• 16.7 million consumers were impacted by identity theft or fraud in 2017.
• Over one million children were victims of identity theft in 2017, two-thirds of whom were under 8 years old.
• Florida ranks #1 for highest number of identity theft complaints with Miami-Dade listed in the top 3 counties.
• Almost 40% of Identity theft victims have trouble getting loans or credit cards.
• Criminal identity theft could lead to an arrest warrant being issued in your name.
• Identity theft occurs every two seconds in the U.S.
• Without identity theft protection, children won’t know if their identity has fraudulent activity until they reach the age of 18 and apply for credit.
• Social media users are twice as likely to become a victim of identity theft.
• Smartphone users have a 33% higher risk for identity theft.

Your personally identifiable information is what thieves value the most.

• Your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth are the Holy Grail of identity theft. With these pieces of information, thieves can open new accounts, file tax returns, or get medical care in your name.
• Credit card and debit card information is valuable in the short term because it’s easy to make purchases before anybody notices.
• Bank account information can be used to withdraw money or make purchases.
• Email accounts can be accessed so that thieves can lock you out of your account or redirect emails to gain access to sites with your financial information.
• Online accounts, such as Amazon, subscription websites, and any site where you store payment information, can be used to access not only the account but also others with similar passwords or linked email accounts.
• Mobile phones can be used to access information, make payments, make calls, and even commit crimes.

Eligible dependents covered under the this plan include:

• Spouse (until a final decree of divorced has been filed)
• Domestic Partner
• Unmarried natural children, stepchildren, children under your care through court-approved guardianship, and children of a domestic partner through the end of the calendar year in which he/she reaches age 20.
• Children may be covered until the end of the calendar year in which the child reaches age 26 if he/she is a full-time or part-time student who receives more than half of his/her financial support from the eligible employee. Children may also be covered until the end of the calendar year in which he/she reaches age 26, if the child suffers from a mental or physical handicap, is incapable of self-support, and is fully dependent upon the employee for support.

The majority of personally identifiable information is released in corporate data breaches, such as those affecting major retailers (e.g., Michaels, Target, and Nieman-Marcus) and online subscription sites (e.g., Ashley Madison). However, there are other ways for thieves to harvest your information:

• Using malware, such as keylogging programs and other spyware, allows thieves to obtain information stored on a computer, phone, or tablet.
• Offering fake or hacked free WiFi connections allows thieves to redirect your browser from your bank, ecommerce, or subscription site to a data collection site that looks just like your usual landing page but records your account name, password, and PIN.
• Buying used smartphones that haven’t been properly wiped and reset. Recently, a security company bought used smartphones and ran a data recovery app to uncover a wide variety of personal information despite the phones being reported as cleared of all data. Email accounts, personal photos, and logins to websites, including banking sites, were all available.
• Physically stealing credit cards, bank information, identification cards, passports, driver’s licenses, and loyalty cards through pickpocketing, burglary, or mail theft.
• Using RFID readers allows thieves to acquire credit card and passport information without contact.
• Watching people log in or enter credit card information in a public place (often called shoulder surfing).
• Impersonating trusted organizations in emails, SMS, phone calls, or any form of communication is done by thieves in order to get someone to disclose personally identifiable information (often called phishing).

Unfortunately, there are many more ways for thieves to obtain your personal information. The only way to remain truly protected is to enroll in an identity theft protection service, such as ID Watchdog, to monitor your personal information and alert you of any suspicious activity.