It uses the industry’s gold standard for identity monitoring, 350 billion identity records, 24/7.  Plus they say they add 1 billion of their own private data to the mix.  Then it monitors your name and personal info in hacker chat rooms, just like LifeLock and the others.

The new twist they add is what they call the WebShredder.  It goes out, seeks your personal info on the web, and helps you delete anything you don’t want.

Their million dollar insurance, if you read the fine print, appears to be the best in the industry.  It even includes insurance on lost/stolen ATM cash.  How’s that for added security?  And unlike LifeLock, this is a real insurance policy that they will spend real money on doing whatever it takes to restore your identity  Finally, they use qualified, trained restoration specialists.

If you have an iPhone, GoMobileProtection is the way to go.  If you don’t have an iPhone but you are using one of the other services, your savings from GoMobileProtection could probably cover the cost of your switching to an iPhone.

Go Mobile Protection is strongly recommended. Great product, great protection, market-beater price.  A best buy.

- Triple bureau credit reports

- Credit score right from the credit bureau

- Credit alerts daily

- Scan more than 360 billion records for identity theft

- Remove your personal information from the web

- Full guarantee, including lost wages

This is the best coverage you can buy.  Were it not for the price, My Safe Credit would be the top product.  But if you can afford it, it’s by far the safest way to get protection.

They, along with a couple other top-rated products here, scan hundreds of billions of records for identity theft you don’t even know about.  In some cases, this can pick up identity theft before it has even occurred!

The first two things they’ll do for you are the free things you can do yourself:

• Opt-out of pre-approved offers which will reduce the amount of junk mail you get
• Order your free annual credit reports

That’s just the beginning.

They, along with a couple other top-rated products here, scan hundreds of billions of records for identity theft you don’t even know about.  In some cases, this can pick up identity theft before it has even occurred!

No identity theft protection plan is complete unless it includes an internet scanning service that looks for your personal information being bought, sold or traded in chat rooms, forums and the internet’s ‘back alleys’. There is a huge black market of hackers and thieves making a living off stolen identities.

LifeLock has a patented service called eRecon™ that takes care of this scanning for you. eRecon™ scours known criminal websites for the illegal selling or trading of your personal information (including your Social Security number, credit card number, driver’s license and email address, if provided) and informs you when something is found.

Many times identity thieves will change your address as part of their plan to steal your identity. TrueAddress™ is a service that notifies you when it detects any new address information associated with your name in address databases nationwide. This helps alert you if a criminal has changed your address to steal mail and obtain your financial information.

A lost or stolen wallet can easily turn into a nightmare. A thief now has access to your driver’s license, credit cards, health insurance card, social security card, checkbook and anything else you carry. LifeLock has a service called WalletLock™ to help you out.

If ever your wallet goes missing, just give them a call – anytime, anywhere – and a WalletLock specialist will help you 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.

The meat and bones behind the package is LifeLock’s one million dollar total service guarantee which they pioneered. As a LifeLock member, if you become a victim of identity theft because of a failure in their service, they’ll help fix it at their expense, up to $1,000,000. (Restrictions apply. See lifelock.com for details). LifeLock promises to do whatever it takes to recover your good name and will spend up to $1,000,000 on attorneys, accountants, case managers, investigators, or whatever professionals you need to accomplish this. Unlike other services where you hire these professionals yourself, do the leg work and the company “assists” you in cleaning up the mess, LifeLock is, once again, proactive and takes the steps necessary to help you recover.

Because no identity theft protection plan is ever 100% guaranteed, LifeLock has a $1million total service guarantee. If your Identity is stolen while you are a member of LifeLock, they’ll do whatever it takes to recover your good name. If you need lawyers, they’ll hire the best they can find. If you need investigators, accountants, case managers, whatever, they’re yours. If you lose money as a result of the theft, LifeLock will give it back to you.

