Save Your Identity
ID Theft Awareness, Prevention, And Recovery
Michael Chesbro, Paperback 190 Pgs., 2004
Available From Paladin Press
Review by Lily Gold, LMT 2007

Save Your Identity is a guide to ID theft awareness, prevention and recovery.  I was amazed at what I learned in this book.  I thought I was pretty informed on this topic and didn’t think I would learn anything ‘new’.  However, I learned a ton and was shocked to discover that even though I thought I was smart about protecting my information I scored “extreme high risk” on the ID theft prevention quiz!

Most people, myself included, are the most cautious about giving their information over the Internet.  This is good, but actually most ID theft is done offline.  You would be surprised to find out how easy it is.  Most thieves gather information about people by stealing mail from mailboxes or getting it out of the trash.

This book tells you how your identity can be stolen and gives you steps to prevent it.  The great thing is that most of the prevention is free or cheap and easy to implement.   If you do discover that someone has taken your identity, he gives you steps to take to recover it.

You will learn why you should never buy anything from a telemarketer, why you should opt out both by mail and telephone (it’s not just to reduce your junk mail and annoying phone calls), how to be sure that your online purchase is secure, how to safeguard your personal information on your computer and who really needs to have your social security number.

You will find out how to safeguard your personal accounts – bank, credit card, utility bills, everything that a thief would need to steal your identity.

Learn how easy it is for anyone to get your personal information for free through public records.  This includes telephone directories, tax rolls and voter registrations.  Many voter registrations and marriage licenses include the person’s social security number on them, which is often the key to stealing someone’s identity.

He also tells you the steps to take if you do discover that you are a victim of ID theft, who you need to contact about it and why.   You can read about the federal law, The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which states what bill collectors can do and what information they must provide you with.   There’s also a chapter that covers many federal and state laws related to identity theft and he tells you how to find your state’s laws if they are not included.

Overall, Save Your Identity is a quick and enjoyable read.  To implement everything in the book will take time, but it’s worth it once you know the reality of how often this happens to people and how long it takes for them to fix the damage done by the identity thief.  I think that everyone should have this book and follow the suggestions to protect themselves from this crime.

Save Your Identity is Available From Paladin Press