Identity Guard Vs Lifelock

This is a question that readers often ask and despite there being many other companies offering identity theft protection services, these two probably spend the most on marketing. This is actually a great comparison because Identity Guard and Lifelock employ very different strategies in protecting you against identity theft.

Lifelock takes a proactive approach by placing fraud alerts and removing you from junk mail lists. Identity Guard employs an advanced credit monitoring service that monitors your credit file daily and sends you alerts via email, text, or phone if they detect fraudulent activity. Think of your identity as your home and Lifelock as the guard in front preventing thieves from breaking in while Identity Guard is the high tech surveillance system you have in place to determine if theft has occurred.

Obviously when given these two methods, the large majority of consumers would prefer preventing theft in the first place. Who wants to deal with the aftermath of identity theft if it’s preventable? But can any identity protection plan guarantee your protection? The answer is no. What if despite the guard outside your home, thieves are still able to break in?

How Effective Are Fraud Alerts?

Fraud alerts restrict access to your credit file and while helpful, it’s an incomplete solution. Even assuming fraud alerts prevent 100% of unauthorized opening of new accounts, what about your existing accounts? Fraud alerts simply do not address many of the risks that could give rise to identity fraud. A consumer who believes that he or she is safe merely because of a fraud alert may be lulled into a false sense of security. Identity Guard believes that it’s impossible to guarantee your protection and focuses their considerable technology on an early warning system.

So What’s Best?

I have my opinion and I’ll get to it shortly but unlike so many of the online reviews you’ll see, I want to actually explain my reasoning and not sound like warmed over ad copy. Below is a comparison chart of the two services. Lifelock has only one type of protection plan but Identity Guard has several. In this case, I’ve chosen their flagship plan “Total Protection”. I’ve left out some categories like “Lost Wallet Assistance” because both of these services offer them. My intent is to highlight differences between the two protection plans.

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