A Credit Union E-Course

Lesson Eight
Taking Responsibility

The three most powerful words in the English language are “I take responsibility.”

Just as in most of life’s challenges, when it comes to ID theft every person has to be responsible for his or her own actions. And, in terms of protecting your identity, there’s nothing wrong with being paranoid. Actually, it’s a good idea to be paranoid in discerning whom to trust with your personal information.

It may seem sad, but it’s true.

As you’ve read in previous lessons, identity theft is often committed by those closest to us: our friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors. This makes sense, in that these people are usually the ones who have the easiest access to our personal information.

This is not to say that you should start accusing those around you. It’s OK to trust; just trust with caution. The key here is that we need to take responsibility for protecting ourselves, even from those we trust.

You can’t expect to rely on others, even authority figures, to make things right once your identity has been stolen.

Many police departments simply don’t have the resources to track down every identity theft case. And when they do, it’s often tough to completely solve the case, and it’s even harder to assemble the evidence needed for prosecution. This unfortunate fact has left many victims feeling upset and confused, and without the sense of closure they might have expected.

What this all amounts to is that you have to take responsibility for protecting yourself from identity theft. We are each our own source of protection.

As  Neil O’Farrell, personal security expert and identity theft advisor to CUVA, writes in his e-book Life Guard: An Interactive Guide to Avoiding Identity Theft:

“It is OK to be paranoid, and maybe a little sad too at all these changes. But it’s also OK to be angry, concerned, and involved. And most of all, responsible. Because if you’re not responsible for protecting your own identity, then who should be?”

Next Lesson: ID Theft and Social Security Numbers

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