Credit Monitoring - A Feel Good Answer, But A False Sense of Security

This warning found on the ICFE site is worth noting -and I agree with their stance! The advice is good for all consumers, not just the Military, though this is directed to our brave service members and their families .

ICFE Cautions Veterans and Active Duty Service Members

Veterans and active duty service members whose personal information may have been stolen are being offered a salve - credit monitoring - which is a feel good response, but provides a false sense of security. When it comes to identity theft prevention measures, relying on credit monitoring is similar to placing only one smoke detector in a three story home.

The San Diego based Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE), which certifies credit report reviewers and identity theft risk management specialists, cautions potential victims to carefully review and understand the limitations of credit monitoring. Credit monitoring will not alert the consumer if someone has obtained a driver's license, birth certificate, Social Security card, or used their name during interactions with law enforcement, resulting in arrest warrants or erroneous criminal records.

Most credit monitoring services only monitor one bureau. Some provide an initial three-bureau report on the first order, and then revert to monitoring only one. Many creditors report to the bureaus only once a-month or quarterly. In cases involving utility accounts, it may never be reported until after it has been sent to collections. With very rare exceptions, credit monitoring does not monitor specialty-reporting companies or check verification companies.

Credit monitoring will not report to the victim in a timely fashion, if at all, when an identity thief has taken a job using the victim's name and Social Security number -- in some States, this type of employment fraud approaches one-third of all identity theft cases -- and causes significant financial cost, unexpected tax consequences, and embarrassment to the victim. See more at ICFE
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My thoughts...

It is especially disturbing to me to realize that our service men and women, and their families, are all too often the target of predatory lenders, identity thieves and fraudsters of all sorts. These families have sacrificed so much of their lives, often their very life, for those of us who couldn't fathom being in their position. I would like to take this opportunity to offer my support and sincere thanks! If you have been victimized, have questions relating to identity theft or credit matters, or simply just want to vent...I want to hear from you. You can leave your comments here, or contribute your story to the story board here or go to Creditboards. They have set up a special thread for Military families CreditBoards Forum

Tell us your story. We want to help shed light on the plight of our Military families. Help us -help you!
Additionally, if you know of available resources that you want to share -post them too!

A warning to our Military families:

BEWARE: A new identity theft scam, purporting to be from the American Red Cross calling about an injured soldier, is targeting military families.

The Red Cross issued an alert warning people that its representatives generally don't contact military members or their families directly, and almost always go through other channels such as a commander or first sergeant.

Military family members are being urged not to give out any personal information over the phone if contacted by anyone who is unknown to them. for more see

Share your story here too! By sharing your story -you validate and help others who may be in the same situation.