Pittsburgh Homes Daily

Nothing can ruin the purchase of a home faster than a drop in your credit rating.  While there are steps that you can take (such as avoiding large purchases) to minimize disruption of your credit rating, you should also think about taking extra steps to protect against identity theft during this time period.  It is an issue that I don’t know enough about to render advice.  Fortunately, Newsweek has an article about Minimizing Your Risk.

I am left wondering if these steps are enough.  I must be in the minority, since 46 users have given the story an average rating of 4 out of 5.  But with something as important as your credit rating, I would think that there would be government imposed standards for security.  It’s not like the identity theft problem just snuck up on us.

For example, the article suggests that you deal only with reputable companies.  But who can tell who is reputable these days?  And aren’t thieves more likely to target reputable companies because they have large amounts of personal information and data?  I am aware of at least three potential leaks of the personal information of someone in my extended family and all have been from large companies or universities.  Other times, you are at the mercy of a company or organization that you must deal with.  I doubt that Newsweek is actually suggesting that people stop dealing with the VA now that they have been shown vulnerable to an attack.

It also says that you should only hand over your information to trusted sources.  But when buying a home, everyone seems to want your social security number, mother’s maiden name, etc..  Do you need to conduct a background check on their data protection policies before handing the information over?  That’s almost as funny as the notion that you can refuse to answer a police officer’s questions or read a long form contract before a simple commercial transaction.

Two of the suggestions about how to detect identity theft also have me bothered.  One suggestion is that you monitor your financial statements for suspicious activity.  But if you use your debit card as much as I do, you know that this is almost an impossible task.  The company name or location that shows up on the receipt isn’t always the same as the place with whom you thought you were doing business, especially when purchasing online.  The other difficult part of this is remembering what you purchased over a month ago.  If transactions posted instantaneously online, it might be easy to review them nightly.  But that never seems to happen at my bank, especially on purchases over the weekend.  While I could challenge those purchases that I am unsure about, I’m not sure that I have the time or desire to challenge every purchase.  Sure, the $2,000 purchase in Nigeria would stand out.  But what about the $15 purchase at a local restaurant that I frequent?

Another recommendation is to review your mail for signs of identity theft.  I know that when I was purchasing my home (and any other time that I am busy), the mail stacks up and doesn’t get read.  The last thing I want to do when contemplating a major purchase is to look at my bills.  My other problem with this recommendation is that it doesn’t address the question of what to do about email.  It is hard to tell whether an email is a clever phishing scheme or an actual contact from the company.

Instead of reading 10 tips for avoiding identity protection, let’s get behind a comprehensive national law to protect against identity theft.