The Costco Connection

inside costco

REGARDLESS OF HOW careful you are, you are at risk of having personal information stolen. It’s a matter of when, not if. The key to mitigating the damage is how quickly you become aware of a breach and deal with it.

That’s where Complete ID comes in. It helps monitor various ways your personal information can be compromised and, if it is, helps you recover. This is one way Complete ID has you covered.

Internet Surveillance

Internet Surveillance, part of the Complete ID package, scours websites, blogs, bulletin boards, chat rooms and areas of the “dark web.” If you’re not familiar with that term, think of it as the cyber equivalent of the shady part of a city, or an old speakeasy you can’t enter without a special password (and, in the case of the dark web, special software tools, which most computer users do not possess).

Internet Surveillance specifically looks for the illegal trading and selling of your personal information. At any given moment this technology is monitoring thousands of websites and millions of data points, checking to see if your personal information is being sold, bought or traded online.

The information gives businesses and consumers the opportunity to react quickly and take steps to protect themselves. It is the only identity monitoring solution designed for data collection on an international level, regardless of a country’s credit system or language. When you first sign up for Complete ID, your initial surveillance report covers the previous eight years of records collected for a match to the personal information you are monitoring.

When Complete ID finds your information in a compromising situation, you receive an alert via email telling you about it, and advice on what to do next. It is recommended that you contact the appropriate institution— bank, credit card company, store, etc.—to have your account information changed, or change your account information yourself, if possible. You may also want to review a copy of your credit report to ensure that all of the information is familiar to you.

Although Internet Surveillance dramatically reduces your risk of identity theft by letting you know sooner if your personal information is compromised—and in turn enabling prevention or quick resolution of an identity theft incident—it cannot stop such an incident from occurring.

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Complete ID by CSID offers peace of mind

CONNECTING

Complete ID starts at just $8.99 a month for Executive members. Go to completeid. com for more information, or to sign up. What else does Complete ID do?

The Complete ID service also includes the following.

Arrest alerts. Tracks bookings data from law enforcement agencies to find any arrest records using your name and date of birth.

Bank account takeover watch. Notifies you if your Social Security number and personal information have been used to open a new bank account, or if changes have been made to your existing bank account.

Child protection. Checks and notifies you when fraudulent names, aliases and addresses become associated with the Social Security number of a minor.

Credit card, checking and savings account application alerts. These alerts notify you if your Social Security number and personal information have been used to apply for or open a new credit card, checking or savings account.

Criminal records monitoring. Tracks municipal court systems and alerts you if a criminal act is committed under your name and if a criminal conviction occurs using your name and date of birth.

Identity restoration. Full-service, hands-on assistance if you become a victim of identity theft.

Identity theft insurance. Reimburses you for qualified expenses if your identity is compromised, with a $1 million insurance policy.

Lost wallet replacement assistance. Helps you to quickly terminate and reorder wallet contents.

Mail change alerts. Reports if your mail has been redirected through the United States Postal Service.

Neighborhood watch. Provides a report of all registered sex offenders living in your area, and alerts you if a new offender is added. It also notifies you if a sex offender fraudulently registers using your identity elements.