Identity Theft: CANNOT Be Prevented

Oh, I can hear the gasps. “What do you mean Identity Theft cannot be prevented?”

I hate to be the bearer of this bad news. But, someone had to tell you.

I know for the past five years the media has used the term ‘prevent’ when covering Identity Theft. That is to no fault of their own, they don’t understand the true nature and scope of this crime.

Prevention is a myth. Maybe someday it will be preventable. So, for now we need to understand this crime a bit better in order to mitigate the damage that can be done. Stated simpler, we can take measures to lessen our exposure to the thieves.

I know there are people that will read this and say, “My company can prevent this crime” or “I have a service that says they prevent Identity Theft”. Sorry, that is just called marketing. I actually work with a product called the Identity Theft Shield. Guess what, I am not going to tell you that the service I work with can prevent Identity Theft, because it can’t. What a quality Identity Theft product should do for you is act as your early warning system for trouble on the horizon. Next step would be to do the restoration for you, and provide top-notch lawyers to defend and guide you throughout the crisis. I’ll cover more on products within the market in another article.

Back to the business at hand.

My reasoning for making the bold statement of prevention is a myth, is because: Your information is already out there in the public domain! If you were ever born, obviously you were; you are reading this article, your personal information is out there. It is in the realm of 0’s and 1’s. Everything is digitized, and placed in databases. Databases for which, you have no control over. Databases are hacked on a daily basis. Back-up tapes are ‘lost’ and stolen. As of this writing there has been more than 246 Million US residents personal (Non-Public Information) exposed to potential Identity Theft*.

Let’s look at an example of information in the public domain. Arizona: This state has the highest occurrence of Identity Theft in The United States.

Would you like to know one of the reasons why?

Several years ago, about the same time Identity Theft appeared on most peoples radar screens, the state decided to put all court records online (that would be the World Wide Web). Court records are gold mines of information for thieves, like Social Security Numbers, Dates of Birth, and Mother’s Maiden Name. You get the picture?

Oh, you don’t live in Arizona. That’s ok, most states and counties have followed suite with this practice. Congratulations, you are included in the mess.

I’m pretty sure you don’t have that warm and fuzzy feeling right now.

So, what do you do from here?

First, stay tuned for future articles from me on this topic. There will be plenty more.

Secondly, I’m not going to put you on edge without offering some hope. I like to use metaphors to make a point. I find this to help most everybody. Interpret it as you see fit:

If I were to feed you a fish, you would receive nourishment for the day. If you venture out to sea on your own, you will learn to survive.

To be continued…
*Privacy Rights Clearinghouse