Identity Theft Protection
Let me start by telling you a little story about my friend Courtney and why she decided that protection against identity
theft was a must. Courtney loves to travel, in fact she has been all over Europe, to Japan, Mexico, Canada, and all across
the United States. She always carries a couple of credit cards, some cash, an atm card, and a few travelers checks. She has
her passport, social security card, birth certificate, and drivers license on her at all time.
Courtney was traveling through Florida one summer and her purse was snatched while she was in the restroom at a restaurant.
Her friend was supposed to be watching it, but it would not have matter because the thief was very slick and took it while
flirting with Courtney's friend. Courtney had all of her identity in this purse. She was devastated. Her parents had to
wire her some money so that she could afford to get home since she could not swipe her credit card at the airport to claim
her boarding pass. She actually had to take the bus because they were the only ones that would let her travel without a photo id and that even took some negotiating on her part.
When she arrived home she had to go to the hospital that she was born at to get a new birth certificate. Luckily she was
smart enough to leave a photo id from college at home so that she could use it with her birth certificate to get her social
security card. Then, she had to take it all to her license branch to get a duplicate drivers license. She also had to call
and cancel all her credit cards, bank cards, and she was out over $300 in cash, plus the purse was a $150 purse.
Fortunately for Courtney the thief only had enough time to use her credit card to purchase $500 worth of things and her
credit card company agreed to refund half of it to her. The thief was able to use her bank card for another $150, but the
bank was not as kind and would not refund any of Courtney's money for her.
Courtney immediately decided that identity theft protection was a must for her. She found a great company online and did her
research, then she called them and got her peace of mind with her identity theft protection plan. Her plan costs her about
$40 each month, but this one incident cost her over $800 plus many hours of her time and energy.
The moral of this story is that protection against identity theft is just as necessary as car, home, renters, or health
insurance. You need to be protected and you need a plan in case something like this ever happens to you.
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