Who Offers The Best Credit Monitoring Service?

Experts agree one of the best things you can do to protect your identity is to conduct thorough reviews of your credit report with all three credit reporting agencies: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. While the The Fair Credit Reporting Act guarantees you access to your credit report once a year from all three bureaus, it simply isn’t enough. Think of the damage an identity thief can do to your credit history in a few weeks, much less a year. Fortunately, consumers have access to credit monitoring services that can review your credit file daily and send you alerts by phone, email or text to any changes.

Unfortunately, choosing between various services can be a bit more confusing. Which service updates your credit score quarterly? ProtectMyID or Identity Guard? What about the non credit related sources services like Lifelock’s Command Center reviews? Below we’ve compared the top rated credit monitoring services: Lifelock’s Command Center, Identity Guard’s Total Protection, Experian’s ProtectMyID, and Guard Dog ID’s Superior Protection.

	Review	Review	Review	Review
Rating
Price	$17.99/month	$19.95/month	$15/month	$9.95/month
3 Bureau Credit Monitoring			No
3 Bureau Credit Score			No	Only Experian
Score Updates	Quarterly	Annually	No	Annually
Public records				No
Scans Internet
Antivirus/Spyware		no	no	no
Keylogging Protection		no	no	no
Coverage	$1 Million	$1 Million	$1 Million	$1 Million
Promotion	30 Days Free	30 Days Trial	30 Days Free & 15% Off	30 Day Trial For $1
	Visit	Visit	Visit	Visit

What To Look For In A Credit Monitoring Service

There are many credit report monitoring services, including those from the credit reporting agencies like Experian’s ProtectMyID or Equifax’s Credit Watch. We’ve included ProtectMyID but the problem with services like these are they typically review only one credit agencies reports. Although the option exists to purchase additional reports at a significant discount, these can add up.

For example, with ProtectMyID you can buy all three credit reports and scores for a one time fee of $19. With Identity Guard, quarterly updates to your credit score is included as part of their plan.

All the above services except Lifelock monitors your credit report for changes and negative information. They’ll notify you by text or email if they detect any suspicious activity.

Identity Guard is it’s the only service to update your credit score quarterly as well as provide antivirus and spyware protection.

Credit report monitoring can be an early warning system for individuals worried about identity theft. Early detection and action is the best way to prevent identity theft from getting out of hand. But not all identity theft is related to your credit report.

Identity thieves can also use your identity for criminal purposes, employment reasons, or civil reasons. Services like Lifelock’s Command Center and Identity Guard will also scan public databases and court records for your information. In addition, both services scan sex offender registry reports and payday loan activity for your information as well.

Guard Dog ID offers many similar services to Identity Guard and gives consumers the option to customize their protection. Their basic platform is robust and full of great features and you can upgrade credit monitoring protection with their Premium or Superior Protection.

Credit Monitoring Recommendation

Identity Guard offers the most sophisticated platform for credit monitoring and identity theft protection. Guard Dog ID comes in a close second but Identity Guard edges it out because of a slightly lower price, updated credit scores, and reputation. Guard Dog ID is a relatively new company and Identity Guard has been providing information security services for fortune 500 companies for years.

Identity Guard also provides members with the ZoneAlarm® Internet Security Suite and PRIVACYPROTECT®, a sophisticated program that will encrypt your keystrokes to protect you against “keyloggers”.

Identity Guard offers several stepped down versions of their Total Protection plan, Watchful Eye® for $9.99/month and Extra Caution® for $14.99/month.

For more information, visit Identity Guard.

Will The Best Identity Theft Service Please Stand Up?

This is a comparison between the flagship services of Lifelock and Identity Guard: Lifelock’s Command Center and Identity Guard’s Total Protection.

One reason we won the cold war was we simply outspent the Soviet Union. There was no way centralized planning could keep up with a capitalist economy. Things like tanks, ships, and fighter jets are notoriously expensive to buy and maintain and the Soviet Union literally bankrupt themselves trying to keep up.

Identity Guard and especially Lifelock have taken the United States playbook and must be outspending their competition at some obscene ratio. Their advertisements are everywhere: on the web, television, print media, and on the radio. One of the likely reasons you’ve found this page is you’re considering an identity theft service and have heard about Lifelock or Identity Guard. That’s the power of branding.

Lifelock introduced Command Center in December 2009 amid much fanfare and it’s a much needed upgrade from their original service. Lifelock will now scan public databases, court records, and even sex offender registry reports for your information. With this new service Lifelock is essentially admitting that’s it’s near impossible to prevent identity theft and instead focuses on an early warning system to prevent the theft from getting beyond your control to resolve it.

