ID Theft Prevention Service Reviews

Since you want the best identity theft protection possible, to prevent identity theft, IdentityFort.com has looked into some of the better-known ID theft monitoring companies out there and has thinned down the list to the companies which we feel are the most solid and provide the best coverage and benefits.

We have done extensive research on each of the following ID theft monitoring companies in the hopes of providing you, the reader, with the data you need to make the best choice.

Equifax

The Ad:

What you get for $12.95 a month:

* Daily monitoring of all 3 credit reports with customizable alerts of any key changes.

* Immediate online access to line-by-line comparisons of your 3 nationwide credit reports

* Free 3-in-1 Credit Report and unlimited access to your Equifax Credit Report

Customer Support: Customer care and fraud specialists available 24/7

Optional services: Wireless alerts and family protection packages

Insurance: Up to $20,000 identity theft insurance with no deductible

Our rating? 4 1/2 out of 5

– Equifax is one of the big daddies of credit reporting companies, being in the business for decades. Their ID theft customer service is excellent, with 24 hour customer service available by phone or the Internet. Customizable wireless alerts are available. The ability to get access to your credit report anytime you like is a fantastic feature you can use to prevent identity theft, and is a feature to be expected when you’re dealing with an actual credit bureau. The only problem that we have with Equifax’s credit monitoring service is their relatively anemic insurance coverage, which is stuck at $20,000 and has been for quite some time. Still, Equifax provides excellent identity theft protection at a good price.

Trusted ID

The Ad:

What you get for $12.95 a month (or $109.95 annually if pre-paid):

* Allows you to freeze or unfreeze your accounts with all three credit bureaus at once, from the Internet

* Works with CardCops, a company that uses proprietary search techniques to roam the internet’s newsgroups, search engines, and chat rooms looking for insecure personal and financial information on consumers

* Requires merchants to double-check your identity when issuing credit

Customer Support: They prefer that you reach them by e-mail, but they do have phone support if you dig hard enough

Optional services: Prevention of pre-approved credit card offers (free)

Insurance: $1,000,000 ID theft insurance with a $250 deductible

Our rating? 3 1/2 out of 5

– Trusted ID is a well-known ID theft protection company who do exactly what they say they do – lock up access to your credit from any ID thieves who might want to get at it. The fact that Trusted ID works in conjunction with CardCops is a bonus, but isn’t necessarily as huge a factor in preventing identity theft as having daily access to your credit report is. The million-dollar insurance policy is nice, but what’s with the $250 deductible? Trusted ID does offer good identity theft protection, but it’s not the best way to prevent identity theft that we’ve found.

LifeLock

The Ad:

What you get for $10 a month (or $109 annually if pre-paid)

* Automatic renewals on credit freezes

* Automatic opting out of pre-approved credit offers

* Automatically pulls 3 credit reports a year and has them mailed directly to you

* Walletlock ID theft protection: If you lose your wallet, call LifeLock 24/7. A WalletLock specialist will contact each credit card, bank or document issuing company, cancel your affected accounts and complete the paperwork and steps necessary to replace your lost documents, including your credit/debit cards, driver’s license, social security card, insurance cards, checkbook – even travelers checks – at no additional cost

Customer Support: 24 hour, 7-day-a-week telephone support, with different departments providing different specialty services

Optional services: Identity theft protection for children for $2.50 a month

Insurance: $1,000,000 ID theft insurance with no deductible. LifeLock will actually hire attorneys, investigators and accountants for you if the situation requires it.

Our rating? 5 out of 5

– LifeLock has what we consider the strongest product of any of the identity theft protection service companies we’ve seen. Their customer service is excellent, the cost of the service itself is low, and they have that fantastic WalletLock service. Lifelock is also the only identity theft protection service that offers to protect your children’s identities.

While LifeLock does not provide daily access to your credit report, many people don’t have time to look through that every single day to see if something has changed. That is, after all, what we’re paying these identity theft protection service companies to do – protect us.

The bottom line is that if you’re concerned about ID theft, and you’re looking for identity theft protection, LifeLock is the best way that we’ve found to prevent identity theft.