There are obvious reasons why people use LifeLock, but what are the short-term and long-term effects of using such service? Are there positive and negative impacts on people’s behavior? Are there any impacts on society created by LifeLock? Those who use LifeLock are those who want “an extra set of eyes” on their financial accounts. LifeLock gives users a sense of peace when it comes to their financial accounts because they know if there are any transactions that are out of the ordinary, LifeLock will notify them to let them know there has been suspicious activity in one of their accounts. Now this type of service might seem useless to those who regularly check their financial accounts to keep things in order, but for those who don’t regularly check their accounts, LifeLock has their back. LifeLock has not been around long enough to determine the effects of using the service, but there are studies that show the effects of being a victim of identity theft, therefore it is easy to say that LifeLock helps prevent the effects of identity theft.
Being a victim of identity theft can cause extreme stress as well as financial issues. Victims of identity theft usually not only lose money, but sometimes have their credit tampered with, which makes things like getting a loan, car or house extremely difficult. About 5% of the United States population experiences identity theft every two years. Victims usually try to act as quickly as possible, but that usually ends up with the victim becoming frantic and even more stressed. Knowing someone else has your personal information can make an individual act in a manner that they usually wouldn’t, creating the opportunity for error and mistakes. Identity thieves usually obtain other people’s information from technology like ATM machines, bank checks, driver’s licenses, and even mail. (Peters 2012) The effects listed above are just for individuals who are victims of identity theft. It is interesting to see how business are effected. Business identity theft occurs when a thief pretends to be a business, but is actually looking for an alley to access bank information and potentially clients. Essentially anyone can post an advertisement in a newspaper or yellow pages’ book, which makes it more difficult to distinguish which businesses are real, and which ones are fake. For example, myself, who has no affiliation with the company XYZ, can post an advertisement offering my services at company XYZ. Those who request my service have no idea I am not employed by XYZ, because in reality, how will they know? This happens all across the nation everyday. Scott Burnett, owner of AAA Termite & Pest Control in Tennessee worries of this frequently. He imagined imposters gaining entry into people’s homes, spreading poison or worse. “Every day we’re all wondering: Is this the day that somebody’s going to go out and do something wrong, under my name?” Burnett says. (Noguchi 2012) The easiest targets of identity theft are those who own businesses that do function anymore, the elderly, and those who are not on top of their financial accounts. LifeLock was designed to help not only these types of people, but the average Joe as well.
Equifax, a credit reporting company, believes that most identity theft is committed by family members or friends. Anything from a gambling addiction to insane debts can trigger individuals to commit identity theft. Equifax also believes that people tend to blame themselves for being a victim because they should have attempted to protect their information better. This puts victims in a different state of mind that makes them feel more vulnerable and almost “crazy” when it comes to their personal information and their financial accounts. Equifax’s website lists several ways to reduce your risk of becoming a victim of identity theft, which will eliminate the effects of becoming a victim as well.
- Keep birth certificates, Social Security cards, and other personal documents in a lockbox in your home. Make sure they are put away when someone is working in your home or even if you have a roommate.
- When disposing of documents, use a diagonal shredder, which makes documents harder to piece together than a traditional shredder does.
- Don’t leave outgoing bills, government forms, or tax forms in a mailbox. Take them directly to the post office. Have your mail held by the post office while on vacation.
- Don’t put your driver’s license number on your personal checks. Consider writing just your first initial and last name instead of your full name.
- Don’t toss credit card receipts in public places.
- Install anti-virus software, anti-malware software, and a firewall on your computer and keep them up-to-date. A tech-savvy identity thief can use a virus to get personal information from your computer without you even knowing.
- Use unique passwords that are different for each website.
- Don’t put your birthdate or other sensitive information on your social media accounts, even just the month and day. A thief can figure out the year you were born by looking at your posts.
- Consider a credit monitoring and identity theft protection product, such as Equifax Complete™, which will alert you to changes in your credit file such as a newly opened account. Equifax Complete is available for the individual as well as the family (two adults and up to four minor children).
At the end of the day, no one wants to experience or be a victim of identity theft because it puts them in a situation to secure their stolen personal information that they had no idea was taken from them in the first place. Identity theft causes stress, financial issues, and businesses to possibly fail, destroying reputations and jobs. So if you want to avoid these effects and take responsibility of your personal information and financial accounts, use LifeLock!
Sources
http://auct150identitytheft.blogspot.com/2012/11/how-does-identity-theft-impact-our.html
http://www.equifax.com/assets/PSOL/15-9814_psol_emotionalToll_wp.pdf
Lifelock: Identity theft prevention 