Breckenridge Real Estate Blog

The tools to combat identity theft are widely available for free these days.

Consumer advocates and law enforcement can offer handy tips and assistance to victims of the growing scourge. But even those efforts can’t win back the time lost to correcting one’s finances after an identity breach.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that victims of identity theft spend between 180 and 600 hours recovering from it.

Morrison-based Identity Crisis LLC is banking on the idea that busy professionals will find it worth $100 a year to have someone else handle things if their wallet goes missing or thieves get ahold of their Social Security number.

Rod Lueck and Dave Richardson, entrepreneurs experienced in providing services for the financial planning industry, formed Identity Crisis LLC last summer. It offers identity theft recovery services aimed at financial planners, who can re-sell the service to their clients.

The pair negotiated a wholesale agreement this year with Washington, D.C.-based Worldwide Assistance Services LLC that gave them license to market Worldwide’s identity theft recovery product, called ID Theft Assist, to the financial services industry.

ID Theft Assist doesn’t prevent identity theft. The program, which combines services of a call center and TransUnion credit bureau access to credit lines, gives people one number to call to freeze their credit lines and bank accounts, gives them access to cash advances if necessary, and provides ongoing monitoring and reversal of fraudulent charges. It’s a process Lueck likens to medical triage followed by rehabilitation.

Professionals are a ready market for identity theft protection due to their frequent travel and the high value they place on their time — large amounts of which can be wasted after a wallet is lost or in fighting fraudulent charges.

Early talks show that many planners instantly see the reason for the policies, Lueck said.

“It’s really something that clicks right away with most people,” he said.

Helpful Tips

Ten Easy Ways to Prevent Identity Theft

1) Be a minimalist with regard to identity theft prevention:
Only carry the personal information you need with you, i.e. your drivers license, personal credit card and business credit card.

2) Use common sense:
To aid in identity theft prevention and protection, use caution when choosing passwords and PIN numbers. Don’t use predictable numbers like your Social Security Number, credit card pin code, or anything else easily detectable (pet’s name, mother’s maiden name, etc.). Perpetrators of identity theft are often acquaintances of the victim - don’t make it easier for them to steal your identity.

3) To help yourself with identity theft prevention, pay attention to the mail:
If you are expecting a new credit card, driver’s license, or other sensitive material, watch the mail closely and contact the issuer immediately if it does not arrive when expected.

4) Are they who they say they are?
One of the more well-known rules to follow for identity theft prevention is to not give out your credit card number over the phone unless you have an existing business relationship with the company and you initiated the call.

5) Shred the evidence:
Make sure your account number doesn’t appear in full on your receipts. If it does, shred it before throwing it away.

6) Keep your Social Security number to yourself:
An excellent identity theft protection rule is to give your Social Security number out only when absolutely necessary.

7) Pass it on, or don’t:
Request that look-up companies remove your information from their databases for purposes of identity theft prevention. Contact Lexis-Nexis at (800) 227-9597 and Information America, Inc. at (800) 235-4008.

8) Practice computer Safety:101:
The first step in online identity theft prevention is to install a firewall on your computer to keep internet hackers from accessing your data. Avoid using generic words like password, userid, username, etc., that are easy to detect while saving identities in text files. Make sure the website is SSL secure before committing transactions to avoid identity theft.

9) Inquiring minds don’t need to know via e-mail:
Do not send confidential information over e-mail and never respond to any e-mail request for such information.

10) Neither do inquiring web surfers:
Visit online directories, like the following, and remove yourself from them (directions in parentheses):
www.411.com(go to Contact Us)
www.Switchboard.com(Click Remove Listing)
www.whowhere.com(go to Help)
My Account
New / Returning
Customer Login

For More detail information and a way to protect yourself Click Here for more in depth information