Identity Theft - How Are You Protecting Yourself?

As someone who has had it happen 2x, no, it is not worth it.
Bottom line, you will still file an affidavit with your bank for any stolen funds (which will be refunded when you provide a police report), and your credit cards will wipe the charges from your statements.

You can dispute charges on your credit statements and have them removed with the major agencies so as not to damage your credit score. And if you take out a fraud alert, which everyone should do annually anyway, nothing can be applied for in your name without your verbal permission validating that is you applying for it.

These are all things provided for you now at no charge.

I would be sure to understand what exactly goes into your bank "assisting with recovery and re-establishment" and how far it goes. Because there is only so much they can do, and mostly, you're going to have to do the footwork anyway.

I don't pay a service to do what I can do myself for no fee. Many places are using fear tactics to sign people up in order to get them to be more secure. It is a great marketing scheme. I prefer to use the $150+ per year I would pay someone else to invest for myself.

Once you are completely secure with how you are handling things is when theft will happen!

For us... We have fraud alerts set up on all of our accounts with each of the top 3 credit reporting agencies. NO ONE can get a loan, open an account or anything like that because in the event they try, we get a call to verify what is going on.

I reconcile our business and personal banking accounts and credit card account daily.

We do use the credit card a lot for business (it is paid in full at all times) and I check online to make sure all charges are correct. Our credit card # has been stolen from restaurants and from other sources. You are not liable for the stolen purchases when you sign an affidavit with the companies saying they are not your charges.

It is easy to make a habit of checking your own accounts daily and making sure everything is legit.

Waste of money. Your best bet is to go over all bank statements and credit card statement when you receive them to make sure they are correct. You are entitled to a free credit report from all 3 credit reporting companies once a year so you can check those for errors. You can also freeze your credit which will not allow new accounts or loans to be taken out without your knowledge and ok.

I don't worry about it too much. My mom had a credit card number stolen several years ago and someone used it to buy over $15,000 worth of electronics online. Her credit card company forgave the charges without a second glance. It was absolutely no problem.

Don't use a debit card to purchase things online. Check your credit history twice a year. Read through your statements for purchases you didn't make. Just be smart about it.