VP Corner: ID Theft Protection

Credit Report dot com gets it right

I have read so many articles on identity theft protection that I dream about it. Just the other night, I woke up in a panic after having dreamt about getting a huge credit card bill for items I didn’t even buy. I was about to start questioning my wife when I realized we were in bed and it was 3:00 in the morning. What a relief that was!

I digress… Back to articles on identity theft protection. So many of these are incomplete in their instructions on how to protect yourself against the epidemic of identity theft that continues to reap havoc throughout the nation. This article covers all of the basics in an easily understandable format. It is the most complete summary of how to protect yourself in the real world I have read to date. In addition it focuses on young adults who have little experience with just how important privacy is.

What impresses me most is that the author keys in on the point that a shredder is next to useless with unsecured incoming mail, John DeRaspe. Think about that for a second. What constitutes the bulk of what you shred? Yup, you guessed it! All of that junk mail has personal information about you. And then there are the pre-approved credit card offers that come in the mail even though you have “opted out”*sigh* In reality, most all of your mail you get is riddled with information that can be directly used to steal your identity.

The most impressive aspect of this article is that the author actually states:

“Unsecured mailboxes have become treasure chests to identity thieves who look for bank and credit card statements or payments or pre-approved credit offers.”

To me, an unsecured mailbox is a mailbox that either has no locking capability or has a lock that can be easily penetrated. Very few people used to think like this. Now we are all paying more attention to the reasons behind the huge surge in identity theft.

And that leads us to the only logical choice in ID theft protection and affordable mailbox security… the Mail Boss locking security mailbox. You can’t pop it open like a Scooby Doo lunch box (learn more about other locking mailboxes here…) and it is not going to crush the family budget.