With an identity theft being the fasted growing crime in the US, I am still baffled by the amount of sensitive personal information available through public records.  Your name, date of birth, your address, your social security number, driving record, legal matters, bankruptcies and a lot of other information about you can be obtained by anyone who is looking for it.  Therefore, I suggest monitoring not only your credit reports, but also your public records on regular basis.  Reviewing your public records may help you to discover if the thief may have gotten a property in your name, or filed a bankruptcy, or had some criminal activities in your name, etc.

In the last few years, a few states have restricted the information contained in public records.  However, with thousands and thousands of information brokers on line that offer fee-based searches of public records and more, it is possible for anyone to utilize their service.  What channels of obtaining this information and what type of information is obtained is not a concern to those companies.  They advertise that they can find anyone, any information, including SSN and such.  All they care about is the bottom line-profits.

Here are just a few examples of information that could be easily obtained through public records:

DMV Records

In addition to your driving history, the typical information contained in these records is the full name, address, physical stats, driver’s license number, a photo, expiration date, date of birth, etc.  And in some states, to my dismay, the driver’s SSN is still being used as the driver’s license number.

Tax Liens, Bankruptcies

Tax Liens often contain SSNs.  The Bankruptcy files may contain creditor and debtor information, account numbers, description of assets, file number, lien holders and sometimes the SSN of the debtor.

Voter Registration Records

Most of the information the thief would need is there: the name, current address, SSN, date and place of birth, signature, etc.  I am personally outraged that these records are public yet contain a lot of sensitive information.

We can get mad and angry about the amount of information available though public records, but there is nothing we can really do about it.

There are many companies offering credit monitoring services, but there is only one company that I know of offering monitoring services beyond credit monitoring: ID Watchdog. In business since 2005, ID Watchdog had developed a technology that assists consumers in monitoring information that would take many hours to obtain, monitor and compare every months.  They compile data from public records, medical records, DMV Records, Criminal Records, Checking Account Records, Utilities, Insurance Records, etc.  This is the information not easily obtained with just one call.  ID Watchdog will monitor these records and will notify you of any changes.  ID Watchdog has a Full Resolution Service in case of Identity Theft or if you are already a victim.  Do not wait until you become one though.  Take some steps to prevent becoming a victim to this crime.

360 degree identity theft protection. Security. Peace of Mind. Guaranteed. Get protected now!