Identity Theft Protection

In a world of increasing technology and information transfer online comes increased vulnerability from advanced hackers.

From a financial perspective, identity theft is becoming an increasingly larger issue. Identity thieves are stealing funds online, credit card numbers for their own use, and potentially ruining credit scores while doing so. The frustrating part of identity theft is that it comes in many forms from many different sources ranging from individuals stumbling across your information to major corporate databases being breached.

Approximately 15 million Americans per year are victims of identity theft and an estimated 100 million American adults have their personal information exposed to risk of future theft. (Source: http://www.identitytheft.info/victims.aspx)

A few general tips for preventing identity theft:

1. Be careful what information you keep available in your wallets.

2. Monitor your credit score.

3. Review your monthly credit card and bank statements for illegitimate charges.

4. Have a secure system for incoming and outbound mail.

5. Shred all documents and data that you are discarding.

Services for identity and credit monitoring and recovery are becoming increasingly popular and effective. Some popular services include but are not limited to: Legalshield, Lifelock, Life Guard etc. Each service brings a slightly different and unique offering to the table on what they do on the prevention side and what they can do to step in and lower the financial and time burden once your identity has been stolen.

Jon C. Ylinen is a Financial Advisor with North Star Resource Group and offers securities and investment advisory services through CRI Securities, LLC. and Securian Financial Services, Inc., Members FINRA/SIPC. CRI Securities, LLC. is affiliated with Securian Financial Services, Inc. and North Star Resource Group. North Star Resource Group is not affiliated with Securian Financial Services, Inc. but is independently owned and operated.

Please consult a financial professional for specific advice in relation to your individual circumstances. This should not be considered as tax, specific loan repayment for an individual or legal advice. This is not a recommendation of any strategy or product in particular. 940237/ DOFU 06-2014.