Are Credit Cards the Biggest Identity Theft Problem?:
One argument that people make against purchasing an identity theft protection plan is that their credit cards already offer such a service for free. If, say, Visa or MasterCard notices purchases being made that are a little out of the ordinary, it contacts the card owner and sometimes blocks the card. This is great – unless you are actually overseas and purchasing a yacht and your transaction is not approved – but it is not complete
identity theft prevention by any means. And it barely scratches the surface of the problem, seeing as a recent study by IdentityHawk found that credit card fraud only accounts for 20% of identity theft cases.
Other common causes of identity theft mentioned in the study were selling personal information on the black market, theft of debit cards, coming in at early 20% each as well. Several other reasons accounted for less than 16% of total thefts. IdentityHawk determined that while credit protection is good, the verdict was that it is just not enough.
In order to really keep your identity safe, there are a lot more avenues that have to be guarded. One super important one is your Social Security, which credit card companies have little to do with. You can cancel credit cards easily, but you cannot easily obtain a new Social Security number. This number is tied to your tax records and to your employment history, so a lot more damage can be done with it, and this damage can affect you for years.
So, go ahead and take advantage of the debt protection that your credit card company gives you. Why not, if it’s free anyway? But make sure you go further with a true
identity theft protection plan that protects all of your sensitive information, instead of simple a tiny portion of it. And call your credit card company ahead of time if you do plan on buying that yacht.
