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12-11-2012, 11:20 PM
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#1
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: midwestern city
Posts: 4,061
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ID protection
I have been thinking of buying ID protection recently. LifeLock or Protect my ID companies come to mind.
Does anyone here use these services ? Are they worth the expense ? Thank you in advance for any feedback.
__________________
Very conservative with investments. Not ER'd yet, 48 years old. Please do not take anything I write or imply as legal, financial or medical advice directed to you. Contact your own financial advisor, healthcare provider, or attorney for financial, medical and legal advice.
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12-12-2012, 05:33 AM
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#2
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Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,586
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They don't do much that you can't do for your self. Lock your credit report and check it regularly.
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12-12-2012, 05:45 AM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 11,318
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I agree with Michael, at least for a first step. Freeze your credit with all three agencies so nobody can open an account in your name. You may still have your CC number abused but all that happens means is you get a new one. Make sure you have a least two and it is no big deal.
Do these protective services actually do anything that would protect you from a sophisticated attack going after your brokerage and savings accounts? That strikes me as more important that the irritation of having to deal with CC abuse.
__________________
Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre -- Albert Camus
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12-12-2012, 05:47 AM
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#4
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: midwestern city
Posts: 4,061
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On my way to work, typing from iPhone sorry for any typo. Michael : these services have $1,000,000 guarantee - this is something I can't do myself... The cost is about $100 a year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelB
They don't do much that you can't do for your self. Lock your credit report and check it regularly.
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__________________
Very conservative with investments. Not ER'd yet, 48 years old. Please do not take anything I write or imply as legal, financial or medical advice directed to you. Contact your own financial advisor, healthcare provider, or attorney for financial, medical and legal advice.
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12-12-2012, 05:56 AM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,004
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Quote:
Originally Posted by obgyn65
On my way to work, typing from iPhone...
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Texting while driving?
__________________
Numbers is hard
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12-12-2012, 06:05 AM
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#6
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 8,362
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In addition to the practices above, I also have my CC provider send me an email notification on any charge made over $40.
Regular checks on Mint.com also would alert me to any strange charges.
__________________
Living well is the best revenge!
Retired @ 52 in 2005
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12-12-2012, 07:19 AM
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#7
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,264
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Quote:
Originally Posted by obgyn65
On my way to work, typing from iPhone sorry for any typo. Michael : these services have $1,000,000 guarantee - this is something I can't do myself... The cost is about $100 a year.
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I wonder how many people have actually collected on the guarantee. My suspicion is that there are so many exclusions and restrictions that it is essentially worthless. So if you do chase this wild goose, read the fine print. I have no firsthand experience though.
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12-12-2012, 07:22 AM
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#8
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 8,362
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Wasn't this the company where the president put his SS number on an ad truck and drove it around NYC? He was so sure he wouldn't get hacked. But....yup! He did!
__________________
Living well is the best revenge!
Retired @ 52 in 2005
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12-12-2012, 07:29 AM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,004
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From Consumer Reports:
Quote:
ID theft protection products like credit monitoring are of dubious value because your fraud liability is already limited. They also charge you for things that you can do yourself—free.
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And their recommended actions to safeguard yourself:
1. Guard the cards
2. Freeze your credit reports
3. Protect your computer
4. Lock down your smart phone
5. Respond aggressively to any hint of trouble
__________________
Numbers is hard
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12-12-2012, 08:50 AM
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#10
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 1,495
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Thanks for the postings on this. I finally did the freeze on the three for DW and me this morning. Meant to do for years.
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12-13-2012, 05:45 AM
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#11
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: midwestern city
Posts: 4,061
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Thank you everyone. I have set up a reminder on Chase to send me a message when my account has an expense hit of $40 or more.
How does one freeze his/her credit reports ?
Edit : I just found this : http://consumerist.com/2007/11/06/ho...credit-report/
I did not know about this, thank you for the advice.
__________________
Very conservative with investments. Not ER'd yet, 48 years old. Please do not take anything I write or imply as legal, financial or medical advice directed to you. Contact your own financial advisor, healthcare provider, or attorney for financial, medical and legal advice.
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12-13-2012, 10:22 AM
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#12
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 3,431
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Quote:
Originally Posted by REWahoo
From Consumer Reports:
And their recommended actions to safeguard yourself:
1. Guard the cards
2. Freeze your credit reports
3. Protect your computer
4. Lock down your smart phone
5. Respond aggressively to any hint of trouble
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What specifically does "lock down your smart phone" entail?
Thanks,
omni
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12-13-2012, 10:34 AM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,004
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Per Consumer reports, it means be sure your phone has some type of security application that guards against malware, encrypts your data, and requires password access. Even better is an application to either locate the device or erase everything on it if it's stolen.
__________________
Numbers is hard
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12-13-2012, 11:24 AM
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#14
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Cooksburg,PA
Posts: 1,873
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Just found out that my CC was hacked. I happened shortly after I purchased a Kindle on Amazon. Got my cards cancelled. Now I have concerns about my computer. Happy Holidays? Once I am more comfortable with the solution, I will look at going to the credit report sites.
__________________
Free to canoe
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12-13-2012, 12:22 PM
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#15
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Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,586
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Free To Canoe
Just found out that my CC was hacked. I happened shortly after I purchased a Kindle on Amazon. Got my cards cancelled. Now I have concerns about my computer. Happy Holidays? Once I am more comfortable with the solution, I will look at going to the credit report sites.
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That sucks, especially if you have autopays which now need to be updated. Not sure why there would be a problem with the computer, though. Do you use antivirus SW?
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12-13-2012, 01:39 PM
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#16
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Cooksburg,PA
Posts: 1,873
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We have Avast and I downloaded Malwarebytes and ran it today. No badware found. DW had an incident a couple of days ago where the computer was running very slow. Got me thinking in the direction of the computer. All autopays are coming out of the debit card so we are OK there as long as I continue not to use the debit card for online purchases.
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Free to canoe
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