Life Happens 365 - Are You Managing the Risk?

  By Diane Tait Image courtesy Pixabay Face it, when it comes to identity theft, the bad guys are winning.   In 2018, consumers in the US were fleeced out of close to $17 billion by identity thieves. Even worse is the fact that the majority of these thefts has shifted from credit card counterfeiting to checking and savings account takeovers.   Another favorite target of identity thieves is to open fraudulent credit card accounts and/or to take out loans in the names of their victims.   Once a victim has been fleeced, the onus is on them to prove that the losses that occurred are indeed fraudulent.   This too costs time and money, which in essence adds insult to injury.   While all this is going on, the thieves are free to use and sell your financial data online.   Since many of the thieves are located offshore, the odds of the perpetrators being caught, much less prosecuted, is slim at best.   Even children’s identities have been stolen and used...

By Diane Tait What’s in a name?   More than most people think.   Especially once their identity has been stolen.   Identity theft is one of the scourges of modern society.   Even worse, it’s one that’s getting more pervasive each and every year.   Last year alone, the credit reporting agencies tallied up nearly $17 billion in losses due to identity theft.   That’s nothing to say of the loss of credit worthiness to those whose identities were compromised, not to mention the laborious and costly process of reclaiming their identity.   To help keep you from becoming a victim, I thought I’d provide you with ten ways to protect your identity from those who hope to profit by besmirching your good name.