True Story About Identity Theft

This is a little off-topic but it is important enough that I need to share it with you. A close friend of my wife had sort of disappeared for a while so she was surprised when her friend called out of the blue. She asked where she had been and she explained that she had spent the past several weeks on the phone everyday trying to get her life back—she had been the victim of identity theft.

The thieves had done a great job. They had ordered credit cards in her name, somehow convinced Verizon to transfer her phone calls to a house in New Jersey, and had racked up $30,000 in credit card bills in a short amount of time.

This phone call came coincidentally the same day I had called my insurance agent and asked her about my identity theft protection. I had purchased it last year as part of my “golden blanket” protection from Nationwide. For $45/year, I was covered. However, the coverage would only help me straighten out my credit. If someone hacked into my bank account, that money would be lost.

So, I immediately signed up for LifeLock. Lifelock is a service that not only monitors your credit, but they will cover you for up to $1,000,000 in damages and they will hire the best people they can find to straighten out your credit and to get your identity back. For $10/month or $99/year, you are covered. They are so sure of their service, that the CEO of the company has posted his own social security on their website. If you are concerned about this very serious issue, I would urge you to take a look.