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What if YOU no longer existed? (part 2)

 

In Part 1 of this series we talked about data backup solutions for your business and personal records.  If your data is lost because you did not have a backup system in place, that is inconvenient to say the least.  However, there is something that is even more upsetting than losing your data - and that is having it stolen from you.

 

Imagine waking up tomorrow morning to discover that YOU no longer exist.  Literally! Everything that was YOU is gone and worse yet, someone else is now masquerading as you.  Oh sure, you're still able to fog a mirror, but the external things that makes up your life and your place in society were taken from you and you will have an expensive uphill battle proving it happened. 

Criminals can obtain your personal information in a hundred different ways without having to break into your home - but that is a popular option. Worse yet, they don't even need to sneak in through a window as dumpster diving can provide copies of your credit card, bank statements and other records that bear your name, address, telephone number and even your Social Security Number. Obtaining such records make it effortless for criminals to assume your identity.

Identity thieves have been known to listen in on conversation as you give your credit-card number to a hotel or rental car company over the telephone. Resourceful criminals will also intercept and redirect your mail to another location. Such tactics can add weeks or months to your discovery that your personal records have been compromised.  

 

In this day and age, criminals use computer technology to obtain vast amounts of personal data.  Far too many people respond to spam or phishing emails promising God knows what and respond to requests for personal information without realizing that they are being hoodwinked.  Once they have obtained enough identifying information about you, a criminal can literally steal your identity and commit crimes ranging from false loan applications, obtaining new credit cards (in your name) and make cash withdrawals from your bank or brokerage accounts. 

 

Creative identity thieves take precautions and ensure that the bills for the falsely obtained credit cards, or bank statements showing unauthorized transactions, are sent to an address other than the yours.  By the time you discover that you are maxed-out on your credit cards and overdrawn at the bank, the bad guys have disappeared and are wrecking havoc with another unsuspecting mark.

 

Such crimes are an unfortunate part of living in our modern world, but there is something you can do to protect yourself from even the craftiest identity thieves.  Maybe you've heard Paul Harvey or Sean Hannity talk about a company called LifeLock on the radio; LifeLock receives a lot of attention because their CEO Todd Davis, publishes his Social Security number online. LifeLock is a proactive identity theft protection agency, specializing in prevention of identity theft rather than just reporting of it.  LifeLock, founded in 2005, is already considered the industry leader.

 

It is by far the cheapest insurance you can buy to prevent identity theft from happening to you.  LifeLock is the Identity Theft Prevention Solution backed by a one-million dollar guarantee!  Click here to get a 10% discount.

 

 

PS:  I don't just recommend LifeLock because I think it is a good idea.  I am a customer and believe that this service is a 'must have' in today's world!

 

 

"We looked at a number of companies and found LifeLock had the best product for protecting people from ID theft plus much more. I wish we had found them before my wife and I recently became victims."

Bobby Joe Harris
Retired Chandler (AZ) Police Chief

 

"Thieves broke into my home and got everything - my passport, birth certificate, social security card, and several other priceless items. They could have ruined me financially. I had heard about how LifeLock guarantees identity protection. So I put them to the test. A few days later, I started getting phone calls that the thieves were trying to open new credit accounts using my identity. LifeLock's system worked just like they said it would and stopped the thieves early."

"I urge everyone to consider employing LifeLock to protect his or her Identity. I am grateful the thieves that tried to get to me were not able to succeed even though they have tried repeated times. LifeLock stopped them!"

Aaron Freeman
Scottsdale, Arizona

 

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