2.6 Million Seniors are Victims – Are you protecting your parents from identity thieves?

While anyone can be a victim of identity theft, seniors may be at even more of a risk then the general population. According to the Department of Justice, the number of elderly victims of identity theft increased from 2.1 million in 2012 to 2.6 million in 2014. This increase is likely due to the fact that seniors often live alone and crave companionship, and also have fading memories, which makes them easy pray for identity thieves who take advantage of their loneliness and vulnerability.

What’s more is that identity theft in seniors can be truly tragic as bank accounts are drained and retirement funds vanish, leaving these seniors without any resources in their golden years.  Protecting our aging parents can be simple if you know where to start. Here are five ways to keep them, and their nest eggs, safe.

1.       Give the gift of a shredder – It may not be much of a sentimental gesture, but a small cross-cut shredder can really go a long way to protect your aging parents. With thieves dumpster diving for personal information, shredders can be used to destroy unneeded personal documents, receipts, pre-approved credit offers, unused or old checks and any other items that include personal information about your parent(s) or their accounts.

2.       Protect their mail – Leaving outgoing mail in the mailbox for the postman is never a good idea. Thieves can quite easily snatch mail waiting to be picked up, including letters that include checks or other personal information – and since your parent is expecting them to disappear, they’ll never be the wiser. Encourage your parents to take their outgoing letters to the post office, and to purchase a mailbox with a lock for added protection.

3.       Monitor their accounts – Your parents are likely not as computer savvy as you are. Help them to monitor accounts as well as their credit information online. You can even set up credit monitoring and bank alerts to make this a seamless process for you both. Products such as Experian CreditWorks is a great option for people looking for comprehensive credit monitoring.

4.       Educate them about identity thieves – Remind your parents that thieves take many forms, and how detrimental losing their personal information can be. They should never give out personally identifiable information like a social security number or bank account number over the phone, and remind them a legitimate business would never ask for this type of information.

To learn more about identity theft and how identity protection services can help your parents, visit www.Experian.com

Your identity theft service maybe inadequate

Most people are not getting the coverage they need from their identity theft service.

According to Nathan Day, who represents Legal Shield, many companies monitor credit reports for people but don't watch other sources of potentional identity theft.

Legal Shield has partnered with Kroll Worldwide, the global leader in risk mediation response, to provide comprehensive coverage that not only monitors the five areas of identity theft but also searches billions of records to protect a person's public persona.

Identity theft has replaced the drug trade as the top money maker for organized crime. It is also the major money maker for terrorist organizations. Your driver's license sells for $150 to identity thieves, birth certificate $150, Social Security card $100, and medical insurance card $50.

The first kind of identity theft is hijacking credit. Only 17 percent is detectable from credit reports. This kind of theft is difficult to detect and resolve because the thieves use every bit of information about a person, including Social Security number and birthdate, only with a new address. Vacant homes are often used as addresses.

Because driver's licenses serve like a U.S. national identity card , they are sold worldwide and used to establish all other kinds of identity theft and fraud.

Employment identity theft is particularly bad because it gets a person in trouble with the IRS. Dozens of people can use the same Social Security number to get work, and at year-end their income is reported as if it were the victim's income.  A person can literally owe thousands of dollars in back taxes as a result.

The fastest growing segment of identity theft is medical identity theft. A medical card can be like a $1 million dollar Visa; there is no limit to the amount that can be charged. The thief hijacks a person's medical history and leaves thousands of dollars in bills.

The final kind of identity theft is character and criminal identity theft. Using someone's driver's license a thief can get speeding tickets, DUI's and even commit felonies. Warrants are issued for the arrest of the victims of the identity theft and it becomes difficult to prove that they didn't commit the cirme.

Kroll Worldwide not only monitors and identifies the theft, but resolves all issues in the five areas of theft. The company monitors daily the three major credit agencies, watches the web for any unauthrozed use of a person's name or credit information, and checks billions of records to detact Social Security number fraud.

For more information about identity theft watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEXgMvwGVUI.