Best Identity Theft Protection Services
Get the best identity theft protection while avoiding services that still leave you exposed.
ID protection companies use technology to protect their customer’s identities. So getting the best protection comes down to finding the company with the best technology.
And that’s what we help you do.
Every month, we compare the technology, amount of protection, and pricing for the top firms in the industry.
Then we share the results with you.
Below, see which companies came out on top and why.
The Best Identity Theft Protection of 2021
Companies are carefully chosen by our editorial team. If you click on a link, we may receive a referral fee. Learn more.
Identity Guard® protects people both online and offline.
They give you strong, up-to-date technology that helps adapt to threats over time.
And they are the only company using IBM® Watson™ to help consumers fight ID theft. That’s a big advantage not seen in any other company.
And it means your protection gets better and better over time as it adapts to what the crooks are doing at the moment.
You don’t have to worry about slow or outdated technology. On top of the first-class protection, you also get prompt alerts when they detect something.
Knowing about a threat as soon as possible is at the core of a good identity protection service. Identity Guard gives you that.
Combine all of this with the fact that they have great pricing, and it’s no wonder they have become so popular in such a short amount of time.
They offer 3 types of plans for different budgets and needs.
The cost of these plans is less than what most other firms charge. Yet they give you all the protections those other companies offer and so much more.
Their advanced technology, competitive pricing, and credit report monitoring are just a few of the reasons why they are ranked so high by so many people.
Read our full Identity Guard review.
Why should you consider Identity Force?
Because they give you very good protection at low prices.
They don’t give you extra tools you don’t need, just so they can jack up their prices.
With Identity Force, you get a comprehensive set of tools without the artificially inflated cost. Along with the great id theft protection at a great price, you also get one million dollars of identity theft insurance coverage.
Throw in the fact that they have a top-notch rating with the BBB and it’s easy to see why many people rate them so highly.
They are an excellent choice for anyone who wants great protection, without the big monthly price tag.
With their UltraSecure+Credit package, you get most of the needed monitoring tools, including the all-important credit report monitoring from the 3 credit bureaus.
The UltraSecure+Credit is the only package they offer with credit report monitoring.
So that’s the package we recommend you get if you sign up with them, because monitoring credit reports is an absolute must for protecting yourself.
See our full Identity Force review.
They too have great technology and protection at great prices.
If you choose one of their family plans, any kid under the age of 18 gets protected for free. Most other companies don’t offer that.
They combine simplicity with low cost to provide consumers with top-tier protection. Just one of their protections could end up saving you from the nightmare of identity theft.
Not only is their technology and pricing great, they also give consumers 24/7 customer service with representatives that are actually based in the U.S.
No need to give access to your personal info to a representative in another country like so many companies make you do.
Everything is U.S. based.
But great service is expected from an employee-owned company.
Whenever you call them and speak to a rep, you’re actually speaking to one of the owners of the company. So they are more motivated to give their customers great individual service.
This is part of what has made their customer service legendary in an industry known for terrible customer service.
Their high-end plan that gives you the most protections costs $12 less per month than some of the companies listed below.
That’s over $140 in savings every year.
On top of that, the prices you see listed on their site are the prices you pay. There’s no slick bait-and-switch schemes.
Everything is simple and straightforward.
ReliaShield gives you good protection, super-low pricing, and unparalleled customer service. Their protection is reliable and kicks in the minute you set up your account.
Defend yourself, your family and your future for a low monthly cost.
Read our full ReliaShied review.
When your most private and personal data is on the line, you want a team of experts with years of experience and a proven track record helping you protect that data.
You don’t want some fly-by-night company with outdated technology trying to protect your most sensitive information.
That’s why millions of Americans choose LifeLock.
LifeLock knows identity theft protection inside out and Americans feel comfortable with them.
They are one of the oldest companies in the industry with years of knowledge and experience protecting people’s identities.
On top of that, they are highly rated by identity theft experts because their technology for monitoring fraud is one of the best.
This is what makes them a popular choice for identity theft protection.
They combine technology with years of real-world experience to give consumers first-rate protection.
Not many other companies in this industry have a better combination of tools and experience than LifeLock.
The minute your account gets setup with them, their technology goes to work for you. And their million dollar Service Guarantee gets activated.
Read our full LifeLock review.
Overall, they’re reasonably priced, have an extensive list of service offerings, and have some very good educational tools.
If one of the companies above is not what you’re looking for, then IdentityIQ might be a good option.
They also offer three levels of protection.
Secure Max – this plan offers the maximum protection and includes the best IdentityIQ has to offer. You do get enhanced 3 Bureau credit report monitoring.
Secure Pro – still offers very high protection and most of the same features as above. Also, credit reports and scores are not monthly but bi-annual with this plan. That’s a big disadvantage to choosing this package. You get much weaker protection without the monthly credit reports.
