Online Identity theft- How Hysteria Creates a Market

You get to the checkout line at the grocery store. After you run your card through the machine with a broken pen, the cashier tells you your card has been declined. "That cant be" you say  as she rolls her eyes knowing she has to restock your entire shopping cart. You then run to the ATM outside. You agree to the $2.99 fee to just check your balance( dam you presto) and there is is - a balance of 0. You are still in denial . So you race home go  online and check your balance its worse, you have a balance of negative 42.99(transaction fee and over the draft fee for the ATM use.  You notice  purchases made in another states. you lose your house the wife leaves you . your doomed. Dont You Wish you had Life Guard online privacy protection. for just 49.99 and 19.99 a year, you can get all the Identity Guard you need.
You may have heard the names of these companies-life-lock, Protect my ID , Identity guard, and Watch Dog. While i believe most of these products do what they claim ,however i wonder do we really need them?
I understand that in this new online world we have can make some people get a little paranoid. I must admit the first time i used MS money i was a little hesitant to provide all this credit card and banking information-even though i never felt that way when i would give my name phone number, address social security number and a copy of my drivers license to a complete stranger at a bank .Today i dont go to the Bank that much anymore
I here more and more about Identity theft so i decided to check some things out (online of course). here is what i found.

• The amount of victims to identity theft in 2003 was 10.1 million in 2007 the amount  dropped   to 8.4 million
• the total amount of money lost to fraud was 55.7 billion in 2006 and it decreased to 49.3 billion in 2007.
• Most thieves still obtain personal Identity info through traditional way rather than the internet. or Almost 70% of the crimes were obtained offline compared to almost 12% online. 
• it is also recommended to receive your banking statement online that by the mail.

How about that its actually safe to receive your bank statement through email then by mail because its easier to steal someones mail. Other more common ways include losing a wallet or purse, giving information over the phone and of course family and friends.

Its also worth noting that you control what info you enter online . Use common sense with the information you post to the world

Alex 

305 555 6792

address 1588 sesame street, fiu fl

social security. 576-67-8656

http://www.privacyrights.org

http://www.identitytheftcreditfraud.com