According to data gathered by the Pew Research Center, in 2015 nearly 20% of adults had personal data of one form or another stolen, an 11% rise from the year before. 2014 was also a year in which we saw some of the biggest companies in the United States have their customer data/information breached on a massive scale, including the likes of Home Depot, J.P. Morgan, eBay and Target.
Just recently, one of the biggest health insurance companies in the United States, Anthem, suffered a huge cyber attack that left millions of their customers vulnerable to identity theft.
How bad is the problem in terms of dollars? In 2012, according to information from the Bureau of Justice, $24.7 billion was lost to identity theft in the United States, which was a whopping $10 billion more than all property theft put together.
The reason behind this huge rise in cyber-crime is at once simple to understand as well as unnerving; the technology that all of us love and that has improved our lives greatly is the same technology that hackers and cyber criminals are using to steal from us. Smartphones, tablets, computers and even smart-watches connect us an more ways than ever before but also make it easier for cyber criminals to “hack” our data.
With that (relatively scary) information in mind, many consumers have considered signing up for a Credit Monitoring Service in order to protect that valuable data. In fact, credit monitoring can also help you to track your credit, better understand how your credit history impacts your credit score and even help you improve your credit at the same time.
There are quite a few different credit monitoring services available from different companies, so if hiring one is your goal you should definitely do some research online and take a look at the different services and features that they offer. As mentioned above, most of them will not only guard your private data but also report any changes in your credit score and a number of other credit services.
The top companies in the industry right now include;
1. Life Lock
2. Trans Union
3. Identity Guard
4. Experian
5. Identity Force
All of these companies will provide excellent services starting at about $10 a month, although the more features that you want the higher the price gets.
In this day and age of cyber attacks, identity theft and other unpleasantness, using a credit monitoring service is a very good idea. Not only will it help protect you and your money, it will also give you quite a bit of peace of mind.
Join the Discussion!