Why Get Protected
Make no mistakes, identity theft is not something to be complacent about. Lives have descended into financial ruin and people’s liberty taken away as a result of this crime.
According to the recent statistical reports of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as well as the Federal Trade commission (FTC), identity theft still tops their list of criminal cases and consumer problems. In fact, identity theft is one the fastest growing crime in America and still growing at an unbelievable pace. Identity fraud and theft are no fun.
Below is a list of top Identity Theft Protection companies. We have recommended here what we believe to be the best companies for your protection. Get protected!
LifeLock - Top choice Identity theft protection
With identity theft becoming a growing threat for all Americans, the identity theft protection business has boomed. One of the newest companies to enter the identity theft protection game is LifeLock, which backs it’s claims up with a $1million total service guarantee. Now, that’s walking the talk!
The LifeLock system does all the usual things. It places a fraud alert on your credit files with the three major credit bureaus. The fraud alert requires that you must be contacted by the phone number you specify, to verify any new credit applications. The fraud alerts are only active for 90 days and then must be renewed, which LifeLock will do unless you notify them otherwise.
LifeLock will perform the necessary processes to request removal of your name from junk mail lists have your name removed from pre-approved credit offer lists, which reduces the risk of someone trying to use pre-approved credit card junk mail to steal your identity. » read more
Child Protection Program
The Identities of children are now being stolen in the thousands. Thieves do target them because they know that no one really monitors Kids information. Cases have been reported that their Social Security Numbers have been stolen and they are usually not discovered until they apply for their first jobs. LifeLock also offers the only identity theft child protection program and for children under the age of 16 LifeLock offers protection for only $25 per year.
ISO Certification
LifeLock is the first consumer protection company to achieve ISO 27001 certification. This certification sets the standard and requirements for a top-rated information system. This is the highest standard for data handling and processing provided by the International Organization for Standardization.
Lost Your Wallet?
A lost or stolen wallet is a real headache and a major disaster waiting to happen in the way of identity theft. WalletLock is another of LifeLock’s benefits in that if your wallet ever goes missing or is stolen, Life Lock will contact each credit card, bank or document issuing company, cancel your accounts and complete all the paperwork and necessary steps to replace your lost cards and documents.
eReconTM
This is a new service introduced by LifeLock. What it does is patrols the Internet and monitors over 10,000 websites, bulletin boards and chat rooms that are frequent by identity thieves to illegally sell and trade identities. What Lifelock does is notify their member subscribers by phone if their information is found on these sites.
TrueAddressTM
Another new feature/service provided by LifeLock to their new and existing subscriber base. According to the United states Postal Service, 45 million change-of-address forms are filed annually and these forms are used by Identity thieves to obtain people's personal information. Subscriber's are notified by LifeLock everytime a new address information is associated with their name in address databases nationwide.
The key to protecting your identity is minimizing the head start available to the thieves. Most victims of identity theft don't realize it for many months, and after substantial damage has been caused to their credit and finances.
This is where LifeLock appears to standout above the rest. The focus on upfront prevention versus after the fact monitoring and recovery can give you substantial peace of mind knowing that your credit and your good credit standing that you worked so hard for are secure.
Then there’s that million dollar total service guarantee. If an identity is ever stolen while a LifeLock program membership is in effect, LifeLock will fix all issues arising from the theft and will reimburse any out of pocket expenses lost up to $1 million dollars.
Click here to enroll with LifeLock - use promo code Savings for your discounted price plus 30 days Free.
Trusted ID - Proactive approach and very reliable.
The cost of Identity Theft is over 50 Million US Dollars each year and rising. Identity theft costs both the government and individuals huge amounts of money and opens new concerns about the crime and its occasional link to terrorism.
Many believe identity theft is isolated and not a threat at all, in fact most people believe that it just couldn’t happen to them. Until it does.
Trusted ID is a new Identity theft and credit-monitoring company that claims to provide "the only complete solution for protecting your identity." Trusted ID provides a proactive prevention of identity theft. Basically what they do best is freeze your credit.
» read more
What does Trusted ID do that other credit protections don't?
Trusted ID is really pushing its "ID Freeze" product. The major advantage with ID Freeze is a Lender Double check, that prevents the lender from offering new credit unless they verify the user's identity via phone or e-mail first. You can freeze your credit yourself and lenders should contact you prior to offering any new credit you just need to notify the major bureaus involve, but why bother doing this where you can hire a company like TrustedID to do the job for you plus they back it up with $1,000,000 warranty.
