If you were affected by last year’s South Carolina Department
of Revenue security breach (SCDOR), be sure to enroll in the free credit
monitoring service that opened enrollment on October 24th. The State
of South Carolina has signed a year contract with CSID, a leading provider of
comprehensive identity protection.
All eligible SC Taxpayers may enroll at www.scidprotection.com or by calling 855-880-2743.
Once you enroll yourself, be sure to add your minor child or
children. As a courtesy the state is offering Child Monitoring coverage through
CSID for children under age 18, for up to 12 months. This coverage allows you
to monitor any addresses and aliases associated with your child’s Social
Security Number, and see if your child’s personal information is being bought
or sold online.
Be sure to watch out though; last year’s provider of ID
protection, Experian, is still sending offers to extend their identity
protection services to SC Taxpayers for 99 cents a month, despite the free
protection offered by the state through CSID. Experian would make about $18
million if all of the 1.5 million affected taxpayers who signed up last year
with them took the offer.
Check with SCDOR at http://www.sctax.org/security.html for updates. The state is anticipating that it may have to pay for taxpayer
protection for years.
Further Security Tips
As a preventative and an effective layer of security, our
experts here at FSI advise not to pay out for protection, but rather freeze
your own credit report and self-monitor. Credit freezes are one of the most effective tools against ID theft
available to consumers. And it is completely free!
Make sure any online websites where you input sensitive
information is secure. A good indicator of a secure website is an https versus http web address. If you're just browsing the web and not entering
any sensitive information, http is fine. However, on pages where you enter your
password, credit card number, or other financial information, you should always
look for the https prefix. Additionally, never store your information, specifically
passwords or Social Security Numbers, on Internet browsers.
Identity manipulation and theft victimizes more than 15
million United States residents each year. That is SEVEN percent of all adults,
with financial losses totaling near $50 billion. ID and credit protection is
important. By taking the time to secure your credit, you will save yourself
from the havoc, time, stress, and expense it takes to resolve ID theft.
Find more tips here: http://www.fsisc.org/topic.asp?pid=142.
Written by: Sarah Cornwall, Marketing Resources, at Family Services, Inc.