Does this mean that if your identity is stolen you’ll get a million bucks? No.. it means LifeLock will do whatever it takes to help you recover your good name and will spend up to $1,000,000 to do it.

It’s this service guarantee that I think is the most valuable part of LifeLock’s protection. They will take care of the recovery for you. The FTC has estimated that id theft recovery can take up to 600 hours. And sometimes it can take years years. If you’ve ever had your identity stolen or know someone who has, you know what a black hole it is to fix it on your own.

No long term contracts are required and you can cancel at any time. If you prefer, you can enroll for a year for $99. If you decide to cancel at any time, you will get a refund of the unused amount.

Experian, one of the credit bureaus, has a lawsuit as well. They are basically wanting to stop LifeLock from placing fraud alerts for consumers at the credit bureaus. Read about that Experian – LifeLock Lawsuit.

Identity Guard’s Total Protection plan is well-named. Let’s face it.. what we want from an identity theft protection plan is to be, well, totally protected.

They start you off with the same type of credit monitoring and credit scores like you get from Equifax or FreeCreditReport.com that you’d pay up to 15 bucks a month for. Identity Guard starts you off with credit monitoring.

You get:

• 3-in-1 Credit Reports – 4 times a year
• 3-in-1 Credit Scores – 4 times a year
• Daily monitoring at all 3 credit bureaus – email alerts of any changes
• Daily credit application database scans for fraudulent credit applications including: credit cards, cell phone accounts, mortgages and loans.
• In addition, the service monitors your credit report to ensure no changes have been made to your file without your knowledge. If any information changes at any of the three credit bureaus you are notified within 24 hours.

Identity theft is more than just credit fraud. According to the FTC, 41% of identity theft is related to credit fraud – including credit/debit cards, bank accounts, loans, etc. This means that  59% of identity theft is non-credit related including fraudulent use of medical/health insurance, driver’s license information, tax information, employee ID number, student ID number and financial aid. With that in mind, they have a patented scanning technology that scours the internet’s back alleys and chat rooms. There’s a huge black market identity thieves use to trade, sell and exchange stolen identities.

You get:

• Daily surveillance of the Internet’s financial black markets
• Alerts if your social security number, registered credit cards or bank account numbers are being traded, exchanged or sold.

There are still more places Identity Guard goes to look for your personal information – Public Records. Changes can be normal but they can also indicate identity theft. Because these records are public, they can cause you to be denied credit or employment if you have negative info.

You get:

• Public Records monitoring services looking for changes.
• Access to your personal public info in a conveniently organized single report.

Nothing is 100% guaranteed to be able to stop a determined identity thief. So just in case your identity does get stolen or a thief had your info before you enrolled, you get:

• $1,000,000 Identity Theft Insurance that will cover any legal fees or lost wages you may incur during the recovery process.
• Dedicated Identity Theft Recovery Unit that guides you through the process of recovery
• Unlimited toll-free personal customer service who will assist you in contacting creditors, reporting agencies and law enforcement to help clear your name
• Personal ID Risk Assessment® to analyze your vulnerability

This is where the usual identity theft protection plans stop. But Total Protection still has a lot more to offer.

Ever lost your wallet or had it stolen? A thief doesn’t just have your account numbers, now they have your actual credit cards, driver’s license, health insurance card, social security card and basically everything they need to impersonate you. To minimize the damage, you need to contact all your accounts to notify them and make changes. With Total Protection, just make one call and they’ll help you. Plus they’ll give you access for up to $2,000 emergency cash from your account.

Many of the virus/spyware programs are designed to keep track of every keystroke you make. It doesn’t matter how fast you type – they can easily keep up. The logs they create are then sent to the hackers who are in charge of the bots. Now they have your username and password for all your accounts – including bank and credit card accounts. Identity Guard’s Total Protection includes a solution for you on your home computer and also when you’re especially vulnerable traveling and using wi-fi hotspots.

