ID Theft, Protection, And Restoration

Picture this. You’re driving down the road and you get a text message on your cell phone. You read it and see a message that your bank account has been closed due to suspicious activity.

You panic. This can’t be. The message says to call a certain phone number immediately to reactivate your account. When you call the number, you receive an automated voice mail box that prompts you to enter your credit card number, expiration date and PIN to verify your information.

So you got a two for one, phishing and vishing on your cell phone through text messaging. Honestly, cyber criminals are getting more sophisticated every single day and no wonder Identity Theft is on the move.

So be on your guard, and Do Not Reply. Call your banking institution directly regarding the message or better yet, stop by and see them. You’ll be glad you did.

TheIdentityDoc,

Nancy Dewitz is co-founder of BTR-Security with personal Identity Theft solutions tailored to consumers’ specific needs. She and her partner Robert Listerman are authors of the ebook “The Many Faces of Identity Theft.” They are consumer advocates and creators of individualized Identity Protection programs that give you and your family the options needed to keep your life intact.

If you have an Identity Theft story or experience that you’d like to share and become part of our upcoming book, please let us know. We’d love to hear all about it.

Here’s the deal. You get an email from your bank or your credit card company. It tells you “Do Not Reply” to this address. Do we listen? Do we even see what the reply address is?

Well, according to a story I just read, there are lots of people who do not understand nor do they read the entire email that says, “Don’t hit the Reply key, and go head and compose their email. They don’t understand they should not be giving out their account number, or any other confidential information at all in any email at any time. However, some people still do.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch in Seattle where a gentlemen owns the domain name, DoNotReply.com, he gets all sorts of email sent to him from people hitting the Reply key on their email. He receives way too many emails with personal information. Fortunately, he’s a person of integrity.

However, not everyone you email to is an upstanding person who will just delete your email and not want your information. So if you get a communication from any financial institution, insurance company, bank, credit card company, know that you will have a secure place to log in and send emails on the company’s web site. Do not send them a “regular email.”

The Identity Doc,

Nancy Dewitz is co-founder of BTR-Security with personal Identity Theft solutions tailored to consumers’ specific needs. She and her partner Robert Listerman are authors of the ebook “The Many Faces of Identity Theft.” They are consumer advocates and creators of individualized Identity Protection programs that give you and your family the options needed to keep your life intact.

If you have an Identity Theft story or experience that you’d like to share and become part of our upcoming book, please let us know. We’d love to hear all about it.

You’ve having a late brunch with your best friend at Sardi’s, heading out later for an afternoon matinee on Broadway. Just as you take your first mouthwatering bite, she says, “I got turned down for my promotion.”

Full of compassion and surprise, you ask, Why?”

The tears begin to flow like Niagara Falls. “My company ran a background check and found my driver’s license was suspended for a DUI.

“You don’t have a driver’s license.”

“I know I don’t have a driver’s license,” she wailed. “In any event, there’s a warrant out for my arrest. That gurgling sound you hear is my life going down the crapper.”

You’re stunned. How sad and how devastating for your friend. You remember agreeing with her just a few weeks ago about getting identity theft monitoring services pronto. But she just hasn’t gotten around to it. At this point, your friend is in jeopardy of losing her career, plus she has a legal nightmare to deal with, all because some nut job got a driver’s license in her name and used it when the clone got arrest.

What do you tell your friend? You could say, “I told you this could happen,” but chances are, she’ll never talk to her again. So, you say, “Look, this identity monitoring company helps people whether or not you’re in the middle of an identity theft crisis. Give them a call and they’ll get a lawyer in touch with you right away. You don’t have to handle the nightmare yourself, lose a huge chunk of time from work, and do all the paperwork.”

You’ll think of your friend often as you board the plane for your three-week vacation in London, free to do as you please. She’ll be in good hands if she just calls your company.

With complete identity theft monitoring, restoration, and legal services, your friend would have learned about someone cloning her identity long before this situation got so out of control.

As you see in our video, Identity Theft can come at you from many different angles regardless of who you are, where you live or how much money you do or do not have. Unfortunately, credit monitoring only covers credit fraud versus non-credit related Identity Theft Monitoring, which covers your entire Identity.

