Identity Theft Labs was created to help you choose the service that is right for you!

Our professional reviews of identity protection services earned us a stellar reputation as the leading and most trusted source and though we have extensively researched dozens of services we have concluded that the best identity theft protection companies are LifeLock, IDENTITY GUARD® and TrustedID. Compare them today and save!

Compare
Fraud Detection
Database Monitoring	1000′s	1000′s	1000′s	1000′s
Bank Account Alerts	Ultimate Only
Daily 3 Bureau Credit Monitoring	LifeLock Utlimate		ID Essentials
Scans Black Market (see Dateline video below chart)	Credit Card Social Security Bank Account Name and Address	Credit Card Social Security Bank Account	Credit Card Social Security Bank Account Name and Address	Credit Card Social Security Bank Account Name and Address
Credit Card Monitoring
3 Bureau Credit Reports
3 Bureau Credit Score	Ultimate		IDEssentials
Identity Theft Insurance	$1,000,000 service guarantee plus insurance backed by State National Insurance	$1,000,000 service warranty backed by AIG*	$1,000,000 service warranty backed by AIG and Lloyd’s of London	$1,000,000 service warranty backed by AIG and Lloyd’s of London
Lost Wages Covered	$200/day for 1 month $6000 Max.	$1000/week Max. 4 weeks	Max. 4 weeks and Max. $5000	Max. 4 weeks and Max. $5000
Recovery Services
Public Records
Name and Alias Monitoring	Ultimate
Other Benefits	Ultimate Payday Loan Monitoring Court Alerts and Records Sex Offender Registry		Medical Benefit Review Fraud Alert Reminder Identity Score	Medical Benefit Review Fraud Alert Reminder Identity Score
Internet Security	File Sharing Networks	Zone Alarm KeyLogging	Anti-Spyware Anti-Phishing KeyLogging	Anti-Spyware Anti-Phishing KeyLogging
Mail List Removal	Junk mail Pre-approved credit cards		Junk mail Pre-approved credit cards	Junk mail Pre-approved credit cards
Address Monitoring
Lost Wallet Protection
ISO 27001 Security Certification
Children’s Services	$22.50/yr	$4.99/month	Family Plan	Family Plan
Overall Rating	Best Overall	Excellent	Excellent	Excellent
Price (per year) Guaranteed Lowest Rates	LifeLock.com $110 Save 10% Every Year 30 Days Free	IDENTITY GUARD $19.99 Save 15% $16.99/month	TrustedID Save 15% $84.15/Year 14 Days Free	Suze Orman $10.42/month
Price (following years)	$99	$16.99/m	$84.15	$10.42/m
Other Plans	LifeLock Ultimate $247.50/yr		IDEssentials $125/yr	Family Plan $20/m
Promo Code	IDLABS	Not Needed	Not Needed	Not Needed
Unbiased Reviews	LifeLock	IDENTITY GUARD	TrustedID	Coming Soon
Protect Your Family Now	LifeLock Save 10% $99/year 30 Days Free	IDENTITY GUARD $16.99/m 15% OFF	TrustedID $84.15/year 14 Days Free	Suze Orman $10.42/m

To Catch an ID Thief – Dateline Exposes Internet Black Market

While millions are still asking “What is Identity theft?”, the criminals are in high gear. This must see clip from a Dateline MSNBC documentary points out the urgency of the situation.

MSNBC clip

As you can see the criminals move fast and everything from Social Security numbers, to credit cards and bank account numbers and passwords are readily available for sale in illegal internet black markets. Add to this the 120 million personal and private records that have been exposed in the last three years by data breaches and you can see why identity theft protection is something you should strongly consider purchasing today.

Protect yourself from identity theft now, before it is too late!

Learn more at LifeLock,  IDENTITY GUARD, Trusted ID, ID Watchdog or Guard Dog ID.

