Dale Penn

Consumers may have finally scored big time!

Credit reporting agency TransUnion has agreed ( as part of a pending class action settlement) to provide free credit reports and credit monitoring to anyone who had a credit card, loan or credit account between January 1998 and May 28, 2008.

In case you’re counting, that amounts to over 160 million Americans who would qualify for free credit monitoring. Under the settlement, the free monitoring would be good for between 6 and 9 months.

After a 10 year legal battle in which TransUnion was accused of selling private consumer data, it seems that anyone with a loan during the last 10 years will get this neat gift by simply applying for it.

The data in question was sold to marketers like retail and financial institutions, who then analyzed it and sent out unsolicited offers (a.k.a. junk mail) to consumers like you and me.

In addition to the free credit report available now from the big 3 bureaus, consumers will also get free monitoring of their credit files. Monitoring can be a useful early warning signal that an identity fraud has occurred or may be pending.

Until now, it seemed that consumers had no defense against the sale of their personal and private credit profiles. During my public lectures, I have always shared the dangers of this sort of “dirty tricks” industry practice which I refer to as “Pirates Peddling People’s Personal Preferences.”

A TransUnion spokesman denied that any law was ever violated and claims that the practice in question was terminated in 2001. The company plans to make lemonade from lemons when it begins an ad campaign in mid June to announce its free monitoring plan to the public.

You can read a copy of the settlement online at: www.listclassaction.com Claims can be filed starting June 16th, 2008 on the website or by calling 866 416-3470.

Not all Identity Theft protection providers are created equal.

Many consumers are scrambling for answers and guidance. Some just roll with their hunches or simply give in to the relentless marketing barrage of the “high profile “solution providers.

We all know who they are. These companies seem to pop up every time we visit the web. Their promises to prevent financial peril have been carefully crafted to deliver the greatest set of wiz-bang features ever offered before.

Some firms prop up spokesmen who carelessly boast of their own invulnerability to financial theft, while others claim to have cornered the patented ability to deliver a cloak of protection which only they can serve up.

All these contenders with their endless features and benefits remind me of a fantastic local deli near our house. The menu is huge and there are just too many delectable choices with a wide variety of prices!

So what’s a typical security seeker to do?

First, answer these revealing questions:

• Are you a victim? (If so, contact your local police immediately!)
• Have I checked the FTC’s online resources for information and guidance?
• Am I prepared between $9 and $15 dollars per month for the “right” solution?
• Do I mind paying someone to do something I could do myself for free?
• Are the company’s promises and claims reasonable and realistic?
• Is my entire family in need of protection or just me?
• Have I been lured with promises of “free” services? www.freecreditreport.com
• Do I really expect to “cash in on those well publicized $1,000,000.00 loss guarantees?
• Should I take a deep breath and examine my real no cost credit report?
• Have I taken advantage of freely accessible steps to minimize my exposure?

Consider your needs before “jumping on-board” with a provider.

Simply scratch off anyone on your list who claims to be able to PREVENT your identity from being stolen.

Consider that the Big 3 credit aggregators are in the business of selling your personal information to data-hungry marketers, while they simultaneously “protect” you from many of the very vultures that they feed.

It makes sense to protect yourself from the seemingly inevitable world of data breaches, medical fraud and financial fraud.

Well known Silicon Valley IT expert Ravi Char refers to information security as “the delicate dance”. No one solution is capable of covering all the bases.

In today’s complex world of portable data and predatory opportunists, the best identity protection solution is to stay light on your feet and keep on dancing.