Mind-boggling identity theft
statistics have nervous consumers looking for protection, and financial
institutions scrambling for ways to provide it. But not all protection plans
are created equal, and some consumer watchdogs say you should be careful how
you spend your money.
The Federal Trade Commission says there were
nearly 10 million identity theft victims in the United States in 2002. The
losses cost businesses and financial institutions $48 billion and individual
victims paid $5 billion in out-of-pocket expenses to correct the damage and
prove they were victims, not culprits.
Most of the identity theft plans being offered
by a growing number of financial institutions will reimburse customers for
out-of-pocket expenses up to a certain dollar amount and help them through
the process of contacting creditors, writing affidavits and filing reports.
To learn more about how to protect yourself,
please visit our main site.