Identity Guard of course has been singing this tune all along. While Lifelock probably has more brand recognition, Identity Guard from Intersections Inc. has been successfully fighting identity theft for more than 14 years for some of the biggest names in financial services. So how do these two detection services compare?

	Command Center	Total Protection
Price	$15/month	$17.99month
Promotion	30 Days Free & 15% Off	30 Days Free
3 Bureau Credit Score	No
Monitors Equifax Report	No
Monitors Experian Report	No
Monitors TransUnion Report	No
Anit-Virus Spyware	No
Protects Address
Scans For SSN
Scans For Credit Cards
Scans For Bank Account Information
Scans For Payday Loan Activity
Sex Offender Registry Reports
Public Records
Court Records
Guarantee	$1 Million Total Service Guarantee	$1 Million Loss Reimbursement

So Why Doesn’t Lifelock Offer Credit Monitoring?

While it’s true that identity theft occurs beyond your credit report, experts agree the best way to detect identity theft is through monitoring your credit report. So why does Lifelock leave this important feature out? Only Lifelock knows but I’d hazard a guess it has something to with the costs involved. Identity Guard pays the three major credit reporting agencies (TransUnion, Equifax, Experian) for access to the credit reports. Somebody in Lifelock’s management decided to pursue detection technology outside your credit report.

It’s not hard to understand the strategic thinking behind this decision. This way Lifelock isn’t beholden to the credit reporting agencies it has a somewhat fractious relationship with and can offer consumers services unique to Lifelock.

But by not offering credit monitoring services is Lifelock shortchanging their customers? I think so. Do you think an identity thief will be better detected by monitoring court records and sex offender registry reports or by the daily monitoring of all three credit reports? Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Lifelock

• Read our detailed Lifelock review

Lifelock initiates fraud alerts on your behalf with all 3 major credit bureaus. Fraud alerts require creditors to confirm your identity by phoning to verify the request for credit. The weakness in this type of plan is threefold.

• First, even if fraud alerts were a surefire way to protect against identity fraud, it only protects you against the opening of new accounts. What about your existing accounts? If you lose your wallet, the identity thief will have access to your identification card, home address, and other information.
• Second, fraud alerts are not fool proof. Creditors have and will continue to extend credit without checking your credit file. According to the advocacy group Consumer Action, fraud alerts are only effective in about 75 percent of the cases. The only way to restrict access to your credit file is with a credit freeze, something LifeLock does not do.
• Third and most importantly, your information is already out there. You can take every precaution in the book but what happens to your auto loan application after you fill it out? How about your mortgage application or that new credit card? The truth is, you actually have very little control over the access to your own private identifying information. Fraud alerts won’t protect you.

Identity Guard

• Read our detailed Identity Guard review

Identity Guard doesn’t offer fraud alerts. Maybe it’s because they believe they’re not effective or its incredible easy to set up yourself – for whatever reason Identity Guard focuses entirely on monitoring your credit report in near real time. You have UNLIMITED access to not only your credit report but your credit score as well. In addition to all this, Identity Guard offers a host of products that depending on your tech level, may offer incredible value. To somebody like myself who’s always online, I find the additional features like ID Vault®, Mobile Lockbox®, and ZoneAlarm® incredibly useful but to someone who’s not technically inclined – these features would be of limited value.

Opinion

Lifelock built its entire protection service around placing and renewing fraud alerts. Lifelock was doing this when nobody else was and if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Lifelock should be flattered. There are numerous companies that imitate what Lifelock does. They were also the first to offer a million dollar guarantee which everybody also copied. Throw in a CEO who publicly announces his social security number in the press and dares identity thieves to steal it, and it’s no wonder Lifelock is the market leader. Lifelock has brilliant marketing and it resonates with consumers. But while all this may sound lovely at a shareholder meeting, is it truly effective? Is it better than credit monitoring?

If it’s Lifelock or nothing, by all means choose Lifelock. Get some measure of protection for your identity. But if its a choice between fraud alerts and credit monitoring? I choose credit monitoring. There is simply no way to guarantee the security of your personal information. Monitoring your credit file daily for any changes is the best way to protect your identity, your property, and your life.

Visit Lifelock for more information.

Visit IdentityGuard for more information

IDENTITY GUARD® Total ProtectionSM, The Cadillac Of Identity Theft Protection

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Identity Guard should consider itself flattered. Not too long ago, before consumer lawsuits forced Lifelock to change its business model, companies like Lifelock centered their identity protection strategies around placing and renewing fraud alerts.

