Consumer risk continues to rise and thieves seek to commit identity theft and various forms of fraud invent new ways to rip us off, especially with the increasing trends of emerging technology.

It is ironic that those things that simplify our lives put us in danger. The more agencies look to rein in identity theft and find new ways to protect us, the greater the challenge for people looking for quick scams. While there are ways for each individual to lessen the damage, there is virtually no way to protect our lives from scams and eliminate all risk. And who really has the time to police all the access points to ensure the safety of their good name?

There are so many ways we succumb to theft and are completely caught off guard and surprised by the holes we have left open. More recently, thieves have sought new identities to ensure prescription drugs have access to visas and avoid criminal prosecution. Every day someone seeks to use someone else’s identity, but instead of becoming a serious proactive effort, we usually wait until it “somehow happens to us.”

Consumers will gladly pay to insure their homes, insure their vehicles and, obviously, their lives, but they will completely ignore the seriousness of a good name and credit history. Are you aware of the damage that a thief can cause?

Suppose someone steals your social security number; they now have access to tons of personal data like health, finances, and maybe even employment. At first glance, it might not seem like it could be that harmful, but imagine someone turning into an impostor and using your identity for health, financial, or employment reasons.

• A pre-existing condition that the imposter acknowledges could cause your health insurance to deny you benefits
• Applying for and executing a large number of new credit cards could ruin you financially, at least until you can repair the damage.
• Applying for a new job and committing other types of fraud at the new job would definitely put you at risk, especially for criminal acts.

As we noted earlier, it is difficult for an individual to cover all access points to ensure that they are fully protected. The best action today is to invest in insurance for his identity.

Investing in identity theft and fraud insurance is a must these days. It doesn’t matter if you rarely use the Internet and destroy your personal paperwork at home; It would be that thieves are everywhere and just when we think we’re out of the woods, we learn of a new entity that poses a threat.
There are some Motor Vehicle Agencies (MVAs) that have found employees engaging in criminal activity; these are people who have access to your driving record, which includes personal information.

There are some retailers whose employees have stolen and sold personal information to black market internet thieves.

And I know you’ve heard of unfortunate situations where hackers broke into databases and downloaded data containing thousands of names, social security numbers, and dates of birth.

How would you know if this happened to you? Do all retailers contact us when their data is compromised? Would you know if someone opened an account in your name?

The case for identity theft and fraud protection grows stronger every month as thieves get smarter and faster every day. Investing in an insurance plan for your name and personal data is becoming another of life’s little requirements to live comfortably.