If you are still undecided on which service to use please read our identity theft protection reviews. Here is our LifeLock Review,  TrustedID Review and ID Watchdog Review.

LifeLock launched a new service that provides enhanced credit protection as well as protection from criminal identity theft.  Please read our LifeLock Command Center review for full details.These will help you evaluate which identity theft service is right for you, your family and the protection of your credit and good name.

If you are just looking for the best credit monitoring service, then look no further and read our IDENTITY GUARD Review. Compare our Debix Review and Protect My ID Review to find out which service is best for you.

Are you still asking yourself, Do I really need identity protection?
Read our revealing article on Identity Protection and learn about your options.

Identity Theft Labs also wants to make you are aware of a few other tools, two that help stop identity theft and one that can indicate you have become a victim. The first is a fraud alert. Essentially a fraud alert requires creditors to take reasonable measures to verify your identity before approving any credit requests.  This is often done by calling you at the number you place in your credit file beside the alert. Fraud alerts have to be renewed every 90 days unless you are already a victim and can provide proof to the credit bureaus, at which time they will extend it to 7 years.

Credit protection services such as LifeLock, TrustedID and Debix are no longer legally allowed to place these on your behalf. We still recommend you place a fraud alert on your credit file even though you have signed up with an identity protection service if your situation meets the spirit of the Fact Act in that you have a “good faith suspicion” (in other words you believe) “that you have or are about to become a victim of fraud or related crime including identity theft”. Fraud Alerts are a good tool to add to your arsenal as they help stop new credit accounts from being opened in your name.  They don’t protect your existing accounts. Fraud alerts are free.

The second tool is to order and review your credit reports. You can order them for free from Annual Credit Report the only government mandated site and the only truly free service.  This is what LifeLock and TrustedID do on your behalf. Some experts recommend you stagger the reports, one from each bureau every four months, so that your never go too long without being notified of an identity theft situation.  We agree, with the following caveat, if you suspect identity theft we suggest ordering all of them as all issues don’t always populate across all three reports or bureaus. Of course, it should also be noted that ordering them does nothing at all unless you vigilantly review the information and investigate any suspicious activity.

The third tool is called a credit freeze. Their is a fee that varies depending on which state you live in and the fee is payable to each of the three main bureaus. For most states the fee is $10 per bureau so it will cost you $30 minimum (there may be some incidentals such as postage – Don’t use regular mail). A credit freeze does exactly that, it freezes your credit accounts.  Creditors have no access to it and you won’t either, so if you want to finance a car or get a new credit card you will have to unfreeze your account which incurs another fee. After you have acquired the car and no longer need access to your credit then you can freeze your credit again. A credit freeze offers better identity theft protection than a fraud alert but has a far greater inconvenience and cost.

Credit freezes or fraud alerts can be placed at the 3 main credit bureaus which can be found on our resources page. You can also find their addresses and phone numbers on our Stolen Wallet, Lost Purse page.  Unfortunately, the bureaus are not noted for their customer service so you may want to keep that in mind when phoning.

Remember, don’t bury you head in the sand in regards to identity theft.  The fact that you are here signifies that you wont.  A lot of people fail to take any action and far too many end up regretting it, just ask the 10 million American identity theft victims each year.

Regardless of your identity protection choice, whether it be do-it-yourself, an identity protection company, credit monitoring or some combination of these, the important thing is that you take action to protect yourself and your loved ones. Identity theft costs our economy $50 billion a year and an untold amount of personal crisis and despair. Take action today and enjoy the peace of mind that comes when you know your credit and identity are protected.

Be safe, take action now.

Don’t forget to read our blog on identity theft prevention for identity theft statistics, identity theft tips and articles and industry news about Lifelock, TrustedID, IDENTITY GUARD and Debix.

RE: Identity Guard Insurance
*Reimbursement will be provided by insurance carrier. Insurance is underwritten by insurance company subsidiaries or affiliates of Chartis Inc. 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.