA Today in Florida there are:
- 3 identity theft complaints per 100,000 people
- 200,392 total complaints (second highest in the nation)
Why is Florida such a target? USA Today advises that Florida’s senior population has made it especially vulnerable to identity theft and fraud. In fact, 1 in every 100 residents is affected by identity theft or fraud in Florida, making it the highest rate in the entire nation.
Resources To Help Prevent Identity Theft
- Identity Guard: An identity theft protection company that offers innovative solutions to help protect its customers’ financial information, public records, personal data, computer, etc.
- LifeLock: An American Identity theft protection company that is located in Tempe, Arizona that provides proactive identity theft protection.
- ID Cuffs: Provides its customers with comprehensive identity theft protection that includes: anti-virus and spyware protection, bank account security alerts, college student protection, credit bureau fraud alerts, free annual credit reports, victim restoration assistance, stop telemarketing calls, and much more.
- Identity Lookout: Provides its customers with Experian credit report, daily credit monitoring, fraud resolution assistance, email alerts of key changes, and much more.
- Identity Force: Offers Identity Protection for as little as $14.95 month, and also offers a free ®trial.
For a complete list of the top identity theft protection services of 2015 with reviews and product comparisons, click here.
What You Can Do To Prevent Identity Theft
The FTC provides a number of tips on its website to help you prevent falling victim to identity theft.
1. Protect your social security number. Do not carry your social security number in your wallet, or write it on a check. Only provide your social security number when absolutely necessary.
2. Shred your mail to avoid mail fraud. Launch CU offers free professional Shred Days at various branches by Progressive Document Destruction. Keep an eye out for our next free shred day on our Website.
3. Be careful when using the Internet. For tips on Internet safety visit OnGuardOnline or StaySafe Online.
4. Make sure to create difficult passwords with various upper and lower-case letters, special characters, numbers, etc.
5. Always verify a source before sharing financial or other sensitive information
6. Store your sensitive information in secure locations, where guests or thieves are not able to access them.
For more information on how to prevent identity theft, and how to detect identity theft visit the FTC website.
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