Identity Theft Protection - From Who?

You've probably received one of those identity theft protection “checks” from your credit card company, and wondered who it is that you actually need protection from – the credit card companies or the identity thieves? Some people have been known to cash the check because they were under the impression that it was part of some sort of rewards program, only to learn that they had actually enrolled in a $25 per month fraud and identity theft protection plan.

Commercial cynicism aside, however, identity theft is a serious problem these days. It's said to have affected over nine million people in the United States in 2005. However, it should be pointed out that not all of these cases are serious. It appears that in some cases, a database containing the identity information has been stolen, but isn't actually ever used fraudulently.

So you're probably wondering if it's worth enrolling in that identity theft protection plan for $25 per month? Experts seem to agree that the answer is usually no, somewhat surprisingly. While a credit card company should be able to provide you with additional security by double checking transactions, they can also hinder your ability to spend by constantly declining your card whenever something that they have deemed as suspicious occurs. Should you frequently travel abroad, this could be a significant problem, as credit card companies sometimes register overseas transactions as potentially fraudulent – which will prevent you from spending and could leave you stranded - or at least very frustrated.

Rather than purchasing protection, consider creating your own identity theft protection system by taking careful measures to protect your personal information. One important step to include in your identity theft protection system is to make sure any internet site where you submit personal infomation is secure. Look for the The closed padlock icon, which universally indicates that a site is secure, regardless of the browser you're using.

So take some time to protect yourself from the identity thieves AND the credit card companies by educating yourself and using your own system for identity theft protection instead. Or you could deal directly with the identity theft protection service provider, bypassing the credit card companies and eliminating their share of the cost.