WHAT IS IDENTITY THEFT?
Identity theft is when another individual or group uses your personal identifying information, without your permission, to commit theft, fraud or other crimes.

HOW PREVALENT IS IDENTITY THEFT?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that up to 9 million Americans experience some form of identity theft each year.

WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF IDENTITY THEFT?
People most often think of identity theft in the form of financial theft. However, there are many other kinds of identity theft. These include, but are not limited to, avoiding criminal charges, employment issues, family fraud, illegal immigration and medical fraud. The pie chart below shows a breakdown of incidence of different types of identity theft reported.

CAN’T I PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT BY BEING PRUDENT WITH MY PERSONAL INFORMATION?
Taking precautions, such as shredding sensitive documents and using firewalls on your computers, can reduce your chances of being a victim of identity theft. Even with these precautions, however, ID theft cannot be 100% prevented. Your personal identity information is already stored in multiple databases of which you have no control. These include medical records, credit card databases and government databases, including the Social Security Administration and the IRS.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER PROVIDERS WHO SAY THEY CAN PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT?
Despite the popularity of such services, the incidents of reported identity theft rose over 1,000% between 2000 and 2009 according to data provided by the FTC. Not only does ID Medics offer a variety of programs to help protect your identity before something happens. We’re the only ones that provide the cure if it does.

SO, WHAT CAN I DO?
Since identity theft will always be prevalent, it is important to have a plan of action in case it happens to you. ID Medics has programs to record and store all your vital personal information and documents. We also have various monitoring programs which may actually discourage ID theft, and allow for early detection so that any breach is minimized and recovery can begin quickly. This is where ID Medics’ recovery plans come in to play. Our comprehensive recovery plans are available for both individuals and families, as well as businesses. These plans cover all forms of ID theft and are fully-managed to assure complete recovery to pre-ID theft status. If you are a member of one of our recovery plans and experience, or suspect that you have experienced, ID theft, you only need to make one call. You will be assigned a certified ID Theft Recovery Advocate who will personally do all the work necessary to recover you to pre-event status, saving you countless hours of work and headaches!

For more information on ID theft, visit the Federal Trade Commission Website on the subject.