Identity Guard Review

Identity Guard is the best credit monitoring service and one of the best credit protection companies. They do an outstanding job in making sure your information is not being sold illegally over the Internet or changed fraudulently in databases. There are three products included in the company’s identity theft insurance plan: credit account protection, Web monitoring and security software.

Identity Guard’s credit account protection is more than comprehensive. Instead of simply placing a fraud alerts on your credit file, Identity Guard tries to stop unauthorized use of your personal information before it occurs. This service includes a search for applications of credit in your name, such as credit cards or loans, as well as a search for applications for other accounts, like cell phone registrations. This application search takes place on a daily basis. In addition, the service monitors your credit report to ensure no changes have been made to your file without your knowledge.

If any changes are made to one or more of your credit accounts at any of the three credit bureaus, Identity Guard will send you an email within 24 hours of the change so that you can quickly block and/or close the accounts and report the matter to the authorities. In our opinion daily three bureau credit monitoring is a must have for any monitoring service. By utilizing Mobile Lockbox (see below), you can choose to be alerted of any changes via text message. Every quarter you will receive a copy of your credit report and credit score from each of the three bureaus at no extra charge in order to scan it for inaccuracies. There is also a simulator for those looking to improve their credit score that allows them to see how different scenarios affect their credit score.

With its Web monitoring service, Identity Guard will scour the Internet far and wide to see if your information is being released or shared by identity thieves. This is possible because the service scans the online markets and channels used most often for the illegal trading and distribution of personal information.

The company will also check public records databases for inaccurate information regarding your accounts, which may occur because a thief has compromised your information or may simply be errors, but either way, you can correct them in a timely fashion. In other words, you will be alerted to all changes to your sensitive information to help you stop identity thieves before they start opening accounts.

Identity Guard’s security software is known as ZoneAlarm. It was created to target identity thieves who try to install software on your computer through websites or emails or who con you into sending them your personal information through spoofed web pages. It has the capability to block viruses, spyware and fraudulent emails to protect you from phishing attacks, hackers and malicious spam. The software is updated regularly as new viruses and phishing attacks are created. ZoneAlarm is just as effective as McAfee and Norton internet security suites so you are in effect saving $50 per year by not having to purchase those products and it doesn’t hog all your system resources like Norton does. In other words your computer will run faster.

In addition to the above services, Identity Guard Total Protection offers two more services to give you more convenience and peace of mind: PrivacyProtect and Mobile Lockbox.

PrivacyProtect is another Web security product that can protect your personal information. Some of the more high-tech identity thieves can steal your personal information by remotely installing software on your machine that records your keystrokes as you type in personal information. You may already have this spyware on your machine without even knowing it. Once your machine is protected with PrivacyProtect software, your keystrokes will be encrypted. So even if he is recording your keystrokes, all the spy will see – and be able to copy – is gobbledygook.

Mobile Lockbox is a program that can help you safely store user names and passwords. Since the most secure passwords and user names can be complicated and difficult to remember, this service gives you a trusted place to keep them without writing them down while still allowing you to access them at your fingertips. All you need is a cell phone, PDA or computer to “lock up” your account numbers, passwords, files, records and other sensitive information. Plus, with all of this information in one place, it’s easy to cancel all of your accounts if you find that they have been compromised or if your wallet or purse is lost or stolen. Just give Identity Guard a call and it is taken care of all at one time.

Identity Guard goes even further to protect your identity if you find that you have been victimized. If unauthorized changes to your accounts, or any other event for that matter, turns out to be the result of identity theft, the Identity Guard service will assist you through the entire process of recovery.

The service will also provide you with coverage of $1,000,000 with no deductible for unauthorized fund loss, legal defense, lost wages and costs or expenses you may incur to recover your identity and restore your accounts. Some restrictions ($1000/week up to 4 weeks for lost wages for example) do apply so please see IdentityGuard.com for the details of the insurance policy.

To prevent identity theft from happening again, should it occur, the Personal ID Risk Assessment product will help you and Identity Guard determine which of your accounts and personal information are the most at risk and concentrate their protection efforts in these areas.

With its credit monitoring and comprehensive online protection, Identity Guard is the perfect weapon against 21st century thieves. With over 10 million identity theft victims per year, they are a great partner to have on your side. It’s much better to be protected than to end up in those statistics.

Identity Guard is offering their Total Protection plan for $17.99 a month with a 30-day no-obligation trial period. Protect yourself from identity theft today with Identity Guard.