Why Would Someone Steal a Student’s Identity?

Off to college and finally your own person. Or so you think. If an identity thief gets his nasty paws on your info, you’ll be in for a rude awakening. Welcome to Life!

As a college student, you probably haven’t thought one bit about protecting yourself from identity theft or how harmful it is to your future. You may also think you’re safe because you don’t even have much of a credit history yet. How’s an ID thief going to get any money in your name?

These thieves are very clever at getting credit card accounts and new cell phone accounts. Way better than you are. Yes, all in your name. And when they aren’t paid, you’ll get the black marks on your credit history just as you’re starting out in adult life. You’ll get all the nasty phone call from collectors, too.

Through January – June of 2008 there have been 2,317,830 identities involved in security breaches from colleges and universities in the US. So even if you’re super-careful, you still can become a victim of identity theft because of data breaches big enough to drive a truck through.

What’s your identity worth to a thief? Credit card information is the easiest to steal and brings in the least amount – anywhere from 50 cents to $5. It will depend on how many times it’s been sold. Yup, your info gets sold over and over again. Bank account numbers are pretty valuable, too, especially if you just got your new student loan deposited and it’s got a nice high balance. It can fetch up to $400.

To protect yourself, check out a company like LifeLock. They are specialists at protecting identities and the lowest priced. If you do become a victim, they’ll fix the problem for you. That’s what I like about them because I really don’t want to mess with all those ‘fun’ calls to customer service and writing certified letters – maybe for years!

You can get a LifeLock discount and save off the regular price. The best LifeLock promotion code will also get you 30 days for free to try it out. You absolutely won’t get charged until your 30 days are up. You can cancel any time you want.

Tags: Credit card, data breaches, security breaches, rude awakening, credit card accounts, Human Interest, cellular telephone

Filed under: Uncategorized

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