You get:

• ZoneAlarm® Internet Security Suite with daily updates
• PrivacyProtect® anti-keylogging software to encrypt every keystroke you make. Surf the internet with an added layer of security.
• Mobile Lockbox SM for your cell phone, PDA or PC – gives you secure storage and access to your personal records and financial accounts. Safely access your personal information from anywhere.

Identity Guard offers actual Identity Theft Insurance as opposed to a million dollar warranty or service guarantee. This is somewhat different than what you see with LifeLock or Trusted ID. This is an insurance policy that covers your related expenses to repair any identity theft – it has a $250 deductible.

Overall, Identity Guard’s Total Protection is the most comprehensive identity theft protection plan you’ll find. Besides protecting you at home and on the road, it also lets you monitor your credit.

Identity Guard is owned by Intersections, Inc., a publicly traded corporation that is protecting over 8 million identities.   They have been in business since 1996 with a long track record of reliability.  They have protected more than thirty million customers and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia. It offers solutions to businesses worldwide, and Identity Guard is just one of many products they have developed in this area.

Here’s how TrustedID works.

They put a fraud alert on your credit files and keep it renewed. This feature is named “Lender DoubleCheck™”. The fraud alert requests that any lenders call you at the number you have provided to be sure it’s really you applying for new credit.

You can also choose to use their “CreditLock™” service which will place a security freeze on your credit files. This freeze runs an additional $10 at each credit bureau. You also have to pay the $10 at each bureau to unlock your files if you want to get any new accounts yourself. TrustedID will manage this for you for the additional fee. It can be a real handy feature to have because if you lose your PIN on the freeze, it’s time-consuming to remove.

They’ll opt you out of getting pre-approved credit offers. It’s really nice when all that junk mail stops. In the past, I’d get 3 or 4 offers a week from the same bank!

You’ll also get a Confidential Credit® Three Bureau Credit report. Review it carefully to be sure your identity has not been compromised.

Credit card monitoring is included, too. TrustedID monitors your credit card numbers to be sure they haven’t been stolen. If something suspicious is found, you’ll get and immediate email alert. They also scan the internet black markets looking for misuse of your name, address, DOB, Social Security number and bank account numbers.

There are specialists who will help you check for medical fraud by reviewing your medical benefit statements to be sure no one is pretending to be you. Same kind of help with your annual Social Security statements, too. It’s become common for illegal immigrants to use a fake SSN and then you wind up owing the taxes on income you didn’t earn.

To keep hackers and malicious programs from stealing passwords and account numbers out of your computer, you get free Anti-Spyware software that you can put on up to 3 computers. It updates constantly as long as you have  your TrustedID membership. This type of anti-spyware program is usually about $30 a month.

This service has a $1,000,000 Warranty to cover out of pocket costs if your identity is stolen. They will remiburse you for legal fees, lost wages and other expenses up to a million dollars.

Store your important information with TrustedID—credit and debit card numbers, insurance information, and more—and if you ever lose your wallet or need access to your information, just call their personal protection specialists. They’ll help you cancel your cards and replace them as quickly as possible.

If your identity is stolen while being a member, you’ll get a “TrustedID Claim Kit” – an information package that describes the resolution process and has educational articles. TrustedID will notify your creditors of identity fraud for you, notify the FTC and create and maintain a case file to document your identity fraud.

As it stands, credit card companies have permission to check your credit report to send you preapproved credit offers. As part of standard service, TrustedID will remove your name and information from solicitors’ lists so that you will no longer receive these offers and third parties will not have access to your private credit information. The service will also reduce other types of junk mail.

You can enroll with Trusted ID individually or sign-up with their family plan. The family plan is a good deal because it covers all adults and children living at the same address even if it’s your parents or other family members.

TrustedID offers a service warranty of up to a million dollars if identity theft does occur while you’re using the service. This money can be used to cover expenses you incur in recovering your good name, such as application fees for new credit, legal fees, and any missed work due to problems with your employment qualifications or need to restore your identity. Lost wages are paid to a maximum of 4 weeks or $5,000. You will also gain access to professional company-provided services to help you restore your identity as quickly and efficiently as possible.

