Not too long ago there was an article in the New York Times that highlighted the fact that credit monitoring services are mostly a waste of money.  The article discussed an id theft victim's plight after 26 credit cards, several cars, and even a home mortgage were acquired using that person's SSN. 

It goes to show how many companies (this victim was using Equifax's service) are finding ways to profit from the ID theft problem.  ID Theft related services can be found for around $5 per month based on annual fees and rise from there.  Some banks offer ID Theft related services as a "perk" to banking with them.  Most of these services have to do with credit monitoring only.

What is credit monitoring?  It is supposed to be a daily check that your information is not being used to acquire new credit.  That should be enough, right?  Well, no service really covers all three bureaus, even the best of them.  And even then, do they cover every inquiry, or just new accounts?  As you can see they are a generally a fairly good precaution, but should not be depended upon. 

Other services banks and other vendors like to sell or use as perks are ID Theft Insurance policies.  What do these do for you?  Basically nothing more than lure you into a false sense of adequate protection.  Just like car insurance, you have to have a problem before it kicks in, therefore the damage is done.  Unlike car insurance, however, you have to flip the bill and then submit their forms for reimbursement.  On top of that, in both insurance and credit monitoring, you have to do ALL of the legwork to fix the damage.  Estimates of time average around 600 hours.  Are you prepared for that? 

The really bad part of ID Theft is that once you have become a victim, more than likely you will be a victim again and again.  That is because the thieves will just keep reselling your info until noone wants to buy it, which is highly unlikely to happen.

So what is the best thing for you?  You should look into a restoration service, and especially one that monitors your credit regularly as well.  What this service does is take the legwork and costs out of your hands in the event you do become a victim.  Since they are going to flip the bill if your ID does get stolen, they are very motivated to make sure that doesn't happen in the first place.

Also, remember that ID Theft is not just financially related.  There is Social Security, Medical, Criminal, Drivers License, and Financial.  I will be putting out more posts on things happening in the nation that hit on the effects each of these areas has an someone's life.  Please read my previous post on Medical Identity Theft if you haven't already.  Please contact me if you have any questions about this subject, want me post more information about it, or want to know how to better protect yourself.