Now while studies show that fraud alerts can help secure access to your credit file, nobody will argue that it’s a foolproof way to prevent identity theft. In fact, a significant amount of fraud occurs with unauthorized access to existing accounts, something fraud alerts and credit locks will do absolutely nothing to prevent. Despite all the marketing you might see or hear, there is no way to completely safeguard you from identity fraud.

Identity Guard understands this and focuses all their resources into creating an advanced credit monitoring service. Unlike Lifelock or other competitors, you have unlimited online access to credit report monitoring and your credit score. There are many other cool features to Identity Guard’s Total Protection like IDVault® and MOBILE LOCKBOX® which will have technophiles smiling but the core of their service is the advanced public database scanning and credit monitoring system.

How Do They Protect You?

Personal Identity Dashboard

• Daily Credit Application Scanning

Identity Guard uses a proprietary system to regularly scan credit application databases for fraudulently submitted credit applications in your name.

• Quarterly Access To Credit File Score

Every three months you will receive to your credit file score with all 3 credit reporting agencies. In addition Identity Guard will monitor your credit file score daily with all three credit bureaus for maximum security and will email you if there are any changes to your credit file score.

• Scans Internet

Monitors internet black market sites where personal data is bought and sold for your personal information. You will be alerted promptly if any of your information is compromised.

• ZoneAlarm® Internet Security Suite

ZoneAlarm is an award winning security software which includes anti-virus, spyware, firewall, spam blocking, and stealth mode all which will greatly reduce the risk of personal; information hijacking on the internet. You will receive the software and updates free during the life of your subscription.

• PRIVACYPROTECT™

PRIVACYPROTECT™ is anti-key logging software which will encrypt every keystroke while you browse the internet to prevent identity thieves from recording your passwords.

• MOBILE LOCKBOX™

This is an innovative product from Identity Guard which will allow you to remotely secure your sensitive information, personal records, and important financial documents on Identity Guard’s servers. All this information will be available to you anywhere anytime via your web-enabled cell phone, PDA, or computer.

• Lost Wallet Protection

Identiy Guard will assist you in canceling all your credit card accounts plus give you access to $2,000 emergency cash from your account.

• $1,000,000 Identity Theft *Insurance

This policy is underwritten by National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh and covers expenses related to recovering from an identity theft including wage losses.

• ID Valut

ID Vault looks like a USB memory stick, but its actually a key that padlocks your identity. It protects you against cyber criminals, spyware, and other tricks criminals use to steal your passwords or account numbers.

What Do They Do Better Than Anybody?

The proprietary technology behind some of the products available to Identity Guard separates it from most other identity theft protection companies. While other companies focus on fraud alerts and credit freezes, Identity Guard takes a different approach. Drawing from their years of experience working with top financial institutions, Intersections has developed a sophisticated consumer protection package centered around the Total Protection Dashboard which allows you to monitor your credit file score and your internet protection services.

Credit Monitoring

Fraud Alerts and Credit Freezes are like locking the door to your valuables. While this approach works well for preventing identity thieves from opening new lines of credit, it does very little to protect your existing accounts from fraud. Reviewing your credit file score annually may alert you to fraudulent activity but the damage to your credit and accounts will already have occurred.

Monitoring your credit file score daily, and alerting you to any changes by text message or email allows you to promptly detect any suspicious activity. The near real time monitoring of all your credit reports and credit score only enhances the careful eye Identity Guard keeps over you.

Internet Security

The award winning Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite along with PrivacyProtect provides you with first rate computer and internet security. Also, Identity Guard scans the internet’s financial black markets daily for your registered information, including Social Security Number, credit cards, and bank accounts.

PC Security

Features like PRIVACY PROTECT and IDVAULT makes your computer virtually impossible for hackers to steal information. No other identity protection service offers this level of sophisticated protection.

What Kind Of Customer Prefers This Service?

A tech savvy consumer who can appreciate the proprietary tools Identity Guard provides to greatly enhance the ability to monitor and control your credit file score. The additional first-rate computer and internet protection offers total protection where identity theft victims are most vulnerable, surfing the internet.

Why Should You Consider Anybody Else?

The absence of fraud alerts and credit freezes means your credit file score is as vulnerable as before. While Identity Guard believes the sophisticated credit monitoring services they employ would detect and minimize any fraud, some consumers would like the protection these tools were designed to provide. The use of fraud alerts and credit freezes are central parts of the theft protection strategies of companies like Lifelock, TrustedID, and Equifax.