• 30 day FREE Trial
• Individual cost is $10 per month or $99 per year
• Family cost is $19.99 per month or $189.99 per year

Trusted ID does many of the things you can do yourself for free: place fraud alerts, opt-out of pre-approved credit offers and gives you an annual credit report. But I like that because it’s one less thing for me to remember to do. Kinda like buying fruit already cut up at the store.

They offer plenty of help if you should become an identity theft victim but you’re required to do most of the work yourself. Their warranty will cover lost wages if you have to go to court or miss work to restore your identity.

You can cancel your monthly plan at any time. If you have the yearly plan and cancel within the first 6 months, you’ll get a 50% refund. If it’s after 6 months, you won’t get any refund.

If you have a family with kids and/or extra adult family members, it’s the best priced protection out there.

Simply put, their services look in every nook and cranny to stop an identity thief before he gets his hooks on your information. If a thief does manage to steal your identity, ID Watchdog gives you their 100% Guarantee that they will restore your identity back to the way it was before the theft. No matter how much it cost or how long it takes, they won’t stop until they have reversed all damages to your personal records.

ID Watchdog, a publicly traded company, is an identity theft protection service that helps prevent your personal information and your accounts, like your Social Security number or credit accounts, from being taken over or changed by identity thieves.

They scan 1000’s of databases once a month looking for changes in your information. Databases like:

• Criminal Records
• Utilities
• Address Changes
• Mail drop boxes and centers
• Driving License and driving history
• Vehicle Registration
• Homeland Security Watch Lists
• SSN use
• SSA Death Index monitoring
• Corporations and Business filings
• Name changes
• Pilot, aircraft and boat registrations
• Bankruptcy, leins or judgements
• Public databases
• Lexus Nexus
• Changes in your credit history

ID Watchdog sends you an email every month with the results of their scans. You log into your dashboard and check to see if there are any changes. It’s just that simple.

If your identity has been compromised, a thief won’t get too far with it because it will be caught early. At that point, ID Watchdog’s service guarantee will kick in and do the work to reverse any damage. They’ve even gone to court for their clients.

ID Watchdog is the only service that can detect identity theft from all points of vulnerability. It differentiates itself from other monitoring services since it doesn’t only scan credit records. In addition to credit records the company has the ability to check the DMV, medical records, utilities, credit bureaus, government databases and more to provide a more thorough evaluation of whether thieves have been handling your information. IDWatchdog scan 1000’s of databases monthly and is the only one of two companies that has Pay Day Loan monitoring

The cost of their service is $19.95 a month or $180 per year.

People who are already enrolled in ID Watchdog can use the service free of charge. People who have only gotten as far as their first Baseline Profile, just enrolled, and find mistakes on their baseline profile are documented as having a “preexisting condition” and are subject to a one time fee of $99.95 for the ID Snapshot. Don’t worry, ID Watchdog’s unique ability to tell you if you are already a victim or about to become one is highly accurate and the $99.95 will be about the best money you could possibly spend as it will give you, and them, a true picture of the damage that has been done. After receiving you ID Snapshot victims can then pay for and avail themselves of the ID Rehab service to restore their good name and standing. Identity Theft Labs advises you to place a fraud alert on your credit accounts at this point if you have not done so already.

If you’re looking for complete scanning features and a company who will do any and all recovery services plus guarantee their work, ID Watchdog is the best choice.

Has My Information Been Compromised?

When your personally identifiable information, or PII for short, is compromised, that means that it has been disclosed accidentally or on purpose without your consent. Often this happens because you responded to a phishing email, were the victim of a data breach, had something containing your information stolen, or a company you do business with leaked it.

Note that this is not the same as having identity theft committed against you. At this point, you can still take steps to prevent someone from actually using your information – even if this person has access to it. In fact, you may even be able to stop a criminal from selling it if you hire a company like LifeLock or Trusted ID.

