New CIGNA Program Helps ID Theft Victims Recover Identities; Helps Employers Avoid Lost Productivity

PHILADELPHIA, June 27, 2007  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America today, affecting nearly 9 million people each year.(1)  It can have a profound effect on an individual's finances and sense of security.  Restoring the good credit that a person has worked hard to build can be a daunting task that consumes a significant amount of personal and workplace time.

That's why CIGNA Group Insurance has launched its new identity theft program.  The program helps prevent this crime and provides valuable tools and resources for covered employees who fall victim to it. The program even includes help for people when they are far from home.

"Beyond its impact to a person's personal and financial situation, identity theft can also have a significant impact on workplace productivity," said Jim Jacobsen, vice president for product development and management, CIGNA Group Insurance.  "That's why employers should have a strategy for helping their employees prevent the situation and quickly control the damage if it occurs."

Statistics show that, on average, each victim of identity theft will spend 175 hours(2) tracking the crime and more than 23 months correcting credit reports to restore their financial standing.  Much of that time is spent at the workplace, costing businesses through lost productivity. In fact, American citizens and businesses spend more than 300 million hours each year resolving identity theft-related issues(3).  Identity theft has been the number one complaint to the Federal Trade Commission over the past seven years, accounting for 36 percent of complaints in 2006.(4)

People's identities are stolen in a number of ways.  It may be from an unprotected computer, unshredded documents, thieves invading a mailbox, or phishing -- when thieves try to trick people into revealing personal information by imitating emails from legitimate institutions.

CIGNA's program can help prevent and detect identity theft, and, if it occurs, provide one-on-one assistance with the time-consuming administrative tasks involved in the recovery work. Employees have access to services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year -- in every country in the world.  Under this program, identity theft victims get unlimited access to personal case managers, who assist them with every step of the process of recovering their identity and repairing the damage.

Program services include contacting credit card companies to cancel fraudulent accounts, helping complete documentation, assisting with replacement of lost or stolen documents, and much more. The program can even cover employees while they are traveling. If an employee is more than 100 miles from home, on business or personal time, he or she can get a $1,000 cash advance, translation services for working with foreign authorities, assistance in making travel arrangements, and help in relaying messages to family and friends.

The identity theft program is available to employer customers who purchase one of CIGNA's accident plans.  Employees and their family members listed on the accident policy have access to the program.

For more information about CIGNA's identity theft program, visit http://www.cigna.com/idtheft

About CIGNA Group Insurance

CIGNA Group Insurance is the second leading provider of group accident insurance, including voluntary accident and business travel accident, with more than 90 years of experience in writing accident policies.  CIGNA Group Insurance provides group disability, life and accident coverage in the U.S. and is one of the top five providers of disability management and insurance with solutions that focus on helping employees return to a productive work life as quickly and safely as possible.

"CIGNA" and "CIGNA Group Insurance" are registered service marks and refer to various operating subsidiaries of CIGNA Corporation including Life Insurance Company of North America, CIGNA Life Insurance Company of New York, and Connecticut General Life Insurance Company. Products and services are provided by these operating subsidiaries and other contracted companies, not by CIGNA Corporation.

  1 Javelin Strategy and Research, January 2006
  2 Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and the California Public Interest Research
    Group, 2005
  3 Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and the California Public Interest Research
    Group, 2005
  4 http://www.ftc.gov/

DATASOURCE: CIGNA Group Insurance



CONTACT:  Judy Hartling of CIGNA Group Insurance, [phone],

 



Web site:  http://www.cigna.com/

http://www.cigna.com/idtheft 



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