How to Get $1M Identity Theft Insurance Today and What It Means

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More than 1.4 million Americans were affected by identity theft in 2021, says the United States Federal Trade Commission, and some studies indicate the numbers were actually higher.

Identity theft can damage your credit status and hit you in the pocketbook, costing you both time and money.

What is Identity Theft?

Identity theft is when a bad actor steals your personal information, using it to impersonate you, usually for financial gain. Information that they might steal can include your name and address, Social Security number, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, and more.

The scammers can then use your information to:

• Run up your credit card balances with spending sprees
• Get new credit cards issued in your name
• Open utility accounts, such as phone, gas, or electricity, in your name
• File a tax return in your name and steal your tax refund
• Use your health insurance fraudulently
• Pretend to be you if they are arrested, sullying your good name

How Can I Protect Myself Against Identity Theft?

You can protect yourself against identity theft by taking steps to protect your personal information from identity thieves. But, what do you need to do to stay ahead of identity thieves?

Protect Any Documents That Include Your Personal Information

Always keep your Social Security card, Medicare card, insurance documents, and financial records in a safe place. (Like a safe.) If you no longer need the documents, shred them immediately before disposing of them. (Use a crosscut shredder if possible for added measure.)

If your mailbox doesn’t lock to prevent mail theft, take your mail out of the mailbox as soon as possible.

Think Before You Give Out Your Social Number

The barn door has long been open when it comes to companies using your Social Security number (SSN) for identification purposes. While some organizations and agencies rightfully need your SSN to identify you (such as the IRS, your employer, and your bank) other organizations really don’t need to ask for it.

Even though the IRS and your bank need to use your SSN, there is no reason for them to email, text, or call you asking for it. Never respond to texts or emails asking for your SSN, and never give it out over the phone.

Even in face-to-face situations where you may be asked for your Social Security number, ask a few questions before furnishing it.

Ask:

• Why do you need my Social Security number?
• How will you protect my SSN?
• Can’t you use some other way to identify me?

Use Multi-Factor Authentication on Your Accounts

Always protect your login information for online accounts by using a strong and unique password, along with multi-factor authentication.

Multi-factor authentication requires a second piece of information that can only be supplied by you. This can be a passcode that you’ll receive via text message or email, a scan of your face, or a scan of your fingerprint. This makes it much tougher for a bad guy to log in to your accounts, even if they have your username and password.

How Do I Know If Someone Has Stolen My Identity?

There are several things you can do yourself to be alerted of identity theft.

First off, avail yourself of the many credit and identity monitoring services that are available today. More about that a bit later.

Keep track of your bills, their balances, and when the bills are due. If you suddenly stop receiving your monthly bill in the mail, that could be because someone has changed your billing address.

Always closely review the charges on your credit card bills, loan statements, bank account balances, and other finance-related mail. Stay alert for any new credit card statements.

Request and review your credit reports. If you see accounts in your name that you didn’t create, that’s a good sign of identity theft. You can get free credit reports from any of the three major credit reporting agencies. (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.)

Get Identity Theft Insurance

If you have theft insurance, you can be reimbursed for the costs of restoring your identity after it is stolen. You can often get theft identity insurance for an extra fee from your homeowner or renters insurance provider. Keep in mind though, that identity theft insurance often does not reimburse any money lost because of the identity theft.

Subscribe to a Service Like Aura

However, there is a way to get identity theft insurance, along with several other protective features.

An Aura subscription provides identity theft insurance and protection, credit monitoring, removal of your information from data brokers’ servers, VPN services, antivirus and malware protection, privacy protection, and much more.

Aura’s identity theft protection alerts you to data breaches, monitors activity related to your Social Security number and other personal information, monitors your home and auto titles for fraudulent activity, monitors criminal and court records, and much more.

Aura also allows you to lock your credit with a single click, monitors your credit across all three credit reporting agencies, and provides annual credit reports.

Most importantly, Aura provides a $1,000,000 insurance policy to cover eligible losses and fees due to identity theft for each adult that is covered on your family plan.

Aura’s individual plan provides $1 million of theft insurance, $2 million for a Couple, and up to $5 million for Family accounts. Well-respected insurance firm AIG underwrites the coverage. The insurance even pays up to $2,000 a week for lost work and up to $1,000 for travel.

Should you believe you are the victim of identity theft, immediately contact Aura and they go to work, righting the damage that’s been done to your identity. The $1m insurance policy covers any eligible losses and fees caused by identity theft.

Aura representative will work with you both online and over the phone to restore your identity’s safety. They’ll even work with government organizations to assist you.

Aura has coverage options for individuals ($12 per month), couples ($22 per month), and families ($37 per month). These prices are all for when you pay annually and the prices are a bit higher when you opt to pay monthly.

Aura offers excellent value, especially considering all of the protective services it offers for a single fee. The price is especially reasonable when you consider how much it will help warn you about possible identity theft, and all it does to restore your identity if it is stolen.

While Aura is a paid service, you’re not paying solely for just only identity theft insurance. Aura also provides quality VPN protection, antivirus and malware protection, financial fraud protection, a password manager, parental controls, spam controls, and much more.

Aura offers a 14-day free trial before charging your credit card, so trying out the service is a totally risk-free proposition.

For more information, visit Aura’s homepage.

Please note that we might earn commission from affiliate links to Aura. Read our disclosures.