{"id":1519,"date":"2014-10-23T13:06:36","date_gmt":"2014-10-23T18:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mantissa.com\/?page_id=1519"},"modified":"2014-12-02T15:29:43","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T21:29:43","slug":"idovos-consumer-benefits-about-id-theft","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mantissa.com\/dotcom2020\/mantissa-product-families\/idovos-identity-control\/idovos-consumer-benefits-home\/idovos-consumer-benefits-about-id-theft\/","title":{"rendered":"iDovos: Consumer Benefits – About Identity Theft"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Protecting your identity\u00a0<\/em>should be as easy as <\/em>flipping a switch…<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n

\u00a0\"iDovos<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Identity Theft – a definition:<\/span><\/h2>\n

“Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personally identifying information, like your
\nname, Social Security number, or credit card number, without your permission, to commit
\nfraud or other crimes.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 – US Federal Trade Commission<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Information Proliferation<\/span><\/h2>\n

The advent of the information age, while enriching our lives in\u00a0so many ways, has also brought with it an unprecedented\u00a0proliferation of personal data exchange which unfortunately,\u00a0dramatically increases each individual’s potential exposure to\u00a0identity fraud. In this case the math is simple – the more of\u00a0your information that’s out there, the greater the chances that\u00a0that information may fall into the wrong hands.<\/p>\n

Impossible to keep track of…<\/span><\/h2>\n

It is virtually impossible to know exactly where all of our sensitive personal information\u00a0resides or who might have access to it at any given moment. Innumerable consumer\u00a0databases, populated by information exchanged by commercial enterprises interested\u00a0in soliciting new business may contain information which could be used to devastating\u00a0effect by an identity thief. In the public sector as well, personal information on\u00a0individuals may be found in databases maintained by official bodies at every level of\u00a0government. To make matters worse (from an identity theft standpoint), this\u00a0information, even in large volumes, is becoming ever more portable. Large databases\u00a0containing sensitive information on individuals often reside on laptops or portable data\u00a0storage devices which in turn, sometimes “disappear”.<\/p>\n

So what recourse does one have?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Most of those victimized by an identity thief face a long and often uphill struggle to\u00a0recoup their monetary losses, salvage their credit, and\/or clear their good name. At\u00a0present, most identity fraud counter-measures are merely reactive as opposed to\u00a0proactive. Most solutions rest on the hopes of finding out about the compromise of\u00a0identity information as soon as possible after the fact, so that damage control can be\u00a0made easier.<\/p>\n

Some positive steps…<\/span><\/h2>\n

In the US, many states have enacted legislation enabling the consumer to “freeze”\u00a0credit assets. But while this is a step in the right direction, each state nevertheless has\u00a0its own set of associated rules and prohibitive fees which make this option less than\u00a0ideal as a long-term solution. \u00a0Another ID fraud counter-measure involves placing a fraud alert on your identity assets.\u00a0This solution rests on the premise that you will be notified by a credit monitoring\u00a0service for verification each time an attempt is made to conduct a transaction using\u00a0the designated asset. In this scenario the integrity of your identity asset information is\u00a0dependent upon a number of factors:<\/p>\n