Partnered post made possible by LifeLock. All opinions are my own.
A few months ago, a close friend of mine was going through a horrible ordeal. They found out that someone had stolen her 16-year-old daughter’s social security number! So what happened?
Identity Theft Can Start With a Single Set of Numbers
When her daughter went to the bank to open an account, they found out someone already had a bank account open with her social security number attached to it. What a shock! Her daughter had to go to the social security office to fill out some forms, get them signed, and then take the forms back to the bank so she could proceed with opening up her own bank account. The whole process was stressful and lengthy, taking about two weeks.
But how did her social security number get out anyway? My friend said that she faxed an application for her daughter to Sacramento, CA. That application included her social security number, among other sensitive information. “I think anyone could have copied it from there,” she said.
Fortunately, for my friend and her daughter, they caught it fast enough so more damage was not done. According to the LifeLock site, a “child’s stolen information can be used to apply for credit cards, wireless services, retail credit, utilities, mortgages or auto and payday loans”.
Identity Theft – An Everyday Threat
Scary, right?! So many forms these days ask for our personal information and once it’s out of our hands, we have no control over who sees it or who manipulates it for their own purposes. Having my own business, I’m sending out W9 forms all the time and do most of my transactions online. Identity theft is real and can cause serious and long-term problems.
One key to protecting your identity is catching any threats quickly and nipping them in the bud. That’s easier said than done when you consider just how ‘out there’ our information can be. LifeLock has really been a great service for me with instant email and text updates on any suspicious activity. Even if I receive an alert for something I initiated, at least I know LifeLock is doing its job in keeping a constant lookout for my credit and identity.
What is LifeLock?
LifeLock’s monitoring services relentlessly protect your credit and personal information from identity theft and fraud, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Our services offer proactive identity theft protection and credit monitoring using innovative technologies that power not only LifeLock, but also the world’s most sophisticated surveillance solutions – similar to the technology employed by government intelligence agencies and blue-chip corporations.
Yeah, it’s definitely good to have something like LifeLock ‘have your back’. There are three plans you can take advantage of: LifeLock Standard, LifeLock Ultimate, and LifeLock Junior (for our young ones). When you find which plan is right for you, go to the LifeLock site and enter the 10% off promo code “LifeLockSecure“.
Be Smart, Stay Safe
No one wants to be the victim of identity theft. Did you see how it turned out for Sandra Bullock in The Net?! So take the first step to keeping your personal information safe with LifeLock’s help.
37 comments
We’ve always been heightened paranoid about this issue because of the time it took us to immigrate and do our citizenship. Having our SS#s stolen would have been a nightmare getting settled up with not just our credit and finances but with DHS as well. Always a good idea to monitor it no matter whether you do it yourself or subscribe to a service.
I have heard a lot about Lifelock, I’m going to check this out.
I once had to fax my ss #, credit card info, address and past addresses, and more sensitive info, to an office without a phone number or names of who is getting my info, just so my AP credits from high school could be reported and possibly transferred to college…talk about an insecure process! Why do that do that sort of stuff??? They put people at risk.
Identity theft sucks. They wouldn’t get very far with my credit.
I tried life lock as my identity has been stolen 3 times. You need to have something like this.
I worry about having my identity stolen. I need to check into Lifelock.
LifeLock sounds like a great service. My niece had her identity stolen twice from having her wallet stolen twice.
Identity theft is scary stuff. I have LifeLock and I love the protection they provide for me.
It’s pretty crappy when a criminal uses a child’s identity. What low lifes.
I love having my Lifelock membership.
This would be a great service to have. I know I had my Visa card stolen with the whole Target deal. I should really look into this more. Thanks for all the information.
I should really look into this. I’ve avoided it for so long, but some day it will happen and I will regret it.
Lifelock may be a smart move to protect yourself and family.
I think as a young woman I feel invisible at time or naïve if you will when it comes to this stuff. But when I come across something like what happened to your friend’s daughter reality hits. I’ve heard about Lifelock and I think its worth checking into.
I use my debit card for everything, so identity theft is a real concern for me. It’s scary.
Identity theft is one of my biggest fears with my being so active on the internet! I should look into getting Lifelock!
Identity theft is becoming way to common for my liking. It’s important to stay on top of your stuff these days!
The thought of having my identity scares the crap out of me. I use lifelock and I feel so protected now.
We are so careful who and where we use our details and cards.Identity theft is a scary thing.
Identity theft is one of those “it will never happen to me” things. Protecting your “numbers” is crucial!
This makes me more scared for my son’s identity than anything else. You wouldn’t think that a child would be at risk, but every office requests their SSN and it’s so easy for the numbers to be duplicated.
Identity theft is scary and can be a real issue these days! Thanks for sharing this info!
Good thing they caught it! This is so scary.
My mom had her home broken into not too long ago. Important papers were taken and now she is very worried about identity theft. I think LifeLock is something she really needs to consider.
We have Lifelock. I have it on all of my accounts and my husband has it on all of his. He has a crazy ex wife who has remarried but likes to try and open credit cards like they are still together. They have saved us !
Life Lock sounds like a great service! Our house was broken into and our car was stolen and I still have to worry about any important papers that were taken (mainly from in the car). Not a lot of people know it but here in Ohio you get two registration papers for your vehicle and one has all your personal information on it and the other has more generic information! I now pay attention which paper I put in the car and which one I put in my fire box!
Identity theft is so scary. I’ve had this happen to me before.
Identity theft is so scary! Something like lifelock would definitely make me feel more protected.
I really need to look in to this. I’ve had my bank account number fraudulently used before and that created a headache for me. I figured out the source so I don’t purchase from them anymore but it could really happen anywhere.
My husband had his identity stolen once, before we met. It was a big mess and even to this day it causes confusion with our credit record!
I’m always worried about identity theft but I haven’t done anything about it yet. I need to check out Life Lock because I now they are very good at what they do.
I’ve heard great things about lifelock, thanks for sharing!
I want to make sure I have myself covered. I’m definitely looking into Lifelock.
I’ve heard so many good things about LifeLock! I would want my family to be protected, especially at the young age of 16, wow!
I dread this happening. I really need to invest in this.
This is awesome! I totally worry about identity theft since I use the internet for EVERYTHING!
My brother’s identity was stolen years ago. It was heart-breaking to see what he went through because of it. It was also a wake-up call! Thank you for sharing this info!
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