Securosis is *very* pleased to announce that Debix is providing a year of free credit protection to three lucky readers.

Those of you that read this site and listen to the Network Security Podcast know that I’m a big fan of preventative credit protection instead of just passive monitoring. I’ve been using Debix for a few months now and am extremely pleased with the service. Normally I never pick one vendor over the other, but there are only two providers in this market, and LifeLock has a sordid history.

Debix works by placing a fraud alert on your credit report with all three agencies. They automatically renew these every three months, and instead of listing your personal information all calls to open new credit on your account are routed to the Debix call center, which then tracks you down on different contact numbers. Anytime someone contacts a credit agency to try and open an account in your name, you get a phone call to authorize it. It’s anti-exploitation for your credit history. To back this up, you get $25,000 of identity theft coverage and recovery services.

They also add you to the national do not call list and opt you out for pre-screend credit offers.

Here’s how the contest will work-

1. In the comments, tell us a story of how you’ve been a victim of fraud. Real stories only, and you have to use an email address you check, even if it’s just an anonymous Gmail account.
2. It can be any type of fraud, humorous or serious, from card skimming to identity theft.
3. The Securosis staff (Dave, myself, and Chris, even though he doesn’t know it yet) will pick the three winners, announce them on the site, and privately connect you with our contact at Debix to get your account started.
4. Our families are excluded, as are those of my friends that are essentially family (sorry, have to be fair). Tom is excluded since he made fun of the blog today and called me a slacker (okay, you can submit under a random email as long as I can’t figure out it’s you).
5. This is limited to the US, since that’s the only place it works.

I’m really excited about this opportunity and we’ve been working on it for a couple of months. Debix is a great service and cheaper than most of the credit monitoring out there.

So get running in the comments. We’re looking for real examples of how fraud has hurt you in your past.

(Full disclosure- Debix is providing the award but is not otherwise sponsoring this contest. I currently have a free Debix trial that was provided before we came up with the contest, but have no business relationship with them).

Technorati Tags: Debix, Fraud, Identity Theft, Contest