How to Make Yourself Virtually Identity Theft PROOF in 60 Minutes or Less

=======================================
The "CREDIT SECRETS BIBLE" has been in
print since 1994 and is published by
Consumer Publishing Group.
For more information on the "CREDIT
SECRETS BIBLE" you may visit:
http://vur.me/GetItNow/CreditSecrets
=======================================
How to Make Yourself Virtually Identity
Theft PROOF in 60 Minutes or Less

-by Terry Price

(C) Copyright Terry Price
All Rights Reserved
http://vur.me/GetItNow/CreditSecrets
=======================================
The FBI has called it "The fastest
growing crime in America." Close to 10
million Americans every year are
victimized by it and the costs are
estimated at 50 billion dollars
annually. Many criminals get off easy
while the victims spend years working
to restore their damaged credit reports
and reputations. Worse yet, there seems
to be no end in sight.

"The popularity of the crime is simply
growing faster than the solutions to
stop it" many experts conclude. The
task of recovery is so time consuming
and tedious, multiple states have
resorted to creating "Identity Theft
Passports" for victims in an attempt to
ease the pain for them as they endure
the lengthy and frustrating clean up
process.

By the end of this article I will share
with you the secrets of making yourself
virtually identity theft proof in 60
minutes or less (for free). I use the
term "secrets" because less than 1% of
the country are aware of these
techniques (let alone practicing
them).

If Americans took these preventative
steps up to 99% of all identity theft
would be eliminated. However, "why"
this beneficial approach is not being
made common knowledge in the mainstream
media is something I will not disclose
in this article (more on that another
time). For the moment I believe the
biggest crime one can commit is to not
share this information with their
friends and family (by the end of this
article you will understand why).

Unlike other authors covering this
subject I will not insult your
intelligence by sharing common sense
tips like "Don’t carry your SSN Card or
ATM PIN# in your wallet or purse" or
"Keep all data sensitive documents like
credit card and bank statements locked
up in your home or office". This is
elementary advice at best. The key to
protecting yourself from identity theft
is to look at what the masses are doing
and then do the opposite (to say the
least).

Almost 70% of Americans are now
shredding all their mail and documents
and many are even subscribing to credit
monitoring services or buying identity
theft insurance in an attempt to
protect themselves from becoming
victims. While this is better than
doing nothing it’s a far cry from TRUE
security.

Study The Past To Predict The Future

Contrary to popular belief statistics
show the majority of identity theft
does NOT result from the internet as
most consumers have been led to
believe. In fact, less than 10% of
identity theft cases (where data
compromise can be determined)
originated online. In almost 50% of
cases consumers are the ones who detect
the breach. In nearly 40% of cases the
criminal was someone who was in close
contact with the victim (friend,
relative, neighbor, coworker, in-home
employee, waiter/waitress or financial
institution employee). In then end,
nearly one third of identity theft
cases come from a stolen wallet/purse,
checkbook or credit card.

More interesting, the age of the
primary victim has lowered. If you are
between the age of 25 to 34 you are now
the largest target for the crime (65+
has become the smallest). The bad news
is that while identity theft nationwide
is on the decline (8.9 million victims
last year down from 9.3 million in
2005) the dollar amount per victim is
going up ($6,383 last year, up from
$5,885 in 2005) and so are the number
of hours victims spend cleaning up the
mess (40+ hours last year, up from 28
hours in 2005).

We’ve all heard the saying "An ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure".
Yet, no one is practicing it in the
pandemic of identity theft. Credit
monitoring is nice but only 11% of
consumers ever catch identity theft
through this means. Identity Theft
Insurance (according to many experts)
is even more of a hoax. A product
marketed by playing on the fears of
American consumers which does nothing
more than assist them in cleaning up
the mess only AFTER their identity has
been stolen.

A Different Approach

The following is a completely different
approach to preventing and protecting
yourself from identity theft. It is
based on the reality that we live in a
world now where there is zero privacy
of personal data. Meaning that your
name, address, phone number, social
security number, date of birth (even
your mothers maiden name) can be
obtained by ANYONE for a fee.

If you’re one who feels this is
paranoid thinking let me tell you about
Amy Boyer. In 1999 Miss Boyer had an old
high school classmate (Liam Youens) come
back into her life many years later. Mr.
Youens obtained Amy’s SSN and other
personal information after paying
Docusearch Inc. $150. After Youens shot
Miss Boyer to death he then turned the
gun on himself. Today the company tells
visitors to its website that "not all
searches are available to the public"
and some are reserved for the
investigative and legal industry. How’s
that for homeland security?

With this "different" approach we break
down identity theft into two distinct
categories. 1.) Basic Identity Theft,
and 2.) Credit Hijacking. By definition
"Basic Identity Theft" is when the
perpetrator steals your identity and
then uses it to obtain NEW credit
accounts for their personal gain.
"Credit Hijacking" falls under a
criminal stealing your identity in
order to access and use your EXISTING
credit accounts. Each type of fraud is
different and therefore so is your plan
of defense.