So you hand your friend the phone number to call, finish your lunch and still make the matinee in time for the show. You know your friend will be in good hands and you will enjoy your vacation. Don’t you just love a happy ending? Your Identity Defender,

Nancy Dewitz is co-founder of BTR-Security with personal Identity Theft solutions tailored to consumers’ specific needs. She and her partner Robert Listerman are authors of the ebook “The Many Faces of Identity Theft.” They are consumer advocates and creators of individualized Identity Protection programs that give you and your family the options needed to keep your life intact.If you have an Identity Theft story or experience that you’d like to share and become part of our upcoming book, please let us know. We’d love to hear all about it.

Nothing gets my dander up more than reading about the lobbyists for AT&T, Verizon, Microsoft, and LexisNexis dis-emboweling the latest attempt by the Indiana legislature to protect their residents from Identity Theft. Whoever heard of a bill passing any state or federal legislature with only 17 lines of text? This should be in the Guiness World Book of Records not only for its brevity, but for the absolute assinine thinking that went with it.

“The requirement that companies notify the state attorney general whenever a data breach is discovered were stripped. A section of the bill that created incentives for companies to follow encryption and key management practices “in a manner consistent with the best practices common in the industry” was also removed. ”

Why would two public utilities, a huge software company broken up by anti-trust legislation and another company “committed to safeguarding personal information” not want tougher ID Theft laws?

My theory is that the big boys don’t want to part with their big money by assuming any financial responsibility for data breaches from their companies. They don’t want to see class action lawsuits happen to them, like what’s happening with TJMaxx.

Where does that leave you? You have to take care of yourself, period, end of discussion. Identity Theft cannot be prevented, but it can be detected in the very early stages so you can keep the damage down to a minimum and not become so overwhelming that it takes over your life.

Here’s a nightmare for one gentleman who never lived in Indiana, but magically had a suspended driver’s license there. The Governor’s Chief Counsel wrote Paul Jones a letter stating: “There appear to be as many as two other persons impersonating you using Indiana identification cards, and we remain committed to detecting and arresting them.”

What’s really laughable is the Governor’s office felt that Mr. Jones was threatening the state’s public employees so Chief Counsel for the Governor’s office told Mr. Jones in writing that if his future communication attempts with them were construed as harassing or threatening, he would be prosecuted. Just leave it to an attorney to turn the tables on the victim.

Unfortunately, it may only be a matter of time before it happens to this gentleman again. The criminal most times will go “dark” and start all over again in 6 months to a year. Identity Theft is spreading like the bubonic plague of yesteryear. It is touching so many lives in a very negative way undermining every U. S. citizen’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It’s maddening, frustrating, and takes a whole lot of time to resolve.

So, residents of Indiana, or people who have ID Theft issues in Indiana, if you’re willing to go to the mat like Paul Jones, go for it. However, if you’d like someone else to take care of detecting when your identity is being misused, if you’d like for someone else to handle the cleanup of an identity theft situation for you, then fight back, and listen to this.

My heart goes out to all residents as well as Identity Theft victims caught up in the State of Indiana ID Theft debacle. Obviously Indiana legislators just don’t care about you. They’re too busy schmoozing with the lobbyists and big business to even think about the repercussions of their lack of an ID Theft bill with real teeth in it and a willingness to help the victims.

Your Identity Protector,
Nancy Dewitz

Nancy Dewitz is co-founder of BTR Security with personal Identity Theft solutions tailored to consumers’ specific needs. She and her partner Robert Listerman are authors of the ebook “The Many Faces of Identity Theft.” They are consumer advocates and creators of individualized Identity Protection programs that give you and your family the options needed to keep your life intact.

If you have an Identity Theft story or experience that you’d like to share and become part of our upcoming book, please let us know. We’d love to hear all about it.

Play Now:

 How To Choose ID Theft Services: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Waiting for Identity Theft to slap you upside the head? 

If you’re an ID Theft victim without protection, detection, and restoration of your identity, you probably feel like the penguin who got slapped. If you use Credit Monitoring and are relying on that type of company, you’ll most likely have the same result as the penguin.

However, choosing a service to be there for you from the time your identity is detected and determined stolen through the time your identity has been restored, your entire world can go upside down. It’s all about choices.

Read the fine print of the terms and conditions, services, and guarantee.  It will be  enough to make your head spin and leave you cross-eyed, but it’s unfortunately a necessary evil to prevent a disaster later. 

When you listen to our podcast, you’ll know exactly what to look for and why.   Feel free to print out the pdf so you’ll know what questions to have answered before you make this important decision. 

Your Identity Defender

Nancy Dewitz is co-founder of BTR-Security with personal Identity Theft solutions tailored to consumers’ specific needs.  She and her partner Robert Listerman are authors of the ebook “The Many Faces of Identity Theft.” They are consumer advocates and creators of individualized Identity Protection programs that give you and your family the options needed to keep your life intact.