Criminals, PII are you sure? Yes, according to Wikipedia “PII can be exploited by criminals to stalk or steal the identity of a person, or to plan a person’s murder or robbery, among other crimes.” Of course, the most common reason is identity theft, so if your information was compromised in such a way that you legitimately believe that you may become a victim of identity theft then the FACT Act gives you the right to place fraud alerts on your account thru the 3 major credit bureaus… Experian, Equifax and Trans Union.

So What Else Should You Do?

The first step is to close the financial accounts that you know have been compromised. If you’re not sure if they have been compromised or not, change the account passwords and monitor them closely by checking your statements and credit report. Any doubt? Get rid of them. Your bank should understand you need a new account number.

If your problem is with a government ID, like a driver’s license or a passport, contact the issuing agency in regards to having the documentation canceled and replaced. Since you are not proven to be a victim of identity theft, note that there may be charges for some of these services.

Order and begin a vigilant review of your credit reports.

One of the great things about holding an identity theft protection plan is that oftentimes you don’t have to worry about going through all these steps yourself. Nor do you have to worry so much about monitoring the use of your credit for fraud. A good plan will do that for you. A good plan will also help protect you from identity theft in many other ways. The more worried you are about your information getting into the wrong hands the more seriously you should consider purchasing one of these.

Start this year off smart with a new financial plan, and see just how good of a fit an identity protection service can be for your budget. It could end up saving you thousands of dollars. Not to mention a whole ton of agony and your valuable time.

View full post on Compare Identity Theft Protection Services from LifeLock, Identity Guard and TrustedID

Identity theft happens a lot – and I mean a lot … we’re talking about nine million American victims every year. But have you ever thought about why it is so common? What do these crooks do with all that personal information anyway? Lots of different things, here are a few:

**They commit credit card fraud.
With a credit card in hand, with your name and address attached to it, they can charge as much as they want and never pay it off. When they default on their bills, it is your credit rating that takes a hit, and it’s you who has to hear from the collection agencies over and over.

If they don’t want to go through the trouble of creating a new account, they may just charge up your existing account – after changing the billing address on it, so you won’t know unless you regularly check your statements online or read your credit report. Or, if you have an identity theft protection plan.

**They get free utilities.
Opening an account in your name is a great way to save on telephone, Internet, electric, gas and cable service – especially if the plan is to relocate every couple of months. However, such theft has been known to go on for years, simply because the victim wasn’t paying attention, and the utility provider was not swift with recovering lost income.

**They get discounted banking service.
Using your information, they get loans that they never have to pay back, checking accounts using counterfeit checks, cash advances on credit cards tied to you – and more. Again, your credit takes the hit, and you could find yourself thousands of dollars in the hole while the thief enjoys his new yacht.

**They make “you” commit federal crimes.
Making fake IDs to cross the border, filing for government benefits you qualify for and even taking your tax refunds, and sometimes claiming fake dependents to get more money – all in a day’s work for the right identity thief. They can even use your Social Security number to gain employment or medical car. And if they commit a major crime, they can have it pinned to you, by confessing your name and then not appearing for trial.

**They buy things with your credit or funds.
Yes, material things are a huge desire of many identity thieves whether its a car, big screen TV, or an Apple Iphone and if they can’t use your funds they will certainly use your credit. But don’t expect them to make those monthly payments or improve your credit score.

An identity thief can make a pretty good life out of pretending to be you – and likely many others simultaneously. Sadly, the results are exactly opposite for you. And though the outlook isn’t quite so rosy for the thief when he faces jail time, fines and other punishment it is unfortunately far to rare that they are caught and convicted. An identity theft protection policy can help protect you from becoming a victim of such crimes – and if such a crime does occur it can assist in the process of restoring your identity and occasionally in justice being served.

View full post on Compare Identity Theft Protection Services from LifeLock, Identity Guard and TrustedID