IDENTITY THEFT INSURANCE/PREVENTION

Been seeing a lot of advertisements about insurance and protection for identity theft.

Haven't seen one yet that pays back money lost. Several will spend "Up to a Million Dollars" to fix the problem, but no payment for the loss itself.

There is no foolproof solution and the problem is no joke. Still, the basics aren't too difficult.

Most Stats involving stolen identities make it clear that at least half of id thefts are not cybercrimes. Of the low tech half, half of those are by people with whom the victim is acquainted. In other words, dumpster divers and misdirected family members. Translation: buy and use a shredder and keep your private papers private.

About half of the other half are based on "click on" schemes. If your e-bank wants you to know something, you can get the information by ignoring the email and going to the same web portal on which you usually bank/trade/bill pay.

Whether to buy protection or insurance is a very personal decision but a good start would be a micro cut shredder, a lock on your file cabinet and not having your personal numbers on any computer with an internet connection.

I actually know a person who bought a protection program, has no shredder, and has his browser remember his passwords on a laptop he carries on business. Odd Combination.