If you have an Identity Theft story or experience that you’d like to share and become part of our upcoming book, please let us know.  We’d love to hear all about it.

You find out that you’re a victim of identity theft. You knew something was wrong because things just didn’t add up like the strange phone calls, bill collectors wanting money for accounts you didn’t know you had, a police officer arrests you during a routine traffic stop, or you find out your medical information has the wrong blood type reflected for you.

What is the first thing you should do when you discover you are a victim of Identity Theft? The most logical first step, besides running in circles, cursing, screaming and shouting, is to file a police report. Well, what if the police won’t take a report?

As astounding and inane as that may sound, some law enforcement personnel don’t get excited about writing up a report. It’s their position that the creditor is the one who suffered the financial loss; hence, they think you’re not the victim. Clue: Don’t expect law enforcement to be up-to-date on banking and credit card company policies as to the amount of your liability. Some officers, from new rookies to the soon-to-be-retired, may tell you to have your bank or credit card company file the complaint.

Now, here is the next step to insanity. Your credit card company, bank, whoever, may decide not to do this cooperate and file a police report. Companies figure that it’s not cost-effective to spend time and energy assisting the police, so these companies just absorb the loss for what they are liable for and jack everyones’ interest rate or stick it to you in another fashion to make up for “their” loss.

Bottom line, even if your creditor won’t file a report or cooperate in the prosecution of an identity thief, insist that the police take a report. If they won’t, contact your local State Attorney’s office and ask how you can file a report since your local police department or sheriff’s office is being uncooperative. You will get some action.

Your Identity Protector,
Nancy Dewitz

Nancy Dewitz is co-founder of BTR-Security with personal Identity Theft solutions tailored to consumers’ specific needs. She and her partner Robert Listerman are authors of the ebook “The Many Faces of Identity Theft.” They are consumer advocates and creators of individualized Identity Protection programs that give you and your family the options needed to keep your life intact.

If you have an Identity Theft story or experience that you’d like to share and become part of our upcoming book, please let us know. We’d love to hear all about it.

Play Now:

 ID Theft: How Can You Protect Yourself? : Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

With individuals of all different types of values coming at you from all over the globe to invade your privacy and steal your identity including your repuation, assets, and maybe your inheritance, how can you protect yourself from Identity Theft? 

While my partner and I believe that you should use Credit Monitoring, it simply is not enough to protect you from all forms of Identity Theft as detailed in our free report.  So have a listen to see if your protection or your future plan for protection should include. 

In our podcast (access beneath signature), you will get an insider’s peak at:

1.  What parts of my identity should be monitored?

2.  How often should my identity be monitored?

3.  How can I monitor my entire identity?

4.  How can I restore my identity when the worst happens?

Download a transcript of this call to read and pass onto the people you care most about protecting from Identity Theft. You’ll be glad you did because all the advertising in existence seems to only be promoting Credit Monitoring.  Why lessen the migraine when you can eliminate it? 

Your Identity Defender,
Nancy Dewitz

Nancy Dewitz is co-founder of BTR Security with personal Identity Theft solutions tailored to consumers’ specific needs.  She and her partner Robert Listerman are authors of the ebook “The Many Faces of Identity Theft.” They are consumer advocates and creators of individualized Identity Protection programs for you and your family. 

If you have a story that you’d like to share and become part of our upcoming book, please share that with us.  We’d love to hear it. 

Play Now:

 What's Wrong With Credit Monitoring (Podcast 3 of 5): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

You see the ads everywhere on tv, little Tommy Tucker singing for his supper at a restaurant because he was a victim of Identity Theft a/k/a credit fraud.  He didn’t have a Credit Monitoring service.  Sounds like credit monitoring is the answer to your prayers, or is it?  What’s wrong with Credit Monitoring, and how good is at protecting you from Identity Theft? 

Well, Credit Monitoring has its benefits, but inherent weaknesses of this service translate to the fact that it does not help protect you from non credit-related forms of Identity Theft which just happens to account for a vast majority of all ID Theft. I don’t and won’t apologize for being hopping mad about the misleading nature of Credit Monitoring commercials.  The  American consumer is being totally misled in thinking by omitting all the facts because these companies receive excessive gross profits for the small amount of work they do.  Truth-in-advertising has always been a nebulous area given free speech and all.  

