Safety for life: 5 tips for restoring a stolen identity
We’re online more than ever these days. In fact, internet usage has gone up by 25% since the start of the pandemic and it’s not likely to go back down. From working to working out, taking online classes, and gaming in our spare time, we’re living a lot of life online.
And while it’s a reality of modern life, it leaves us exposed to hacking and data breaches. Phishing scams have tripled in the last couple of years, causing 1 in 3 families to become victims of identity fraud. That’s not cool.
Pulling the plug on identity theft
When it comes to identity theft, prevention is protection. Each week, we send over 127,000 identity protection alerts, helping keep more than 2 million members’ identities safe.
With that in mind, we thought we’d offer some tips for what to do if your or your kid’s identity gets stolen.
Tips
- Start a paper trail. Document everything! File your emails and log your phone calls by date, time, and resolution status. Mark critical dates on your calendar for when you need to properly report the fraud.
- File reports. Report the fraud directly to all companies involved. Call your local police and create an identity theft report with the Federal Trade Commission.
- Monitor transactions. Close or freeze any impacted accounts to stop new, fraudulent activity. Be sure to turn on transaction monitoring for any accounts you choose to keep open.
- Protect your credit. Place fraud alerts and credit freezes with major credit bureaus (even those where you don’t hold an account). Also, watch your credit reports for suspicious activity and new account openings.
- Consider identity theft protection. Sign up for a service to protect your identity.
How Life360 can help
Our Data Breach Alerts will notify you if we find your family’s stolen info on the dark web, where hackers buy and sell stolen data. We’ll give you steps on how to avoid identity theft and secure your exposed info. Best of all, Data Breach Alerts are free for all Life360 members.
We also offer ID Theft Protection & Restoration for our Gold and Platinum members who want an added layer of protection. Because here’s the thing about identity theft: without help, it can take up to 6 months to restore. Our trained specialists are on call 24/7 to save you hundreds of hours.
Upgrade to a Gold or Platinum membership to take advantage:
Gold membership includes ID Theft Protection & Restoration with $25,000 in coverage per Circle member every year. Plus, you get other great perks like:
+ $250 in Stolen Phone Coverage
+ Crash Detection with Emergency Dispatch
+ 24/7 Roadside Assistance
Platinum membership includes ID Theft Protection & Restoration with $1 million in coverage per person. And, you get even more benefits like:
+ Credit Monitoring
+ $500 in Stolen Phone Coverage
+ Family Safety Assist (Disaster Response, Medical Assistance, and Travel Support with a team of live agents)