ProtectMyID.com from Experian offers a more affordable version of three bureau credit monitoring. You can read a detailed ProtectMyID review here.

Give It To Me Straight

The question with Idenity Guard becomes one about credit monitoring versus fraud alerts. If you believe Lifelock’s commercials, the marketing message is fraud alerts are proactive and credit monitoring is reactive. But how proactive are they? Remember that fraud alerts and credit freezes on your file do nothing to protect your existing accounts. If an identity thief has secured enough vital information to open new accounts, doesn’t he have the ability to tamper with your existing accounts as well?

The advantages to be able to recognize and react quickly to any changes in your credit file score cannot be understated. Certainly Identity Guard provides a degree of monitoring and control over your information no other company offers. Add the plethora of additional useful products such as ID Vault, Privacy Protect, Mobile LockBox, and the award-winning Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite and you’re talking some serious value for the consumer. Personally, I prefer Identity Guard Total Protection and find all the products and features incredibly useful.

If Lifelock and TrustedID claim to lock the doors to your house with fraud alerts and credit freezes, even they’ll admit there are cracks in that door. Identity Guard may leave that door open, but they’re watching your back. If anybody comes in and they’ll text, phone, or email you if they see anything suspicious.

Try Identity Guard FREE For 30 Days

**Reimbursement will be provided by insurance carrier. Insurance underwritten by National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa. The description herein is a summary only. It does not include all terms, conditions and exclusions of the policies described. Please refer to the actual policies for complete details of coverage and exclusions. Coverage may not be available in all jurisdictions and is subject to actual policy language.

DISCLAIMER: Intersections, IDENTITY GUARD, EXTRA CAUTION, PRIVACYPROTECT, MOBILE LOCKBOX and Total Protection are federally registered trademarks of Intersections Inc.

Intersections pointed out that recent statistics that were released by the Department of Justice at the close of 2010 revealed that approximately 11.7 million people were victims of identity theft between 2008 and 2010. In a recent report on identity theft, Intersections listed the top methods that criminals use to steal your identity. According to the Identity Guard report criminals use the following methods:

Read our detailed Identity Guard review

Spyware

This is malicious software that tricks unsuspecting users into downloading software that is capable of collecting your personal information from your PC and sending it back to a remote server where it is harvested by criminals for illegal use. The software usually disguises itself as a fake antivirus or anti-malware program and tricks you into believing your PC has a virus and in order to remove it you must purchase the bogus software. While your attention is diverted, the program downloads spyware into your PC to spy on all of your computing activity.

Phishing Messages

These are messages that you receive in your email that appear to be from your financial institution or other source that requires you to enter personal information. It usually states something like to continue using your account you must click on the included link and log in to verify your personal information. The website where you log in is made to look very much like your financial institution site when in reality the information you enter goes to the criminal’s site.

Phone Scams

Phone scams where criminals pose as an authorized person from your financial institution and request your personal and financial information to continue using your account. If you use caller ID there is software that the criminal can use to disguise their telephone number to look like it is coming from your financial institution.

ATM Scams

Everyday locations such as ATM machines and other places where you swipe your card may have a card reader or hidden camera installed by the criminal to read your credit card information or PIN number. Recently criminals have gone as far as hacking into the computer system in ATM machines to gather financial information for illegal use.

Data Breaches

Data breaches can occur from companies you trust where your financial or personal information is accidentally compromised due to a criminal that hacked into the system and breached data security.

These are a few of the ways that identity theft can occur. Identity Guard recommends that you should be careful when providing your personal information, take precautions when opening your email and surfing the Internet, and take a proactive approach to installing multiple forms of protection on your PC. Additionally, identity theft can still occur so it is a good idea to use an identity theft protection service to notify you if there has been a potential breach and to help you pick up the pieces if you have become a victim of identity theft.

Intersections, Inc., creator of award-winning Identity Guard, and Harland Clarke Corporation, a leading provider in integrated payment solutions, recently formed a partnership to provide identity theft protection services to more than 11,000 Harland Clarke banking industry clients. The joint venture is part of Intersections Inc. plans for expansion and Harland Clarke’s mission to expand its security solutions and marketing services to the financial industry.

Terms of the Alliance

Under the terms of the agreement financial institutions will be able to provide their customers with two security options. The first option involves the inclusion of Intersections’ Identity Guard services in a checking or banking account plan that the consumer chooses or the account holder can opt into the identity theft protection service as a standalone option.

