Why is it important to have identity theft protection?

The adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure applies to many scenarios, protecting against identity theft is no exception.

Losses from internet crime have steadily increased since 2018 (source: FBI Internet Crime Report 2022). This makes identity theft monitoring more crucial than ever. When hackers gain access to your personal data, the aftermath can lead to financial issues, legal worries, and many other unforeseen problems.

If your identity is stolen you could face difficulties with:

• Applying for loans
• Obtaining a mortgage
• Purchasing a new vehicle
• Getting a credit card
• Signing a lease

Someone stealing your identity can cause headaches in other areas of your life as well. Identity theft can affect your ability to get a job and can ruin your credit by allowing others to create debt in your name.

Other ways that scammers can use your identity include:

• Medical identity theft - someone receives medical care under your name
• Tax fraud - someone uses your SSN to take a job and file taxes under your name
• Governmental benefits fraud - someone uses your identity to receive government benefits

Another concern if your identity is stolen is if someone uses your identity to commit a crime. With the right information, someone could use your stolen information to get a driver’s license or other ID. If they present your identification to police while being arrested, you could face legal complications while trying to clear your name.

Someone stealing your identity and accumulating debt through new lines of credit can ruin your credit score or worse. Often restoring your identity can require legal intervention to fix the damage to your credit.

Legal fees associated with identity theft can mount quickly and could require hefty attorney’s retainers that may be difficult to cover when your credit and identity are compromised. Identity theft insurance can serve as a safeguard to help against high legal costs and other out-of-pocket expenses associated with identity fraud.

What is identity theft insurance, and why do I need it?

If your identity has been stolen, you could be in for a long legal battle to restore your accounts, good credit, and other private data. It can take months or even over a year to get your identity restored.

Depending on the severity of your identity theft case, you may require legal protection and assistance to resolve your claim.

Some identity theft scammers play the long game and will take out lines of credit in your name while having the billing statements sent to their address. They pay the monthly bill and open multiple accounts using this method. By the time you notice, the damage could already be done.

In some cases, this type of scam can go on for years undetected, making this a more costly and time-consuming situation to unravel.

If your identity theft case requires legal intervention, time missed from work, or substantial financial losses, having identity theft insurance can be a tremendous help.

Identity protection subscription plans like those offered by OmniWatch can help ease the financial burden if you find yourself in this unfortunate situation. Our dedicated restoration agents will also help you handle the process of identity restoration, which may decrease the time it takes you to recover from identity theft.

OmniWatch users are insured for up to $2 million in reimbursement for stolen funds, expenses incurred due to stolen identity or funds, and legal defense fees and expenses, exclusions and limitations apply. This feature can give you peace of mind knowing that if something does happen, legal fees and other expenses related to the claim are covered. OmniWatch identity theft insurance will reimburse funds stolen from any account, including foreign bank accounts, investment accounts, and more. Many insurance plans often only cover primary checking or savings account losses.

While having identity theft protection is one of the easiest ways to help protect yourself and your family from identity fraud, there are many other steps you can take to keep your identity secure.

Here are some of the ways that identity theft insurance and protection techniques can help you keep your identity safe.

How to protect against identity theft

Scammers and grifters have upped their game and are no longer just sending out mailers and making phone calls in attempts to access your personal information. In our highly tech-dependent world, it’s easier than ever for hackers to find and use personal data to commit crimes.

The old methods of staying safe online are becoming outdated as criminals are getting more savvy in how they acquire and use personal information.

Identity thieves are now targeting large companies, healthcare providers, government agencies, and other organizations to gain access to information. Even if you are diligent in protecting against identity theft, an identity thief can find your information through other sources.

Some of the best identity theft protection options to help keep your data secure are easy to set up and could make it more difficult for your identity to be stolen.

Monitor your credit alerts

Use a credit monitoring plan to know if there are changes to your credit.

Being aware of your credit can help you protect it. Maintaining good credit is easier if you track and monitor changes and inquiries to your account. With any OmniWatch plan, you’ll get alerts when anything changes on your TransUnion® credit report. Premium subscription plans get alerts for all three credit bureaus –TransUnion®, Experian®, and Equifax®.

Lock or freeze your credit with all 3 credit bureaus

Locking or freezing your credit with all bureaus will prevent any new lines of credit from being opened on your credit reports. The downside is you will need to remember to unlock your credit report if you need to open a new credit card or get a loan.

You can easily lock and unlock your TransUnion Credit Report right from OmniWatch. Simply toggle it on and off on the “credit” page. You can lock your Equifax report at no charge from their website by creating a free account here.  

Experian charges you to lock your credit, but by law, they are required to allow you to “freeze” your credit. This is similar to locking your credit, but instead of being able to easily toggle it on or off, you have to authenticate your identity when you want to freeze or unfreeze your credit. You can freeze your credit with Experian here.

IRS PIN

You can create a unique PIN that the IRS will require to accept your tax return and change it every year. This step can help prevent someone from stealing your tax return. You can access this feature by clicking here.

Use an online identity theft protection service

Using online identity protection services like OmniWatch can help you stay informed and knowledgeable about your online identity and potential data theft-related activities at institutions you’re associated with.

Online identity theft protection services that are available to OmniWatch subscribers include:

• Alerts and updates about breaches you may have been exposed in
• Dedicated restoration specialists to help you if your identity is stolen
• Up to $2 million in identity theft insurance coverage (exclusions and limitations apply)
• 24/7 live dedicated identity restoration customer support
• Credit protection monitoring of the three major credit bureaus
• Access to identity theft specialist advice

The best online identity theft protection

Some of the best ways to keep your online identity safe are all preventative measures. If you can stop identity thieves early on, the risks to your credit and identity are likely to be lowered. Continuous monitoring of your online identity through a service like OmniWatch and using free identity theft protection precautions can help ensure that you’re aware of changes to your credit or use of your online identity.

Knowing when someone has accessed your accounts helps you to catch changes quickly to minimize damages.

To learn more about OmniWatch and how it can help you and your family with online identity theft protection, go to OmniWatch.com/features.

What Cybersecurity Professionals are Saying

Chester Wisniewski

Principal Research Scientist at Sophos

“Looking forward into 2023 has me very concerned with what developments we see with the malicious use of machine learning technologies”

Matt Kapko

Cybersecurity Reporter

"Threat actors don’t just follow the news — they react to it and identify new ways to target potential victims during moments of heightened sensitivity."

Chester Wisniewski

Principal Research Scientist at Sophos

"ChatGPT3 could easily be weaponized to help criminals write more convincing phishing and business email compromise scams."