PRESS RELEASE

ST. PAUL, Minn., Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. Some victims spend hundreds of dollars and many weeks repairing damage to their credit records. The potential drain on productivity, combined with concerns about data breaches, has prompted many companies to seek prevention or restoration services for employees through insured programs or voluntary benefits services.

Identity theft program providers advise employers to understand the true nature of identity theft before committing to any program. They say most of it is related to misuse of names, Social Security numbers, and credit card numbers.

The types of products available and what to look for in a sound identity theft program are described in "Getting a sense of identity theft programs," an article published by Minnesota Life group insurance on its web site, LifeBenefits.com. Download the article now. Employers have a wide range of choices in selecting ID theft services and should make sure what they offer to employees isn't duplicated or provided free under other programs.

"The fraud alert, the credit freeze, the credit monitoring, some of the tips to protect employee information and identity -- not one of them is a silver bullet," says Guillaume Deybach, chief executive of Europ Assistance USA, a Washington D.C.-based company offering travel aid and identity-theft assistance. "It's really about raising the awareness of individuals ... so whenever something happens they can act."

For more information about choosing and selling a variety of employee benefits, subscribe to Aware, Minnesota Life's monthly online newsletter for employers and benefits brokers, or browse the AWARE archive.

With $560 billion of life insurance in force as of September 30, 2009, Minnesota Life Insurance Co. is one of the nation's top ten group life insurers. Respondents to customer surveys are 99 per cent satisfied with the service they receive from Minnesota Life group insurance. For more information about web-based services offered by Minnesota Life's group insurance unit, a subsidiary of Securian Financial Group, visit http:/// LifeBenefits.com.

SOURCE Securian Financial Group