The service is known as ITAC Sentinel which is provided by Intersections, Inc. and provides the consumer with extended monitoring of credit and personal information. ITAC stands for Identity Theft Assistance Center and provides consumers in financial institutions with assistance in the event their identity is stolen, resolution services, and identity theft protection for sensitive data associated with banking information.

The partnership between Intersections, Inc. and Harland Clarke is partially to fulfill a consumer need and in response to an Identity Fraud Survey Report from Javelin Strategy and Research. The report showed that during the year 2010 approximately 8 million consumers were affected by identity theft with an out-of-pocket cost increase by nearly 63 percent. The average time a consumer spent with the recovery process increased by 53 percent.

Results of the Partnership

The partnership between Intersections Inc. and Harland Clarke will provide a comprehensive identity theft protection approach that will have a broader reach to financial institutions across the United States. It is the hope of both Harland Clarke and Intersections Inc. that the project will bring piece of mind to a greater number of consumers by providing a convenient way to tap into identity theft protection services for their specific financial institution or credit union.

CUNA Strategic Services, Inc. will be promoting the identity theft protection services provided by the partnership between Intersections, Inc. and Harland Clarke to all of its members. CUNA is the Credit Union National Association in which CUNA Strategic Services is a subsidiary. Harland Clarke is a trusted resource by credit unions throughout the United States and more than 90 percent of the credit unions across the US are members of CUNA. Harland Clarke provides integrated payment solutions, marketing services, and security solutions to more than 11,000 banks, credit unions, and major investment firms.

Intersections, Inc. is known for its Identity Guard solution and provides a variety of consumer and corporate identity risk management services. The company formed an exclusive partnership with the Identity Theft Assistance Center which is the national voice for victims of identity theft and identity policy. Intersection Inc. is the exclusive service provider of ITAC Victim Assistance. If the consumer’s financial institution is an ITAC member and supporter, the consumer can be granted access to ITAC services with the identity theft protection services provided by Intersections, Inc.

For more information on Identity Guard’s services, read our Identity Guard review.

Entrust IdentityGuard recently released a versatile authentication platform which is
compatible with many of the Windows operating systems including Vista, Windows
XP, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008. Entrust is a leading provider in identity
protection services for companies, consumers and online businesses. The new
security solution will provide access authentication for Windows desktops and
servers.

Entrust IdentityGuard allows businesses and corporations to secure access to
computers for the end user by providing authentication choices from the grid
card which has been patented by Entrust and one-time password tokens. The
authentication applies regardless if the end user is accessing the desktop while
connected to the network or using the PC offline.

With IdentityGuard businesses can provide security in layers which regulates
the type of access each user can have and according to a specific transaction.
IdentityGuard is compatible with many different types of applications and a diverse
organization of users.

The authentication process for IdentityGuard involves a username and password,
one-time passcode (OTP) which is delivered over SMS or email, a grid and grid eGrid
cards for two-factor authentication, IP geolocation which identifies the IP address
location, digital certificates for use in software and smart cards, and a wide variety
of one-time passcode tokens which also include a token for mobile devices. The
token for mobile devices works with the Entrust IdentityGuard Mobile which allows
businesses to verify their customers, business associates, and vendors through a
smartphone device.

For business security IdentityGuard provides hefty authentication for remote access
through a secure VPN (Virtual Private Network) which is provided by leading VPN
providers such as CheckPoint, Cisco, and Citrix. There is also an 802.1x for wireless
access security.

IdentityGuard provides multichannel support for phone, email, kiosk, SMS, and
onsite service if necessary. Businesses are protected when they deploy the
appropriate authenticator system for user groups which is customized according to
the level of associated risks, needs of the end user, and cost. IdentityGuard also
provides comprehensive security for consumers with a wide range of authentication
methods, security tokens, Entrust TransactionGuard, and the Entrust Open Fraud
Intelligence Network.

ZoneAlarm is included free with Identity Guard's Total Protection

RSA and Check Point recently partnered on an agreement to provide online consumers with enhanced identity theft protection against Trojans, phishing, and other online criminal activity. RSA is a security division of EMC, a world leader in information infrastructure solutions, and Check Point Software Technologies is a leader in Internet security solutions. Together they have come up with an enhanced solution which is integrated into ZoneAlarm Internet security products.