ID Freeze also offers to its clients the ability to lock credit, preventing new accounts from being opened in their name. This may only work in certain states, however, due to various legislations. So, if you’re considering using Trusted ID’s product, do so with the guidance of someone who knows your state’s laws.
Many of the other services Trusted ID offers, like credit monitoring, identity theft insurance, and an "opt-out" program, are also offered for free or as part of services from major credit bureaus.
Here’s a summary of services that TrustedID offers for a minimal cost:
- Proactive Identity Protection
- ID Freeze
- Junk mail reduction
- Black market internet monitoring
- Enhanced lost wallet protection
- Free Annual Credit Reports
- $1000,000 service warranty
- Bank account scanning
- Credit card number scanning
- Anti-spyware protection
- Social Security Number scanning
- Name and address scanning
- Medical benefits protection
- 24/7 On call protection specialist
Trusted ID does enable the user to cover all the different bureaus at once, which is a good point as the major bureaus sometimes have communication problems. However, whether Trusted ID this is worth the money is a choice for the consumer, if you have a bit of time on your hands you could easily do the same job yourself, but remember that a credit freeze last 90 days and then you have to renew it again. Again, why bother to do it yourself. Leave it to the pros so they say.
Learn more about TrustedID
Identity Guard
With identity theft continuing to devastate lives and cause headaches for government security, the fight back against fraud, and the crooks who do it, is on the rise too. Identity Guard Total Protection monitors the internet, as well as Public Records, to offer its clients a strong protection package.
The total protection package offered by Identity Guard combines surveillance of internet back alleys and financial black markets, watching that your details don‘t pop up for sale.
In addition to this, Identity Guard gives you all the usual stuff like collating and communication information from all three national credit reporting agencies. This ensures that no new accounts will be created in your name without the provider contacting you first to ensure there’s no instances of fraud.» read more
At Risk from the Internet?
Identity Guard’s angle with internet security may give it a niche market of concerned consumers, supplying them with something they can’t get elsewhere. The internet is prone to thieves who thrive of the complacency of its users. Phishing, pharming and other internet scams are a big concern for some people.
The service is aimed at travelers, users of wireless internet, individuals of high net worth, public figures, as well as anyone who is concerned about identity theft.
A lot of people recognize the behaviors put them at risk of criminals stealing their information, but at the same time, they don't want to sacrifice the convenience and productivity of things like internet transactions and communication. Identity Guard offers preventive measures that may suit your modern lifestyle.
It’s a stretch to assume that all of the online back alleys and chat rooms that deal in stolen cards and identities can be monitored, but it may be relevant to some people who are very concerned about this type of identity theft and fraud.
People should be concerned, too. Many victims have had to spend thousands of dollars and hours attempting to rescue their credit and possessions after being struck by identity theft. Many suffer the affects for years afterwards and some people even face jail for the crimes of other people. Identity theft can shatter a person's life, both financially and emotionally.
Learn more about IdentityGuard
Identity Truth
Take a look through Identity Truth’s website and it will tell you that 200 million personal data records were lost or exposed in the US over the last two years. That’s a startling revelation that is aimed to shock readers and it does exactly that.
It also says that identity theft strikes 1 in 4 households and that identity theft crime costs an estimated 6.4 billion each year. This fraud is an epidemic and destroys relationships and even lives in the process.» read more
Identity Truth tries to go beyond just credit report monitoring, taking into account public records and information sourced from the world wide web. Identitytruth.com uses a powerful and sophisticated web crawler technology to search the web for information that might compromise a client’s identity. They search through billions of data points from many different sources to provide their clients the earliest possible detection and notification when a theft occurs.
The company promises to report suspicious past events, establish fraud alerts, attempt to predict possible future attacks allowing clients to amend high risk behavior, deliver ongoing reports about changes to a client’s credit history and reports on any ancillary data that may have impact.
Identitytruth.com also claims to to be tracking over 80 million affected Americans and does offers service insurance guarantee through AIG. Prices start at 9.99 per month with a 3 month minimum.
Conclusion
Identity truth is an interesting approach to preventing identity fraud and one that many people will flock to. It’s a scary world we live in and it will continue to advance into an even-scarier direction in the future.
