Tag: identity protection

An Experian survey shows that many consumers still seriously underestimate their risk of falling victim to identity theft.

We’re excited to announce Family Account Management: a new feature that makes it easy to extend identity protection to family and friends.

Unfortunately, identity theft can happen to anyone and has far-reaching consequences for its victims. According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s most recent study, 17.6 million people in the US experience some form of identity theft each year. This includes activities such as fraudulent credit card transactions or personal information being used to open unauthorized accounts. The most obvious consequence that identity theft victims encounter is financial loss, which comes in two forms: direct and indirect. Direct financial loss refers to the amount of money stolen or misused by the identity theft offender. Indirect financial loss includes any outside costs associated with identity theft, like legal fees or overdraft charges. The DOJ’s study found that victims experienced a combined average loss of $1,343. In total, identity theft victims lost a whopping $15.4 billion in 2014. Beyond money lost, identity theft can negatively impact credit scores. While credit card companies detect a majority of credit card fraud cases, the rest can go undetected for extended periods of time. A criminal’s delinquent payments, cash loans, or even foreclosures slowly manifest into weakened credit scores. Victims often only discover the problem when they are denied for a loan or credit card application. Last year, Experian found that these types of fraud take the longest time to resolve. Identity theft doesn’t just impact victims financially; it also often takes a significant emotional toll. A survey from the Identity Theft Research Center found that 69 percent felt fear for their personal financial security, and 65 percent felt rage or anger. And, almost 40 percent reported some sleep disruption. These feelings increased over time when victims were unable to settle the issue on their own, according to the report, which can result in problem as work or school, and add stress to relationships with friends and family. Thankfully, consumers are getting smarter about the best ways to protect their information, like using monitoring services or following security best practices. How are you protecting yourself against identity theft? Learn more about our Identity Protection Services

Thanks to a recent announcement from the Internal Revenue Service, identity theft protection will now be considered a non-taxable benefit.

A recent survey reveals that 30 percent of travelers have experienced identity theft while traveling or know someone who has.

Companies need to send strong, informative and compassionate data breach notification letters as part of the company’s data breach response.

Consumers want to hear about data breaches - Eighty five percent of respondents in a recent study say learning about the loss of their data is pertinent to them. However, when they do, 72 percent indicated that they are dissatisfied with the notification letters they receive. Companies need to take note of these findings because more than one-third of consumers who receive a notification letter contemplate ending their relationship with the company. Providing affected individuals with a membership in an identity protection product is extremely important since 58 percent of consumers consider identity protection to be favorable compensation after a breach. Learn five pitfalls to avoid in your notification letters and how Experian Data Breach Resolution can help. Source: Download the complete 2012 consumer study on data breach notification.

Extended fraud protection from a global leader like Experian can put consumers’ minds at ease following a data breach.

The rash of large-scale data breaches in the news begs many questions, one of which is this: how do hackers select their victims?