Do you know your identity score?

[easysurfer]

There's a free website that let's you check your identity score by inputing personal information, then a screen comes up and tells you your score (scale from 000-999). The higher the number, the higher the risk you could be an identify theft victim.

Usually, I wouldn't enter such info but I've seen the sight reccomended twice by Kiplinger magazine so I give it a whirl.

My idscore came back as 146 which is low risk.

reference to the article:

Is Your ID Safe? - Kiplinger

[ohfrugalone]

Well it says you have the option to not put your social security number in, but then when I went for my score, the site said it would need my social security number in order to provide a result. No thanks.

[easysurfer]

Reminds me of a time I went to McDonalds and gave $20 for a Big Mac. Well, the cashier examined the bill by the light, marked it to make sure the bill wasn't counterfiet. When satisfied gave me the change.

I felt a bit insulted that they would think I'd pass a bogus bill. I didn't do anything, but was tempted to take the bills she gave back and examine the bills in front of her to pretend that I made sure she wasn't passing me any bogus change

In this world, it is difficult to see who's cheating who?

[Hershey102]

133.

We keep a freeze on our credit reports in order to reduce the risk of anyone opening credit in our names.

[ohfrugalone]

I will accept the fact that you think I am cheating the company. Just as long as I don't have to ante up my SS#.

[easysurfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohfrugalone I will accept the fact that you think I am cheating the company. Just as long as I don't have to ante up my SS#.

No. The farthest from the truth. You are practicing very safe internet surfing. I didn't mean at all to say you were cheating a company.

What I meant in my post was that in general, in times like these, it's difficult to see who is legit and who is not.

I remember when I got my credit report from the free annual report online, it took me several times before I decided to put in my info to get my credit report online. In the back of my mind was, is that site legit?

[plex]

Requires my SS#, no thanks. The only place I would give that online is a government site.

[growing_older]

Maybe it just adds a few hundred points to your risk score if you are willing to give it your SSN?

[calmloki]

ehh - 126, they got my SS# and i gave 'em my mother's maiden name and a list of all the passwords i use too*. Just not that worried about stuff.

*some of that isn't true.

[chinaco]

How do you know that it is legitimate and not some sort of social engineering scam?

No way in H3ll would I provide Birthdate and SSN to that or any other website... especially if I did not know anything about it or the organization running it. Some Kiplinger journalist is not enough assurance for me. How do you know he wasn't conned? Even if he wasn't, many large businesses do not have their Information Security act together... I have less confidence in smaller organizations. How do you know the data will be kept safe or how it will be used?

The only people that need have that sort of info is the govt, medical, and a few financial institutions.

My opinion.... steer clear. For that matter what is it really doing for you? Your best bet to mitigate the risk of Identity theft is to keep your info private... and use several other levels of care like monitoring your credit report regularly. If you are really concerned, put a freeze on your credit info with the credit rating companies.

[tryan]

I wonder how much your score DROPS for completing thier form!

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinaco How do you know that it is legitimate and not some sort of social engineering scam? No way in H3ll would I provide Birthdate and SSN to that or any other website... especially if I did not know anything about it or the organization running it. Some Kiplinger journalist is not enough assurance for me. How do you know he wasn't conned?

My take exactly. I'll pass on it.

And even if they are legit, what security measures do they have in place? Too many variables/unknowns.

[Fireup2020]

My SSN was not required, so I did not offer it...ended up with a 279...still low by their standards. In order to get credit in my name, you have to prove you are me! Gotta love the credit freeze!

[haha]

Unlerss the law has recently changed, in this state you cannot do a credit freeze unless you can prove that your identity has been stolen! How's that for consumer friendly?

Another scandal is that anyone with Medicare card is carrying his SSN in his pocket, and giving it up to every clerk in every pharmacy, every doctor's office, etc.

I really dont think that a hash to come up with a different number should be beyond even government programmers. This issue was taken up in the congress, but somehow failed to sufficiently appeal to these public servants to get achange made.

In case you are wondering how great is the government's interest in your welfare, drop this on the "not very interested" side of the balance.

Ha

[TromboneAl]

Here's something to consider: A lot of companies ask for the "last four of your social," that is, the last four digits of your SSN. I guess the idea is that since they are only asking for the last four, you are protected against giving out a critical piece of identity information (that is, your entire number).

However, if the last four are used to identify you (for example, at another bank or company), then those last four digits become just as critical as the entire number. Someone could use those four digits to steal your identity so you are no more secure in giving out just part of your SSN.

[Gone4Good]

So the site ranks your susceptibility to identity theft by asking you to input a bunch of information that would be useful to identity thieves . . . shouldn't everyone's score come back as "High Risk, Dummy!"

[teejayevans]

Try Free People Search by ZabaSearch!
It gets its data from public records (Marriage licenses, etc), so it may have
B-day, e-mail, etc.
TJ

[ls99]

Wonder how well they would do with my late brother's ssn, mixed with late SIL' name? Nah, not gonna give them more food.

[Hershey102]

haha writes, "Unlerss the law has recently changed, in this state you cannot do a credit freeze unless you can prove that your identity has been stolen! How's that for consumer friendly?"

I think that you may be confusing the law in your state with a requirement that credit reporting agencies are not to charge you for a credit freeze if you produce a police report or other document proving that you are a victim of identity theft. Otherwise, anyone can place a freeze on the credit for a fee in any state, to the best of my knowledge, usually costing $10. One agency, and I don't recall which, recently waived the fee if you placed the freeze online. Since we don't apply for credit, a credit freeze seemed like a good way to dramatically lower the risk of ID theft. If you need to unfreeze, the $10 fee again applies. However, many lending agencies don't ask to see all three credit reports, so it's not like it is going to cost $30 to unfreeze if you decide to apply for a HELOC.