Privacy Digest

Is ID theft protection worth it? | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Personal Finance: "All the publicity about identity theft - reportedly the fastest-growing crime in America - has spawned a cottage industry of products offering protection.

Companies such as credit bureaus and insurance firms offer credit monitoring, identity recovery and identity theft insurance at the cost of a few dollars to $100 a year or more.But are they worth it? Or are they just another attempt to get into your wallet?"

Some consumer advocates say identity theft protection services are unnecessary because the companies charge you to do things you can do yourself, such as set up fraud alerts on your credit report and renew them every 90 days.

"What they do, you can do for free," says Beth Givens, founder of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. "Oftentimes, you can do the same or much the same at no cost. You just need to schedule your calendar and take the time to do it."

But you can also mow your own lawn and make your own dinner, yet plenty of people pay others to do those things for them. And judging by the horror stories from consumers trying to deal with the credit bureaus, some people would certainly appreciate having an advocate to deal with the bureaus' bureaucracies.

But before you sign up for some of these services, there are some questions you need to ask.

First and foremost is whether the company you're dealing with is even legitimate. Ironically, some offers of identity theft protection are actually attempts at identity theft.

"We are concerned about some products that are out there and claim that they'll enroll you in a program that will protect you against identity theft when, in fact, they themselves are identity thieves," says Betsy Broder, an assistant director at the Federal Trade Commission's Division of Privacy and Identity Protection.

(Read Original Article - Via Dallas Morning News.)