In ID theft, some victims see opportunity

After a personal experience with identity theft, a Silicon Valley executive began looking for tools to protect the millions of Americans who have been touched by the crime.
The New York Times

The story "In ID theft, some victims see opportunity" published November 15, 2007 at 11:05 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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[bobonecho]

Freezes not true

Your story said that all 3 credit companies now will freeze credit. Not True!! I tried to freeze my credit with all 3 bureaus and was successful only with TransUnion. The other two sent back mail saying Arizona was not approved for credit freezes. Evidently the State Legislature must pass a law to allow this. One bureau said they would shred my $10 check. The other didn't even mention what happened to the check I sent. Some service!!! We need Senator Schumer to submit a law to Congress making it mandatory that all 3 bureaus freeze and un-freeze credit files without charge for a year. All they need is proof of your identity.

[dougpollackpdx]

Addressing identity theft recovery

This article highlights the business opportunity that has surfaced based on the growing problem of identity theft. The author discusses how companies have seized this opportunity by providing services that place fraud alerts or credit freezes to enable consumers to avert ID theft. These of course are things that an informed consumer could do for themselves.

What isn't discussed however is the fact that even well protected individuals may fall victim to ID theft because of the growing sophistication of identity thieves. The named companies, LifeLock, TrustedID, and Debix, do not focus on the need for ID theft recovery services, because they tend to take the public posture that it "won't happen to you". Unfortunately there is no panacea for eliminating identity theft. Note that over 10MM people in 2008 are projected to fall victim to ID theft and the CEO of LifeLock himself has had his identity stolen with the purpose of perpetrating a financial fraud.

ID Safeguards, a company in this space that covers over 2.5MM people with ID theft recovery services, is the only company of the pack that has a team of personal identity theft recovery advocates to assist members who, despite all protections, may fall victim to ID theft. So while there is certainly opportunity in helping consumer avoid ID theft, there is also unfortunately tremendous need to help those that fall victim to ID theft.