Identity Theft Protection Services Worth The Money

Identity theft protection services just got a hearty promotion from Ray Martin on CBS Money Watch. While these services sometimes get a bad rap as being a waste of money, Martin has this to say, “I think that if you are concerned about ID fraud and prevention, then the nominal fee for these services is well worth the cost.”

He goes on to explain that it is especially important, according to consumer advocates, for people in the following situations to have such a policy:

*Past identity theft victims
*Those who rarely check their credit reports
*Individuals with a lot of money in the bank
*People who regularly travel abroad

These are individuals that either have the most to lose or are at a high risk of being victimized, either because their information is already out there for thieves to see or because they don’t keep credit monitoring as their top priority or it proves to be difficult for them.

The article also brings up the fact that people can have problems getting reimbursed by a protection plan if identity theft happens to them before the plan gets put in place. This means that it’s important to sign up for a plan not when you realize you’ve been a victim of identity theft, but now – so that you can use the plan as a preventative measure.

You may get into an argument with someone who says that you can monitor your credit on your own for free. You could also – maybe – check and see if people are using your information online through a private search agency. This would not be an easy task, most likely, and it would certainly be time consuming to do.

Martin offers the following words to use against naysayers, “I can cut my own lawn but I might be inclined to pay for the convenience of having someone do it for me.” You could also bring up the fact that there are 10 million victims in the United States each year, and it’s likely some of them were trying to monitor their credit on their own too.