Companies advertising Credit Monitoring all tread a very fine ethical line.  It’s what they don’t tell you that makes me angrier than a wet hen.  It’s about time someone told you the truth. 

I believe that in our fast-paced lifestyles, we choose to believe what we see in media advertising because most of us don’t have to time to do research.  I know I would like to assume that when I hear a commercial, just like when I hear a teenager tell me where they were last night, that I’m hearing the whole truth.  I don’t see it happening that way. 

In the not-too-distant future, protecting yourself from Identity Theft will be as necessary as having homeowner’s insurance or medical insurance.  You don’t think your house will burn down or you’ll need treatment for a dreaded disease, but if either of those things happen, wouldn’t it be great to be covered? 

We all work hard, no matter how much or how little we have, and it’s our right to keep what we have without worrying about someone anonymously taking what we have and making our lives a living hell in the process.  So until I see a change in commercials and web advertising, I’ll stay on my soapbox and keep assuming the role of your Identity Advocate and urge you to check out all the information you can on this site. 

A transcript of this podcast is available for download.  You can find the podcast box under my signature.  (I’ll get this blogging thing figured out someday, but why hold up getting this vital info to you.) 

In the meantime, if you’ve been a victim of identity theft, we’d love to hear your story, the good, bad, and the ugly.  If you don’t want to be a victim or are in throes of ID Theft, please contact us or request our Free Report, The Many Faces of Identity Theft.  Our business briefing will be available to you soon so you can get the solution to a very frustrating problem. 

Your ID Theft Protection and Restoration Specialist,
Nancy Dewitz 

Nancy Dewitz is co-founder of BTR Security with personal Identity Theft solutions tailored to consumers’ specific needs.  She and her partner Robert Listerman are authors of the hit ebook “The Many Faces of Identity Theft.” They are consumer advocates and creators of individualized Identity Protection programs for you and your family. 

Watch Now:

 Identity Name Theft: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Learn everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask about Identity Theft. If you’re a babe in the woods about Identity Theft, particularly ID Name Theft a/k/a Character ID Theft, then take a look video with this post. 

If you don’t have three minutes right now to do this - even though  the people stealing your identity have the time – request our Free Report and get on our weekly ID Theft In Review to keep abreast of the vital info you need to keep from have your identity cloned.   

Why care about your identity being stolen by terrorists? Terrorists cannot legally emigrate into the USA, but from where they live overseas they can clone your identity (psst, don’t tell anyone but those terrorists do sneak into our country. Look at 9/11). When they blow up a building or gas a school, then they can offer up your driver’s license ID and maybe use your credit cards or debit cards for cash advances for bail and legal represenation.  So don’t be surprised when you become Public Enemy #1 and spend days in jail trying to prove over and over again that they have the wrong person.  This usually leads to a life in jail, if you live that long.Yes, America has tightened up her borders since 9/11, but that’s not saying much since border security and immigration were a joke before that. Since that fateful day, the USA has clamped down, requiring positive ID whether traveling on an airplane or renting an apartment. But whose identity is it people are using? Ever wonder how many different faces are out there on driver’s licenses with your name and information on them? Our vital but private information flows freely to all parts of the world. It only makes sense that anyone could assume our identity, plus get into and around our country without being detected. Law Enforcement Officials tell us that ID Name Theft is mostly untraceable back to the source. As bad as this sounds, there is an answer– Identity Monitoring that encompasses your whole identity, not just your credit cards.  If you value your identity, freedom, and rights as a US citizen, then it is time to take the next step, TAKE ACTION. It’s guaranteed Terrorists are taking action, and it’s time to protect yourself and your country.

It is much easier to protect yourself thru action and fix this BEFORE it becomes a problem.  Don’t just settle for credit monitoring or locking down your social security number for your credit.  What good is your credit if terrorists are using it?  Look into how Identity Monitoring will safeguard you, your family, your reputation, your assets, and a whole lot more.

Request your Free Report, The Many Faces of Identity Theft, and stay up-to-date with our ongoing Weekly ID Theft Review with helpful hints and traps to avoid (upper left hand corner of blog page.)  Do it now, before you become a victim.  Be sure to catch the quick video below. 

Your Identity Defender,
Nancy Dewitz

Nancy Dewitz is co-founder of BTR-Security with personal Identity Theft solutions tailored to consumers’ specific needs.  She and her partner Robert Listerman are authors of the hit ebook “The Many Faces of Identity Theft.” They are consumer advocates and creators of individualized Identity Protection programs for you and your family.