Huh
I got a letter in the mail today from AvMed, stating that they recently had a few laptops stolen from their offices, and that there is concern that their customers' personal information may have been compromised. I've gotten these sorts of things before, usually from credit cards, and once from my design school. I don't generally pay attention to them because in the case of the credit cards, I figure the chance that my account, out of millions they have, would be be affected is so slim. With the design school, I wasn't a current student any longer, so I figured my info probably wasn't in danger. This time, it's even stranger because I haven't been an AvMed customer in about 10 years. That's the insurance I had when I worked for Warner Bros. back in Miami. So I'm not particularly concerned again.
However, there's something interesting in the letter. As a service to their customers, they're offering a free two-year membership to some identity protection service (called Debix - it looks like a basic subscription is $10 a month). I wouldn't ever pay for that sort of thing, though I have had issues with identity theft in the past. My dad had his compromised when I was in Miami when some moron used a credit card app in his name he'd taken from my mailbox (he was a co-signer on my first credit card, so I'd get mail under his name a lot). He took out the card and maxed it out, then didn't pay, so they started calling my dad, and he's been dealing with collection services for that ever since. Lucky for him, the moron used his own Social Security number, so Dad's credit wasn't affected. Then I had that horrible virus on my computer that potentially compromised my info and I had to put freezes on everything. Nothing ever happened, but it was better to be safe than sorry. I also had someone use my credit card once to order a bunch of horse supplies from a catalog in Arizona. LOL! I have no idea how they got it, since this was back in 1996 before online ordering was that common. Only thing I can figure is it was related to what happened to Dad, since it was the same general time and that same awful apartment (our mailboxes had no locks, so anyone could access them. Not very safe. I only lived there one summer.)
Anyway, now I'm left wondering if it would be worth doing this free 2-year deal. I mean, they're offering it, and it's not a bad thing to have. It has this "OnCall" thing where it calls your cell phone if someone's trying to make a questionable charge, so you can tell them right then if it's you or not. Could be handy, could be annoying, depending on how often they think a legit charge isn't. They claim to offer more services and protection than LifeLock, which is the other company of this sort I've heard of.
I don't know. It's free, so why not take it? But then I worry it's the kind of thing that, once you're in it, they make it really difficult to get out when the free period is up. But it still might be worth it. These days you can't be too careful, right? I'm just amazed I got the letter at all, as long as it's been since I've been a customer!
However, there's something interesting in the letter. As a service to their customers, they're offering a free two-year membership to some identity protection service (called Debix - it looks like a basic subscription is $10 a month). I wouldn't ever pay for that sort of thing, though I have had issues with identity theft in the past. My dad had his compromised when I was in Miami when some moron used a credit card app in his name he'd taken from my mailbox (he was a co-signer on my first credit card, so I'd get mail under his name a lot). He took out the card and maxed it out, then didn't pay, so they started calling my dad, and he's been dealing with collection services for that ever since. Lucky for him, the moron used his own Social Security number, so Dad's credit wasn't affected. Then I had that horrible virus on my computer that potentially compromised my info and I had to put freezes on everything. Nothing ever happened, but it was better to be safe than sorry. I also had someone use my credit card once to order a bunch of horse supplies from a catalog in Arizona. LOL! I have no idea how they got it, since this was back in 1996 before online ordering was that common. Only thing I can figure is it was related to what happened to Dad, since it was the same general time and that same awful apartment (our mailboxes had no locks, so anyone could access them. Not very safe. I only lived there one summer.)
Anyway, now I'm left wondering if it would be worth doing this free 2-year deal. I mean, they're offering it, and it's not a bad thing to have. It has this "OnCall" thing where it calls your cell phone if someone's trying to make a questionable charge, so you can tell them right then if it's you or not. Could be handy, could be annoying, depending on how often they think a legit charge isn't. They claim to offer more services and protection than LifeLock, which is the other company of this sort I've heard of.
I don't know. It's free, so why not take it? But then I worry it's the kind of thing that, once you're in it, they make it really difficult to get out when the free period is up. But it still might be worth it. These days you can't be too careful, right? I'm just amazed I got the letter at all, as long as it's been since I've been a customer!