Identity Theft – Cyber Crimes & Protections
Identity theft is not just having your credit card information stolen, then someone impersonating you, when they go shopping at Walmart…
Yes, you may have have received a phone call from your credit card company as they are warning you or have detected fraudulent charges and placed your account on hold while they issue a replacement credit card, debit card etc.
Identity theft can be much more insidious, unknown person or persons can masquerade with your identity, seek and receive medical care of which you will be financially responsible, until you convince the medical provider that it was not you, that had the hip surgery.
The IRS receives over 1.5 million fraudulent tax returns i.e.: someone has stolen your identity, submitted a federal tax return and received a substantial refund. Then you file your taxes & they say we already sent you a refund, can you imagine how much of a hassle that will be trying to convince those people (IRS) that it was not you who filed a fraudulent tax return. Perhaps the most egregious and dangerous form of ID Theft is when someone steals your identity, commits a crime, does not show up for the hearing, resulting in a warrant issued for your arrest! Can you can imagine how disruptive that would be, arrested and incarcerated while you try to convince everyone that it was not you who committed the crime.
Credit monitoring services, especially those that are widely advertised, are strictly monitoring services, they will tell you whether they think you have a problem, when your identification may have been breached and maybe in the hands of criminals. What they don’t do, is help you cure the problem!
Look carefully at the services they offer, the best identity theft protection service immediately provides you with legal representation, insures you against the expenses and liabilities of identity theft and more importantly assumes the risk of curing these problems by spending the hours and days on the telephone talking to respective entities, such as the IRS, the police department and/or a medical provider.
Law enforcement statistics are discouraging, one of every three Americans will have their identity stolen with an unknown impact on their lives, after careful research and many interviews, I found the best protection for my identity, please contact me so I can share with you, how they can protect you also.
Lou Zettler