Secure Plus – this plan has the lowest price and gives you the least amount of protection. Additionally, credit reports and scores are not monthly but annual with this plan. Wouldn’t make much sense to choose this option over the two listed above.
They are an up and coming company that gives consumers decent protection at a good price point.
See full IdentityIQ review.
IDWatchDog is a newer company, founded in 2005, so it doesn’t have the long-standing reputation as some of the bigger monitoring services online.
They are an online credit and financial monitoring service company.
The services offered help protect your identity (social security, DOB, address, name use, etc.) as well as your financial records, from online thefts, cybersecurity breaches, and online criminals.
They offer 2 main plans.
WatchDog Plus is the cheaper monthly service and is billed at $14.95/month.
It covers basic & advanced identity monitoring, Dark Web monitoring, customized alerts for different accounts (low balance, activity alerts, etc.)credit monitoring, and fully managed resolution services.
They monitor for possible fraud to accounts and informs customers.
The company also has an A+ rating on the BBB, and is fairly priced in a competitive industry.
WatchDog Platinum is their second and best protection that costs $19.95/month. It has all the features the WatchDog Plus monitoring offers, with the addition of the inclusion of credit scores and annual reports from the three credit reporting bureaus.
Both plans are billed monthly, and customers can cancel at any time.
They are a tier below the top 3 companies listed here.
Read our full ID Watchdog review.
Why Pay for Identity Theft Protection Services?
Your identity is the legal and financial backbone of your life.
Imagine someone getting a hold of your personal info and taking out a credit card in your name.
Or financing a car loan in your name.
Or taking out a mortgage in your name.
They can even redirect your tax refund to a different address.
Without the best identity theft protection services, you leave yourself open to all of these crimes and so much more. By stealing your identity, crooks gain access to your most private information.
No one is immune to this crime, either.
Even a smart person like Microsoft founder Bill Gates had his identity stolen. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a male or female, young or old, the crooks don’t discriminate.
Protect Against the Worst Part
The most damaging part of identity theft is when you don’t find out about the theft until weeks or months later.
By then, all the destruction has been done and you could be tens of thousands of dollars in debt with no end in sight.
Not knowing about the theft is what causes most of the damage. It’s what gives the crooks more time to wreak havoc with your money and reputation.
This is why identity theft protection services have become so popular.
Americans not only want to know what’s going on with their personal information, they want to know as soon as possible.
That’s what ID protection services give you.
They are an early warning system for detecting fraud.
They alert you to what’s happening with your personal info, so you don’t get left in the dark for weeks or months.
The best services help you avoid financial disaster by continuously monitoring your data and then warning you when they notice something suspicious happening.
They instantly multiply your protection and put you in a much stronger position to fight back against the crooks.
You get a new power and control over your personal info.
And it gives you…
Protection You’re Not Getting Right Now
Another reason why identity theft protection services have become so popular is because most Americans realize they don’t have the time to do all the protecting themselves.
There are so many different things that need to be checked and rechecked every single month.
For example, how many times this month have you checked the Dark Web to see if someone was trying to sell your personal data?
How many times have you looked to see if someone committed a crime using your identity?
And how many times this month have you checked whether someone took out a payday loan in your name?
Those are just a few of the items that need to be looked at every month.
There are so many other things that should be investigated too. But most of us just don’t have the time to check all these things ourselves.
We have jobs, family, and so many other obligations.
So checking all these different data points on a monthly basis is next to impossible for most Americans.
Identity protection services fill this void and give you the protection you’re not currently getting. They give you the kind of protection you don’t have time to give yourself or your loved ones.
With ID theft protection services, the technology does the hard work by checking and rechecking the data every month. As a result, you multiply your protection without multiplying your workload.
By contrast, not having id theft protection means you must do all the work yourself. It means you’re the one that must check all the different data points… multiple times per month.
All the detection and protection is left up to you.
That’s why, if you’re the one in charge of the family finances, adding an extra layer of protection is one of the smartest things you can do.
It eliminates a lot of the grunt work you would have to do yourself.
What are the Costs of Identity Theft Protection?
The small cost of these services is yet another reason why they have become one of the hottest new consumer finance products.
The price has made the choice easy for millions of people.
It allows anyone to add an extra layer of protection without breaking the bank every month.
But here’s a startling fact…
Did you know that we already pay money every month for things that expose our personal data?
For example, we pay $50 or more every month for a smartphone that has an internet connection.
And some of us pay $50 or more every month for an internet connection to a computer in our homes.
Then we use these internet connections to buy things and sign up for things online. As a result, our personal info gets exposed in so many different places.
So we are paying money every month to expose our personal data.
But how much are you paying to protect it?
Today, millions of Americans are paying a small monthly fee to get the protection they weren’t getting before.
