In the field of consumer protection and loyalty development services, Norwalk, Connecticut-based Trilegiant Corp. remains unmatched. As a subsidiary of Affinion Group, a global leader in affinity marketing, Trilegiant operates as a leading supplier of membership-based programs related to health, travel, shopping, dental, entertainment, and data breach protection services.

Trilegiant succeeds Cendant Membership Services, Inc. and Cendant Incentives and currently services over 100 million members all over America from its Connecticut headquarters and seven more facilities in six states.

Prior to its integration under Affinion Group in 2005, Trilegiant pioneered in the discount provider and loyalty building business. Since 1973, it has made Americans save more and live life to the fullest with its competitive discount and rewards packages. Now operating under Forbes 321 Private Company Affinion Group, Trilegiant delivers a comprehensive suite of membership-based products and services that give big discounts, information services, assistance and protect consumers as well as contribute to incremental revenue generation for its 5,200 affinity partners worldwide.

Trilegiant offers trademark membership products and services in four categories including Discounts (Shoppers Advantage, Travelers Advantage, Great Fun!, Great Options, CompleteHome, Everyday Values, Everyday Privileges Gold); Health Care (HealthSaver, Just For Me); Security (PrivacyGuard, ID Secure, IdentitySecure, CardCops, PC SafetyPlus, Hot-Line) and Personal Property (CompleteHome, AutoVantage and Buyers Advantage).

Sources: http://www.affinion.com/products-services/ http://www.affinion.com/products-services/membership/ http://www.trilegiant.com/

Identity theft crimes are not new, but they have become more persuasive in the past decade. In mid-2005, San Francisco Chronicle discovered that holders of more than 40 million credit cards were vulnerable to financial fraud because identity thieves had compromised their credit card information. Earlier that year, information and data broker, Reed Elsevier Group PLC, revealed that several hundred thousand people might have had their profiles stolen from one of its U.S. databases. One quickly learns to secure their computer networks so that these kinds of attacks, or leaks are non-existant.

Information compromised included names, age, physical descriptions, mailing addresses, Social Security, and driver license numbers. This is virtually everything an impersonator needs to set up a clone of the identity theft victim, enabling him to make a number of financial and personal transactions in the victim’s name. Usually an identity theft victim is usually under age forty, while about 11 percent of victims are age sixty or older. According to Federal Trade Commission (FTC), one in six identity theft victims said that thieves used their personal information to open at least one new account, such as credit card accounts or loan accounts, to rack up debts on existing accounts. The most recent data indicates that 9.3 million Americans (or 4.25% of all adults) are victims of ID theft on an annual basis. This is an alarming rate and should show you that you NEED to take preventative steps toward protecting your identity.

An identity theft victim risks the destruction of his/her good credit history, and may spend years, and large sums of money restoring the credit history and goodwill. There are instances of an identity theft victim been denied work or insurance or been detained for crimes he did not commit! Some victims of ID theft found that their names have been misused after police stopped them for a traffic violation and discovered that there is a warrant for their arrest. There are also times when an innocent person receives a summons to appear in court to answer for a criminal act. FTC’s latest survey shows ID theft losses to businesses and financial institutions total $52.6 billion annually. Recently, Federal Trade Commission launched a website annualcreditreport.com where all consumers are eligible for a free copy of their credit reports. Take the time to go to that site and get your free credit report. This can be a step to alerting you to suspicious activity.

Keith Londrie II is a well known author. For more information on Identity Theft, please visit Identity Theft for a wealth of information. You may also want to visit keith’s own web site at http://keithlondrie.com/