Invested Interest: Protecting Your Identity
How often would you think someone becomes a victim of identity theft? Depending on how long it took you to read that question, three of four people just unwillingly joined the club. It happens every two seconds! And AAA members are not immune, but you do have powerful resources available to protect yourself—and it’s free with your AAA membership with ProtectMyID from Experian. Don’t think it can happen to you? Let me share a story with you from a fellow AAA Colorado member.
The scam
This particular member (who asked to remain anonymous) received an unsolicited debit card in the mail, pre-loaded with $1,947. Then came the 1099 tax form showing she’d been paid $1,947 in unemployment compensation. The only problem was she had never filed for unemployment benefits. Someone had stolen her identity and was using it to commit unemployment insurance fraud. She quickly learned two other people she knew got caught up in the very same scam.
Cleaning up the mess
One of the most frustrating parts of having your identity stolen is all the hoops you have to jump through to fix things—even though you’re the victim. Every year, consumers spend a collective 124 million hours resolving identity fraud. Our AAA member’s experience is typical.
Her first call was to the bank to deactivate the debit card. Next came filing fraud reports with local law enforcement and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Then, she had to arrange for a corrected 1099 to be sent in order to avoid paying taxes on income she never received. Finally, she called each of the three consumer credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) to add identity theft alerts to her name and social security number. She also put on a “freeze” on her credit report to block access, which can thwart the fraudsters, but also means she’ll have to call each bureau to un-freeze her credit report if she wants to apply for any new credit.
Be proactive
Fortunately, AAA members have a strong ally in the fight against identity theft and fraud with ProtectMyID by Experian. ProtectMyID provides robust identity protection, including credit monitoring, Dark Web surveillance, real-time identity alerts, fraud resolution support, and more. You’re in control over how much coverage you want, with three tiers of protection available—Essential, Deluxe, and Platinum. The ProtectMyID Essential coverage plan is free with your AAA membership. There’s also valuable information about how credit scores and credit monitoring work, along with tips on how to protect yourself from identify theft and early warning signs to watch for. All you have to do is enroll.
It’s easy to feel vulnerable to a type of theft that’s hard to see when it’s happening. With ProtectMyID, AAA members have the peace of mind knowing there is someone watching out for them.
If you have any personal finance topics you’d like to know more about, send your suggestions to us at InvestedInterest@colorado.aaa.com. To learn more about AAA’s financial service products, visit AAA.com/Financial.
