Identity theft never used to be a common crime. Exactly how did it get to be such a big deal?

Back when all the baby boomers were young, when you used a credit card to buy something at a store, the clerk would place your card in a little machine and make a three copy impression of your card on paper. But before doing that, they would flip through their most current booklet of ‘bad’ credit card numbers to be sure yours wasn’t on the list. Then they wrote the page number where your account number would have been in numerical order on your receipt to prove they had looked it up. Whew.. that was a project just to write let alone to remember the old days when we really did go through that just to charge a purchase.

After clerks were able to check your account number with a phone call, things got a bit quicker because obviously, that little booklet they used to use would be outdated the second they were printed. So the phone call method of checking was progress. Sometimes it was a bit faster but usually not because busy signals were common.

Unfortunately, if someone was using a credit card in a long line of customers, it was a very slow line. Cash was still king. Finally the procedure moved on into the streamlined system we have today with nearly immediate approval in a matter of moments. You’re much more likely to see someone using plastic instead of cash.

A price had to be paid for all this progress. The price goes by the name of ‘identity theft’. Instant credit and fast approvals has a dark side and we need to be readied on how to deal with it. Identity theft protection can be done by yourself or you can hire a company to take care of it for you. If you’re looking for a company, Suze Orman recommends Trusted ID. Read a Trusted ID Review. Get a TrustedID Promotion code. Or you can compare LifeLock or TrustedID and see what makes them different.