Finally...I received an offer through my AAA membership for a company called LifeLock, for identity theft protection. I may look into doing that, either through that company, or one of the others. Anyone have a company they recommend?[/QUOTE]
We signed up for LifeLock at the end of last year after someone got into our cell phone account - they added & shipped new phones to another state, changed our primary language to Spanish and changed what we would have been paying each month. (Our last name is Hispanic) I became suspicious after receiving an email in Spanish from Verizon but didn't call until we received additional materials in the mail with the order info. They were able to intercept the shipment as fraud and the bad guys never got their phones (at least not from us!)
Prior to this over a three year period we had two fraud activities against our debit cards at one bank and then someone accessed our checking account number at a bank we switched to thinking they were larger and would have more security. For what we had to go through to fix the last one I would have given the thief the $35 they stole from us.
Anyway, LifeLock seems to work, they quickly recognize any activity we have on our accounts and email as well as call alerts to you. You then go into your account and tell them whether it was you or not. I hate that it is an added expense but there is an added level of security. Someone I work with had their entire identity stolen a few years ago and he is still trying to fix it - lawyers are involved as well as all his finances.
I am still diligent to check our accounts nearly everyday. The best you can do is take the 5 minutes or so each day to recognize and at least stop things in their tracks should they happen.
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