Single Mom's Beware Of Claims To Prevent Identity Theft

It's no surprise to us that the rise in identity theft cases in recent years has spawned services that claim to protect consumers from identity theft.

It also comes as no surprise that many of those companies can't back up their sales pitch.

A lot of services claim that they can prevent your identity from being stolen or used.

"No one can do tat," according to Susan Grant of Consumer Federation of America (CFA).

CFA issued a report on identity theft protection services, which found among other failings, that many companies' websites misrepresent the level of protection that they provide, use inaccurate statistics and don't provide easy-to-understand pricing information.

Grant says the best action that a company that claims to protect you from identity theft can deliver is to alert you of the theft immediately, say, if someone opens an account in your name.

If it alerts you quickly enough, you can stop that type of activity, she says.

However, she says, you shouldn't buy into a company that promises prevention or claims to do everything for you to stop thieves and secure your identity.

Although Grant says it's unlikely that you ever will need an identity theft protection service, she says some consumers still buy it.

If you buy identity theft protection, you should be able to understand the specific service that a company provides, how it's provided and how much it costs.

If a company can't provide that information clearly, then you should keep looking.

Related:  12 Tips To Prevent Single Mom's From Identity Theft.

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Tonza Borden