Even with minimal information Identity thieves can garner a lot of personal information about you. With just a name and IP address they can determine where you live and perform property searches. Our government is not very safe with our personal information. If you own a home the details are in publicly available databases. Most can be accessed right online through GIS services. This information will include your property address and mortgage holder. This makes people even bigger targets of Identity theft because if you are a home owner chances are good you have at least ok credit. Even if you are not a home owner you are still a target for identity theft. Identity thieves can still get your address if they know the general area in which you live. They can use this information to get your Social Security Number and other personal information such as spouses name, phone numbers etc.

If you know your information has been compromised you need to take a proactive stance to prevent your good name from being ruined. As we have been victims of identity theft in the past we know how much it can affect your daily life until it is sorted out. That is why we have teamed up with Life Lock and have been able to get our site visitors a 30 day free trial and a 10% discount for their services. The cost with the discount is only $9.00 per month. They also have an identity theft guarantee. If your identity is compromised while enrolled in their services they will spend up to $1,000,000 to restore your good name. Visit Life Lock today.

With sites like MySpace, YouTube and Live Journal our teens are connected to others all over the country and the world and this makes them especially vulnerable to online Identity Theft. Unfortunately these young people in the prime of their life are not educated about Identity Theft. With young people having no credit it gives Identity Thieves a blank slate to work with.

Here are some basic tips to help your teen be secure online and prevent identity theft:

• Keep birth certificates and social security cards in a safe place.
• Do not give personal information over the phone or internet unless you know the company or organization you are dealing with.
• For older teens, check your credit report prior to applying for student loans or first apartment. How unfortunate it would be for them to discover that they are victims of Identity Theft when they first need their credit.
• If you are heading to college do not let them make your student id number the same as your Social Security Number or any part of it.
• If you receive an email about student loans, bank accounts or any other financial transaction with a request for more information call the company directly before submitting anything online. Most companies will not ask you to verify personal information online if you have an established relationship with them.

Family members happen to be the biggest abuser of our children’s identity. Because we trust family members and care takers with our children’s physical safety does not mean we should allow them to have their sensitive personal information, like their Social Security Number. I have seen on many occasions where young people have negative credit from utility collections on their credit report where a family member used their Social Security Number to acquire these services. Just as we need to teach our children to be stewards of their personal information we need to be overly cautious with it. We don’t need little Johnny hating aunt Sally forever because she got a cell phone using his Social Security Number.

Another good proactive way to help our children and teens in protecting their Identity and their financial future is to enroll them in Life Lock Identity theft protection. The cost to enroll your children is only $25 a year or $2.50 a month. This program will help make them more aware of Identity Theft and provide up to $1,000,000.00 in protection if their identity is ever stolen. The cost is minimal compared to the disappointment that our young people will have when they try to use credit for the first time to only find that they are a victim of identity theft.

The cost of identity theft continue to rise the estimated cost of identity is over 53 billion dollars per year due to fraudulent accounts being opened and other missuses of individuals identity. The average value of services received due to each incidence of identity theft was $10,200.

The total annual cost to victims of identity theft totals around 5 billion dollars per year to recover from identity theft as well as over 300 million hours of personal time resolving problems due to identity theft. If based on an average wage of $10 per hour (which is a VERY low estimate) this would place the annual cost to victims of identity theft to $8 billion dollars a year with the average per victim of $800. The cost are higher to those affected by new accounts being opened in their name to the tune of almost $1200.00

This does not take into account crimes committed in the names of identity theft victims this happens in 4.3% of identity theft cases. Imangine getting stoped for a speeding ticket to find you have outstanding warrants!

The easiest way to not become another statistic of identity theft is being diligent about Identity Theft Prevention. There are many things you can do on your own in the prevention of identity theft. You can also cut your own hair and change the oil in you carm but most people pay professionals to provide these services for them. That is why we have teamed up with Life Lock to offer Identity theft protection to our visitors. The provide comprehensive Identity Theft Prevention for less that the cost of lunch. We are able to offer our readers a 10% discount on their services making the cost only $9.00 per month. They even give you the first 30 days for free and back up their services with a $1,000,000.00 guarantee if you are a victim of identity theft while enrolled in their program. Visit Life Lock and get more valuable information.

* Statistical source Federal Trade Commission

The nice thing about using these services together is Life Lock provides a $1,000,000 guarantee if your Identity gets stolen and Equifax provides you with email updates if there is any change to your credit report.  Life Lock also makes sure you stay opted out from prescreened offers.

Here are the addresses to the credit bureaus if you do not wish to use the Opt Out number.  If you mail in your request make sure you do it certified mail return receipt requested.  That way you have a record of the credit bureaus receiving it in-case you continue to receive prescreened offers.

Experian -
888-397-3742
PO Box 9532
Allen Tx, 75013

Equifax -
800-525-6285
PO Box 740241
Atlanta Ga, 30374-0241

TransUnion -
800-680-7289
Fraud Victim Assistance Department
PO Box 6790
Fullerton Ca, 92634-6790

It is a little know fact that the credit bureaus sell your information  to companies that request it.  The process works like this:

• Companies submit a list of criteria to the credit reporting agencies, such as give us a list of home owners in a certain zip code with a credit score above 600.
• The credit bureaus take this information and process it and give the company that requested the information a list of every person in a zip code that has a mortgage or had a mortgage in that zip code with a credit score above 600.
• The company takes this information and sends you an offer of credit for various products and services.
• Sometimes these companies also take your information and farm out telemarketing overseas to solicit you to complete their offer.

This process has a double negative.  Not only is your personal credit profile released to companies without your knowing, it also provides them with your contact information to create a marketing list.  The rules say also that if the credit bureaus release your information based on the criteria provided they must give you a qualified offer or credit.  Which places a prequalified offer of credit in your mailbox.

Simple economics has them farming out your information to India and the Philippines to solicit you via telephone as well.  Also prequalified offers of credit places information in your mail box that idetity theives love to have.  If the identity theft thief is slick enough to get the presreened offer out of your mail box he or she will also be able to get the credit card when it comes in.

To prevent this from happening to you make sure you Opt Out with the credit reporting agencies.  This is just the first step in protection from Identity Theft.  I personally use Life Lock for Identity theft protection.  For just $9.00 per month they will make sure you are opted out from prescreened credit offers and take other steps necessary to have protection from Identity Theft.  They also back this up with a $1,000,000 guarantee if you are ever a victim of identity theft while enrolled in their program.  Visit Life Lock today and save 10% and get the first 30 days for free.

• Is your drivers license the same as your Social Security Number? If it is get it changed immediately. You give your drivers license / identification card to a lot of people and they record this number. Although a drivers license is personally identifiable the number is easier to change than your social security number.
• If you are going out of town stop your mail. Do not rely on a neighbor to check it for you. Have the post office hold it for you.
• If you rent or are selling your home get a PO Box - this also applies to students away in school. Do not rely on the post office or creditors to properly forward your mail.
• Opt Out from prescreened credit offers. You can do this with a phone call to the major credit reporting agencies. See Opting-out.
• Do not have your full name printed on your checks, Just use your first and middle initial. It is a lot harder for them to steal your Identity if they don’t know your full name.
• If do not wish to pay for an unlisted phone number change the listing to just your initials and last name for the same reasons listed above.
• Buy a shredder. Shred anything you do not wish to keep that has your name and address on it. Your trash is the number one ways that Identity Theft happens.

Just using these simple tips will help reduce your chances of having your Identity Stolen. Don’t do like this guy and post your social security to the internet. That is inviting Identity Theft and is not a way to prevent Identity Theft from happening to you