BASIC ID THEFT DEFENSE: The best
proactive defense against basic
identity theft is through the placing
of an "Initial Fraud Alert" on all
three of your credit reports. This
"Initial Fraud Alert" accomplishes
three important factors: 1.) Your name
and personal information can no longer
be sold by the credit bureaus to ANY
third parties for any marketing purpose
(i.e. credit card offers, loan
solicitations or credit pre
screenings). 2.) No one can be approved
for credit with your personal
information until the creditor
personally calls you at the telephone
number you list on your consumer credit
report. And, 3.) Requesting this initial
fraud alert entitles you to a free copy
of all three of your credit reports
(one copy from each of the three major
credit reporting agencies). Please be
advised that this is an "Initial Fraud
Alert" which lasts only 90 days. To
extend the fraud alert and obtain the
above mentioned benefits for 7 years
you will need to write to each credit
bureau at the address provided within
your initial fraud alert confirmation
letter (Note: It is likely credit
bureaus will make the extended alert
harder to obtain as a great deal of
their revenue comes from the third
party rental and sale your
information).

CREDIT HIJACKING DEFENSE: Most online
merchants now utilize a security
feature known as "Address Verification
Service" or "AVS". AVS is a security
feature for online merchants allowing
them to only authorize credit card
transactions for merchandise to be
shipped to the same address which
appears on the consumers credit card
billing statement. If the address does
not match that of the credit card
billing statement the transaction will
automatically be declined. In other
words, if someone gets your credit card
number, expirations date and CVV code
(the three digit code on the back of
the card) the only way a transaction
can be authorized online is if the
merchandise if shipped to the SAME
address that your credit card billing
statement is currently sent to. This is
what makes credit hijacking so
dangerous. When a criminal hijacks your
credit they call up the banks (posing as
you) and change your address on your
credit cards with your personal
information (i.e. last for of SSN and
mothers maiden name) as if you were
moving. They then proceed to order
thousands of dollars in merchandise
(online or over the phone) to be
shipped to the "new" address. Because
they changed "your address" on your
credit cards they will bypass the AVS
security from online merchants and the
charges will be approved.

The only real defense against credit
hijacking is to establish a personal
security code with all your bank
accounts and credit cards. This is a
form of security which goes beyond your
SSN, Zip Code, Date of Birth or Mothers
Maiden Name to give you a whole new
tier of personal security. This is a
unique number or group of letters and
numbers which you create and give to
every credit card provider you have.
For example. The number could be as
simple as "JACOB2801" which is a
combination of your best friend as
child and the numerical address of the
home you lived in growing up. By
establishing this auxiliary passcode
with all your credit card providers no
one will be granted access to your
accounts without it providing it to
them. Since you are the only one who
knows it and it is non public it is
truly secure. I have yet to find a
credit card company which will not
allow you to create a such a passcode
and added layer of security.

Summary

So now with the initial fraud alert
established on your credit reports (and
later extended) as well as the personal
security code set up with all your bank
and credit card accounts, you are
virtually identity theft proof in under
60 minutes for free. Sure, someone can
always "steal" your identity but the
real joke will be on them. If they try
to open a new credit account anywhere
in the country the creditor is going to
have to call YOU at the phone number
listed on your report in before it can
be approved and it’s GAME OVER. If they
try to hijack your credit by changing
the address on your credit accounts
they will be asked for not only the
last four digits of your SSN and mother
maiden name, but also your personal
security code which they will NOT know
and again it’s, GAME OVER.

Please understand that this article
deals only with the topic of
"financial" identity theft which is by
far the most prevalent today. However,
you should be aware you also have the
following "5 MAJOR" identities in
computers across the nation which are
your: 1.) Driving Records/History (DMV
Databases). 2.) Medical Records/History
(Medical Information Bureau Database).
3.) Social Security Records/History
(SSA Database). 4.) Insurance
Claims/History (C.L.U.E. Database). 5.)
Criminal, Legal and Public Record
databases from birth records and real
estate deeds to corporations, trusts
and court cases. Yes, we are in the
information age but all information is
stored in databases. I think we are now
living in the database age.

10 Extra "Financial" Identity Protection Tips

1.) Keep a list of all credit card and
bank account numbers with bank phone
numbers so in case of loss or theft
they can be notified immediately. 2.)
Use only one credit card for personal
expenses and one card for business
expenses and monitor accounts online
weekly. 3.) Always send or receive mail
only through secure and locked mail
boxes. 4.) Never give out any sensitive
information (SSN, Acct #, Pin #,
Password Etc) via an email
solicitation. Always type in and visit
the website directly. 5.) Limit the
information on your checks to your
first initial, last name and address
(nothing more). 6.) On all credit cards
instead of signing your name write
"Check ID!". 7.) Never use a debit card
or Visa/Master Check card as recovering
fraudulently accessed funds from these
accounts can be extremely difficult.
8.) Store all credit cards, bank
statements and passports etc in a
secure and locked place. 9.) Never give
out your Social Security Number, Drivers
License Number or Date Of Birth unless
they have just cause and really need
it. 10.) For details about establishing
and initial fraud alert on your credit
reports visit: www.experian.com,
www.equifax.com, www.transunion.com

=======================================
The "CREDIT SECRETS BIBLE" has been in
print since 1994 and is published by
Consumer Publishing Group.
For more information on the "CREDIT
SECRETS BIBLE" you may visit:
http://vur.me/GetItNow/CreditSecrets