The enhancement to ZoneAlarm products is the result of RSA’s effort to supply real-time online threat intelligence feeds which are derived from its RSA FraudAction, Anti-Trojan, and Anti-Phishing services and then integrated into Check Point’s ZoneAlarm security products. The new security feature is included in ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite and ZoneAlarm Extreme Security to provide added identity theft protection against online attacks.

RSA FraudAction provides around the clock service for detecting the latest online phishing, pharming, and Trojan attacks by online criminals and is capable of deactivating hundreds of thousands of websites that deal in identity theft and other online criminal activity. The service also performs online forensics work to reduce the length of time of a current online attack.

This type of service represents a significant milestone for the ZoneAlarm security products and Check Point Software Technologies. It also represents a significant stride in helping to protect the online consumer from identity theft.

RSA FraudAction service is part of the RSA Identity Protection and Verification Suite which is one of the most comprehensive authentication and anti-fraud technologies. Since RSA is a security division of EMC, it can also help many organizations to solve some of the challenges they face with regard to information security and identity theft fraud by offering solutions for identity assurance and access control, encryption management, data loss prevention, and a host of other security measures to help global organizations tighten up security within their enterprise.

This is good news for Identity Guard’s customers since ZoneAlarm is included free with a subscription to Identity Guard’s Total Protection.

You’ve decided you need identity theft protection. Congratulations, that’s the easy part…

It seems we’re inundated with commercials and advertisements from Lifelock, Identity Guard, TrustedID and the countless other identity theft services. There’s certainly no shortage of protection services and if you’ll just give them the chance, they’ll all give you plenty of reasons why they’re the best identity theft protection available.

I’m sure these companies hired expensive ad agencies to create marketing campaigns that highlight their strengths, gloss over shortcomings, and explain why they’re better than the competition.

What’s a discerning consumer to do?

It takes a discerning eye to separate the “chaff from the wheat” so to speak. Our staff at IDProtectionGuide takes a certain pride in delivering analysis you just won’t find anywhere. In fact, most of what you’ll read elsewhere sounds like warmed over ad copy. Much of our information comes from trying out the individual services and many hours on the phone. Let’s dig in.

After reporting and reviewing on the identity theft industry the last few years, we’ve noticed that there are a few consumer profiles that will cover just about 99% of the potential market. Don’t worry if you find yourself in one or more profiles. In understanding where different services rank, it may help you better understand the strengths and weaknesses of an identity protection service and help you make a better informed buying decision.

How Identity Theft Protection Works

The Limits Of Identity Theft Prevention

The first concept to understand is no protection is foolproof. That doesn’t mean identity theft prevention is without merit, far from it actually. It’s just that no plan or service exists that can guarantee complete protection. Why? You have no control over your information once it leaves your hands. What’s to prevent the auto loan application you filled out from falling into the wrong hands? How about your mortgage application or your medical records? Ever hear of data breeches? In 2009, one single breech compromised over 130 million records. So much of your information is already in circulation, we simply can’t prevent the countless ways that data can be lost, stolen or innocently given away.

Prevention vs. Detection

In the early days of identity theft protection, there was much fuss made of Lifelock’s use of fraud alerts as a preventive measure. The problem with preventive measures like these are first, it’s completely free to do yourself and second, its akin to locking your front door and leaving the windows and back doors open. As the identity theft industry evolved, companies have moved toward sophisticated detection methods and scanning the internet for your records.

Many people associate identity theft with financial or credit fraud but there is also criminal, employment, and even medical identity theft. Many detection services will scan not just your credit report but public databases, court records and even sex offender registry reports. Even Lifelock, the industry leader in identity theft protection, has moved in this direction with their upgraded service, Command Center™.

How Identity Theft Services “Package” Protection

First and foremost, identity theft protection is a business. For the most part, comparable identity protection features are available to almost any company. However, every additional feature increases the cost of the protection. Services must balance a price sensitive public with features that are most effective.

Things like economies of scale and proprietary technology can give some companies an edge over others in product offerings but only you can decide if these features are something you’ll find value in. Most consumers have a natural aversion to buying features they never use.

Naturally these companies will create protection packages to serve the greatest amount of people. I’ve separated consumers into these three categories and hopefully you’ll fall into one of them. For each category, I’ll explain the concerns, my recommendation for protection and reasoning behind it. If you can’t place yourself into any of these categories, feel free to drop me a note in the comments section and I’ll try my best to give you an answer.

To compare more identity protection plans visit our one of a kind identity service comparison tool.

Best Identity Theft Protection: Family Plans

Best Identity Theft Protection: Credit Monitoring

Best Identity Theft Protection: Value