The holidays are a busy time. While you’re running from store to store finding the perfect gifts and shopping online to get the best deals, each transaction puts you at higher risk for identity theft.

The holidays are exciting for gift recipients just as much as they are for identity thieves. From everything like leveraging data breaches to using portable scanners to steal your money, identity thieves take advantage of every opportunity. You can prevent identity theft during the holidays (and year-round) to avoid false credit card charges and negative credit reports with an identity theft protection service.

Keep an Eye on Credit Card Statements

You’re likely to use your debit and credit cards a lot more during the holiday season. While you may be busy, don’t forget to take a few minutes out of your day to examine your statements and online activity reports. Set alerts on your accounts for large transactions, too. That way, if a large amount is charged or withdrawn, you’re alerted right away. Contact your financial institution the moment you notice an unauthorized charge.

Don’t Use Your Debit Card

Never use a debit card for purchases online or in-store. Checks and debit cards draw funds directly from your bank account. If an identity thief gets these numbers, they can use them to withdraw cash and even drain your bank accounts. It’s easier to report and reverse fraudulent charges with credit cards than it is with your bank account. And, of course, using an identity theft service is the best way to protect you from identity thieves during the holidays.

Use Credit Monitoring

There are a lot of free credit monitoring services that keep an eye on your balances, credit activity, and credit score. Sites like CreditKarma.com are totally free and allow you to view your credit report monthly. You can set alerts on these types of monitoring sites so that you’re notified the moment a new account, inquiry, or charge is made.

Be a Perceptive Online Shopper

It’s often easier to shop online than in-store, especially if you’re hunting for bargains. But don’t shop with any online retailer. Only use those with SSL certificates and other security measures in place. You can tell if a website has an SSL certificate by viewing URL at the top of your browser. It should begin with HTTPS instead of HTTP. If you can, stick to the big name online retailers like Amazon or large store chains when shopping online.

What if Your Identity is Stolen?

Even the most cautious of consumers can have their identities stolen. When it happens to you, you better be safeguarded by an identity theft protection and recovery service like ID360. The process of recovering your identity can cost over $3,000 and take as many as 600 hours of your time. It’s definitely the last thing you want to deal with around the holidays. Hiring an identity theft protection service allows you to focus on celebrating while a team of former law enforcement professionals work for you to help recover your good name and, of course, your credit.

Learn more about how you can protect your identity or how to sign up for identity theft services by visiting The Identity Advocate today.

Identity theft cases are growing at a staggering rate in the United States. While a lot more consumers are becoming aware of the risks and enlisting help via identity protection, most ignore the importance of having an ID theft recovery plan as well. The cost to recover your identity averages over $3,000 and could take as many as 600 hours. The entire process is tedious, time-consuming, frustrating, and could easily bankrupt you if you already have a dire financial situation.

But recovering from identity theft doesn’t have to be so devastating. In conjunction with identity protection, identity theft recovery services help keep your life in order when you become a victim of identity theft.

How ID Theft Recovery Services Can Help

Identity theft recovery companies are experts at handling the loss of your information. They track down the point of origin to help you discover what credit accounts are fraudulent. Then they go to work helping you restore your credit profile. They handle your recovery from multiple types of identity theft, including:

• Medical identity theft
• Data breaches
• Bank and/or credit card identity theft
• Government identity theft (e.g., Social Security fraud, Medicare fraud, etc.)
• Employment identity theft
• Phone and/or utilities identity theft
• Every other type of identity theft you can imagine—and there are many!

Steps An ID Theft Recovery Service Takes

Identity recovery requires experts, such as law enforcement professionals, who understand the complicated process of ID theft recovery. While the steps they take depend on the extent of your identity theft case, some services include:

• An expert who resolves all inaccurate information that appears on your credit report and/or medical records due to fraudulent activity.
• A professional who contacts financial institutions and other credit providers, and then closes down those accounts to ensure no further charges occur.
• Helping you file a police report as well as a report with other government agencies to thoroughly document the fraud.
• Cleaning up any fraudulent tax returns that may have been filed on your behalf, and working closely with the IRS as well as your state tax commission to correct those errors.

While identity protection is your first line of defense against ID theft, when identity theft does happen, having a respected ID theft recovery plan is place is critical. ID360 provides identity theft recovery services that give you peace of mind. From negotiating with creditors, obtaining your credit reports, dealing with your bank, filing FTC reports, and  assisting with correcting your medical records, the company ensures that you are able to return to the good credit you had before the identity theft occurred.

Get more identity theft protection and recovery advice from the experts at The Identity Advocate by visiting www.TheIdentityAdvocate.com or calling 310.831.4400.