Identity Theft Hurts

Equifax Profits from Fighting Identity Theft with the Launch of Equifax ID Patrol   

Written by Identity Theft Victim, John Barksdale    

Wednesday, 27 September 2008 

Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX), the most trusted name in credit reporting for over 100 years, has figured out how to profit from the misery of identity theft victims and consumers fear of identity theft, by launching a product called Equifax ID Patrol™, the company’s most comprehensive identity protection product. For about 50 cents a day, Equifax is charging identity theft victims, customers and consumers for a full-featured identity protection product to help them prevent, detect, and resolve identity theft that Equifax should be providing for free.
 
Only Equifax ID Patrol offers protection against identity theft by charging subscribers $16.95 per month or $169.95 annually for the ability to:

• Lock and unlock their Equifax credit file (certain exceptions apply);
• Receive alerts if their Social Security number (if elected) or up to ten major credit/debit card numbers they provide are found on suspected Internet trading sites;
• Access a trained ID Theft Resolution Specialist 24 hours a day, seven days a week;
• Receive credit monitoring and alerts within 24 hours to key changes in their credit files from the three nationwide bureaus.

“Identity thieves are constantly inventing more destructive ways to obtain consumers’ personal information,” says Steve Ely, president, Equifax Personal Information Solutions. “ID Patrol provides a new level of control for consumers to protect their personal information from being misused. Consumers who take proactive steps to protect their identity significantly reduce their risk of becoming victims.”

(John Barksdale’s commentary: Actually Steve, proactive steps don’t “protect” consumers and customers. We’ve been blaming the identity theft victims and honest consumers for too long. I can’t imagine why Equifax would charge anyone to access their credit history or be notified by an automated computer system.)

Equifax ID Patrol is a part of Equifax’s suite of credit monitoring and identity protection products designed to help consumers protect the power of their credit, identity and overall illusion of financial well being. Monitoring your credit information regularly is one of the best ways to protect your identity.

“Actually Steve Ely, monitoring your credit history is often too little too late. A creditor who issues credit to an identity thief should bear the burden of cleaning up an identity thief’s mess, not the victim,” says John Barksdale, who knows better and thinks Equifax is clever because they found a way to charge for this “service” and make a profit from it.

ID Patrol should be free.

For more information about ID Patrol and to see how much Equifax charges, visit www.equifax.com/idpatrol.

http://www.equifax.com/home/ 

http://learn.equifax.com/identity-theft/fraud-index

http://www.equifax.com/credit-product-list/