Sam Tardio and Dave Ponzetti presented a clear picture of the monetary loss, life disruption and other grief that can come from Identity Theft. If you were at the meeting Thursday, you've probably started thinking about taking steps to protect yourself. I know I am. Sam and Dave represent Kroll Identity Theft Shield and Live Events Legal Plan from Pre-Paid Legal Services.
Here's the connection between Kroll and Pre-Paid Legal Services [from Wikipedia]
Kroll entered into a joint marketing agreement with legal service plan provider Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. in 2003, to distribute an identity theft product to consumers, called the Identity Theft Shield, the first time Kroll offered a service to individuals. As of June 30, 2006, Kroll had over 560,000 customers, according to Pre-Paid Legal's quarterly report. In addition to the Pre-Paid Legal subscribers, Kroll's Identity Theft Shield serves about 500,000 other consumers.
Be aware that it's likely Kroll wrote or contributed to the Wikipedia article. ;-)
We learned that there can be much more to identity theft than financial loss. One case we heard about was when a woman used a stolen driver's license to enter a hospital and have a baby. The poor woman who had her license stolen ended up with a collection agency after her to pay the hospital bill, and child protection after her to take her real kids away.
That's just one example of how identity theft can leave you with more than financial loss or ruined credit to worry about. You may end up defending yourself against civil or criminal action. And you won't be innocent until proven guilty. The burden is on you to prove that it was some other person, not you that did the dirty deed. After all, the other person used your name and your personal details to commit the crime.
In the end there's no such thing as full protection against Identity Theft. The best you can do is restore your pre-theft condition, and that's very difficult for the average person to do on their own. In fact, most popular "protection" schemes are somewhat of a hollow promise that can leave you doing most of the work and bearing most of the expense — they do not have a real insurance element. Pre-Paid Legal claims that the combination of Identity Theft Shield and Live Events Legal Plan offers the protection and insurance you need.
What you need is security for your identity plus legal assistance insurance in case the security fails. I.e., for a monthly premium, the firm you engage will provide some protective services, and take on the odds that they will fail and be obligated to fix the problem.
Your loss from identity theft could be catastrophic for you. For the firm, it would be just one little chunk of the cost of being in business. They'll still make a profit overall.
The question is, where's the best place go get protection plus insurance. I'm leaning toward keeping LifeLock and adding Identity Theft Shield. LifeLock is more agressive on the protection side, and Identity Theft Shield offers the legal assistance that LifeLock lacks.
Links to places where you can get more information about the services, and start your own due diligence.
http://www.prepaidlegal.com/
http://www.kroll.com/
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/
http://www.google.com/search?q=identity+theft+protection
http://www.nextadvisor.com/identity_theft_protection_services/index.php