On my way back from the hike earlier this week, I was driving on a mountainous road just east of Carmel where mansions are sprinkled on the mountaintops. An authoritative smoker’s voice alarmingly interrupts the calm ride…
You’ve heard about in the news: criminals are out to get you, your family and everything you own. They will steal your identity, buy a Ferrari and it will take you decades and millions of dollars to clear your name. It’s the fastest growing crime in America and Equifax got the answer!
* Heavy dramatization mine; celebrity voice impersonated
Equifax is offering a service that will push emails to your mailbox about credit activities, “$20,000 identity theft insurance (no deductible; some exclusions and limitations apply)” and some other meaningless bells and whistles that contribute nothing of substance (and cost them nothing extra.)
Well, beyond the fear mongering that us cynics come to expect and beyond the fact that the credit industry can actually DO something about these “atrocities,†what bothers me is the price tag: “Just” $129.95 a year. Let’s fact it, this service should really be FREE! Maybe not from a commercial company like Equifax, but somewhere this information should be free.
First, the information is ours and about us; we are the owners and no one should be making money off of it without our permission. Second, the tools that are given to us to protect our identity are insufficient and lacking; even if one is most diligent about protecting their identity they can still be victimized. In turn, these credit bureaus try to make a side channel for profit; it’s a simple conflict of interests. Besides, cashing-in on other people’s fear is pretty low in my book.
Something must be done to curb the theft of people’s money through identity fraud; further “stealing” from the victims is not the way, however.
Why should the credit card companies do anything about it? Why should they care? They don’t fix their system because, at least from their end, it ain’t broke.
They rake in billions of dollars in profit every year. When fraud does occur, they don’t pay a dime: the poor business does! (i.e. a stolen Ferrari is paid for by Ferrari, not the Citibank card it was charged to) Just when you think they can’t make any more money, they lobby Congress to make personal bancruptcy nearly impossible. Yup, that’s right, Grandma, if your business goes under and you don’t have the money to pay your bills, the Credit Card companies can now repossess your car, home, what ever they want!
Great system. And perfectly legal in these here United States. Fraud just isn’t their problem, so don’t expect Congress to fix this any time soon.