The Equifax Breach - What You Don't Know Will Hurt You

         We all heard about the hackers that plundered Equifax and stole an incredible number of customer files.  Chances are criminals now have or will shortly have enough information to make millions of us identity theft victims.  But this has happened before and we have been playing the odds for many years in hopes we do not become one of the 10 million Americans who become victims every year.
         What most do not know is Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA), like Equifax, supply credit information to thousands of enterprises, both government and non-government, in order to help identify customers.  If you applied for Social Security benefits on line, a bank loan over the phone, etc.,  you may have been asked questions about your past residences, about your home mortgage, or other information that supposedly only you would know.  These questions are made up based upon CRA information and for most enterprises it is their only means of determining identity.
         Well now the criminals can answer those questions.  The identity thieves will be able to read the answers right off the stolen Equifax file.  Ironically these thieves may do a better job of answering questions than you can since you would be relying solely on memory.  Do you remember the name of your mortgage holder in 2004?
         So we continue to play the odds, which is a matter of waiting until it is our turn to be a victim of identity theft.  But there is a solution - we can devise the means to prevent these thieves from using fake identity documents to masquerade as us and steal from us.  The solution is laid out in my book An Identity You Could Own which is available on  Amazon and through Apple's iBooks at a cost of $0.99.

Identity Fraud Impacts More Than 15 million Americans in 2016 - Up 16%

While we all hoped for less identity related fraud in 2016 it hasn't happened.  According to Javelin Research, in their  2017 Identity Fraud Study, more than 15 million Americans (up 16 percent over 2015) fell victim to financial fraud made possible mostly through criminal use of stolen identity information.  

You may be a recent victim of identity theft and are looking for protection from identity thieves who will likely attack again.  Or you may be like the rest of us who are frightened at the prospect of becoming a victim.  You may also be someone who is paying for what is purported to be identity theft protection believing these products actually offer protection from identity thieves.  These products can only tell you once you have become a victim which means our only choice is to wait around until it is our turn to be attacked.  Unfortunately, there is currently no solution that will protect any of us from an identity thief if the thief has enough information to impersonate us and steal from us.  

The solution that will work is one that allows each of us to have our identity documents authenticated and available for viewing anywhere and anytime.  Such a solution will make it impossible for an identity thief to impersonate you and steal from you.  This solution is achievable and is fully explained in my book An Identity You Could Own. I'm not interested in making money selling this book which is why the cost is $.99 and is now available on Amazon and through Apple iBooks.