Protecting Your Entire Family Against Identity Theft with Identity Guard

There are so many reasons I love the Spring season! The weather is warmer, the flowers start to bloom and we get our tax returns! However, there are other things we must deal with, too, like all of the tax forms we have to submit and, of course, spring cleaning. Eck! I never look forward to cleaning, but I get my cleaning gloves on and clean the house from top to bottom each April. Some things can simply be thrown away while others must be handled more carefully, such as important papers. We have some great ideas for properly disposing of these items!

Since my husband started his business this year, we've had even more paperwork that usual. To avoid Identity Theft, we cannot get rid of our old paperwork like the other spring cleaning trash. Instead, we've shredded the important paperwork to make sure it does not get into someone else's hands. That includes tax forms, business information and anything that is personal.

I'm not sure if you are like us, but somehow we've ended up with more magazine subscriptions that I ever thought possible. As I was gathering all the trash during my big cleaning day, I realized that magazines have our names and address printed on them. Would I really want someone else finding this at the dump? Not really. This is why I keep a black sharpie handy and can black out all the information.

In addition to our magazines and my husband's business papers, we've also had to fill out many forms for my son this year. Since he was accepted into Make A Wish and other programs for his Neurofibromatosis, We've had to submit information we normally wouldn't, such as his social security number. To guard against Child Identity Theft, we have to get rid of these papers properly, too. That means deleting all files from the computer as well as shredding any papers we still have at home. All other important papers we need to keep are always stored in a lock box for safe keeping.

We have been working with Identity Guard® for the past few months to share information with our readers about Identity Theft and how to protect yourself against it. Not only can you protect yourself, but, with  Identity Guard® kID Sure®, you can easily protect your children as well. Yes, children are also at risk for ID theft. As the world becomes more mobile and internet based, this opens up so many ways for thieves to access personal information you would not willingly want them to have.

Did you know that Identity Guard® has been protecting others against Identity Theft for over a decade now? They have an amazing program with solid technological solutions that very quickly alert you if any type of activity with your personal information should arise. The latest innovation is kID Sure®, making it possible to now protect the entire family from identity theft. Even when you aren't online, Identity Theft continues to work and keep your family's information safe. Just knowing that the program is always there to keep our personal information safe makes me feel more at easy when working online each day.

Disclosure: This service was provided to me for review at no charge. In addition I received monetary compensation. All opinions are my own.

Guard Yourself Against Tax-Time Identity Theft

It's tax season again, a time of the year my husband and I never look forward to... unless we actually get money back, of course. Some of the companies I work with send electronic copies of the 1099 forms via email and others arrive in our mailbox. As we've learned, identity theft is at an all-time high, which means we need to guard ourselves against the possibility and do what we can to keep safe from potential predators.

Where do you keep and compile your tax forms? Tax forms contain a great deal of our own personal information and it is very, very important to keep these private and safe. When I was younger, I never took much care putting away my tax forms and just put them in a drawer in my room, but now I know better. When I receive the forms via email, I print them out and make sure the email is completely deleted and erased not only from my inbox, but also from trash. Why? Because I've had my email hacked before and no telling what kind of information they could have retrieved. Tax forms not only include information about income, but also has social security numbers and birth dates. When attempting to guard against Tax-Time Identity Theft, it is important to keep this in mind and be safe with your forms.


Once the forms are printed out and received in our mailbox, we keep them filed in folders to keep them nice and neat, but, as an extra precaution, we keep them stored in our lock box, which we keep hidden in our home. All of our important information, from passports and birth certificates to taxes and car papers, are stored in a lock box to which only my husband and I have a key.

We've written about Child Identity Theft in the past and I believe this time of year is the time to start guarding not only yourself, but your children against identity theft. Billions of dollars are given out to people who have used fraudulent social security numbers. Even worse, these social security numbers usually belong to children. They are less likely to be discovered for many years and, by then, the perpetrator is usually long gone, leaving a financial disaster for the child.


We recommend Identity Guard because they have been protecting people from the threat of identity theft for over a decade. They also offer a new program, kID Sure, which helps guard children, so the entire family can be better protected from the risk of identity theft. Do you guard yourself against identity theft? If not, now may be the time to do so!

Disclosure: This service was provided to me for review at no charge. In addition, I received monetary compensation. All opinions written are my own.

Time To Talk With Your Spouse About Child Identity Theft & How We Can Protect Our Children

 In October, we wrote about the very important issue of child identity theft for the first time and how this growing problem is effecting children around the globe. It is more important than ever for parents to educate themselves and know how to protect children. Identity theft is no joke, as I have gone through it myself, when someone stole my pin number when buying gas. Child identity theft is even worse because, in this case, children are the victims and, for this reason, the id theft can go undetected for quite a long time.

Over the months I have read horror stories of parents finding out about their children's stolen social security numbers and the painstaking journey to getting their name cleared and credit back on track. Once the crime is detected, it can take months, even years to clear up everything. In fact, many of the children I read about are still dealing with the aftereffects. This is why my husband and I sat down to talk about theft of kids' identities and what we can do to help prevent it for our own children.

My husband is a lawyer, so whenever we talk about something I always have to be prepared to make my point and provide a strong argument. He always plays devil's advocate, so I wanted to cover all the bases before speaking with him about child identity theft. Here are some suggestions on how to prepare and help make the talk go smoothly:

1. Do your research.  The internet is at your disposal. Read up on child identity theft and know the facts.Here is how I felt the first time I read about child identity theft. I'm sure you will, too.

2. Print out information for your spouse.  Include key points, statistics and any data you think is relevant and important to the issue. For example, about 75% of undocumented workers are able to gain employment by using stolen social security numbers, many of which are children's.

3. Let your spouse know how important it is to purchase child identity theft protection. ® kID Sure is the most comprehensive protection, researching thousands of data sources to make sure no identity theft has taken place. In addition, it further safeguards children from the threat of identity theft in ways that we, as parents, cannot. 

4. List ways you, as parents, can help prevent child id theft. Combating identity theft can be done, but you have to educate yourself on how.No parent should be helpless in this situation, so it is best for you and your spouse to know what you can do to help protect your children. Talk about ways you can educate your children about identity theft. Children should also know about identity theft, so take the time to research ways to help teach them ways to protect themselves.   Do you currently safeguard your children against child identity theft?

If not, now is the time to take action, educate yourself and do what you can to keep your children safe. In fact, you can claim a free Child Identity Theft Protection Kit to see how your child could be at risk at: http://ismykidatrisk.com We got our free kit already and suggest you do the same! Also, check out Identity Guard® kID Sure and consider enrolling for only $5 a month to receive protection against child identity theft.

This service and the book Bankrupt at Birth were provided to me for review at no charge. In addition I received monetary compensation. All opinions are my own.