They’ve realized it’s silly to continue paying $100 or more every month to expose our IDs… and not pay anything to protect them.
Especially when it costs so little to protect.
The average cost of ID protection that includes credit report monitoring from all 3 bureaus is just $23 per month.
For that small monthly fee, you increase your protection by 100%.
And you put an end to most of the worry and anxiety that comes with not knowing what’s happening with your personal information.
How to Choose the Best Services
If you choose the wrong company, you end up paying monthly fees for services that still leave your data exposed.
How can you avoid that scenario?
What’s the most important thing you can do to get the best identity protection services? Simple, find the company with the best technology.
That’s the most important thing.
Why?
Because when you sign up for id protection services, your identity gets protected by technology, not humans.
Since ID protection only cost between $20-$30 per month, companies can’t afford to pay their employees to monitor your id 24/7.
They would lose money if they did that.
Instead, they rely on technology to monitor your info.
So the technology they use is what you are really paying for.
It’s what protects you.
That’s why finding the company with the best technology becomes the most important thing.
And that’s what we help you with.
We constantly compare the technology, amount of protection, and pricing for the top companies in the industry.
We show you which company has the best technology and why.
Helping Yourself with Identity Theft Protection
More tips and tricks to keep your identity safe.
We may not be able to protect ourselves from identity theft completely. Mostly because a great deal of our personal information is stored online behind firewalls and security protocols which can be hacked.
However, we can at least make it harder for the thieves to turn us into a victim. Here are a few simple ways you can perform identity theft protection for yourself.
- Shred Documents – Before you throw your financial statements, bills, and other personally identifying information in the trash, put it through a shredder first. This way, the thieves will only ever find banana peels, old soup cans, and soggy scraps of paper.
- Safeguard your Social Security Number (SSN) – Obviously, your SSN is an attractive prize for identity thieves, so take some extra precautions to make it harder for them to get a hold of it. Avoid carrying your SSN on your person, such as in your wallet, and ask that it not be included on your driver’s license. More states are coming to the party in this regard and are using a unique number for driver’s licenses. Your SSN could also be listed on other forms of identification, such as insurance cards. This is a practice which is slowly being phased out, but you can get ahead of it by updating your cards now.
- Lock your mailbox – Put a secure lock on your mailbox. Locks can be broken, but most thieves would rather not risk discovery by spending the extra time or carrying the necessary equipment to break the device.
Protecting Your Identity Online
With just about every household conducting financial and other transactions online, the digital world has become a haven for criminals to gain access to your information through technological means.
Online transactions can make it challenging to verify that your information is safe, but reputable organizations will always make it clear that they will never ask you for sensitive information via email.
If you receive any emails or phone calls asking for personal information, do not give it out. In the case of emails, you should call the company directly.
If you have been contacted by phone and do not recognize the number, request that you call them back using a number you know is legitimate.
When an email asks you to connect to a website and log in, always make sure the links are valid. Hover the mouse cursor over the link to verify where you will end up once you click.
When you are preparing to enter personal information online, always check that the site is secure with SSL (the URL address will start with https and show a lock icon or similar).
How Identity Theft Happens
Stop id theft by learning the different ways thieves gain access to your info.
Thieves can get incredibly creative when it comes to illegally acquiring identities. A few of the more common strategies they will use to access personal information include:
- Physical Theft - It’s unsophisticated, but it works. Thieves will physically steal purses and wallets through burglary, or by pickpocketing in crowded places. They may even lift personal documents from places of employment. Stealing from your mailbox is another popular strategy for identity thieves to gain access to your personal details.
- Conning – When you deal with financial institutions, or a retailer’s billing or customer service center over the phone, they will usually force you to jump through hoops by asking you to supply personally identifying information such as a pre-arranged password, or a date of birth. Criminals can use charm and personable nature to explain their way around these security devices. The result is that you may supply personally identifying information a thief needs to complete a financial application, apply for a driver’s license, or a change of address in your name.
- Skimming – Cleverly concealed electronic devices at ATM machines can be used to capture your PIN and other credit or debit card details.
- Phishing – Phishing involves the thieves making contact via way of email and requesting you send on private information or ask you to log in to an account to fix a problem. The scam works because the emails and websites look official but are fake.
- Combing Through Your Trash – We throw out personal details into the trash every week via way of paid bills and financial statements. Sometimes, these documents contain the missing piece of the puzzle a criminal will need to finalize theft of your identity.
What’s the Bottom Line?
Only the best identity theft protection services can improve your level of protection by monitoring for illegal use of your ID, as well as provide recovery services should you become a victim.
The services achieve this by monitoring the dark web and providing alerts whenever suspicious activity is encountered.
Many protection services have such a high level of confidence in their service that they even offer insurance should you suffer a financial setback through identity fraud.
Identity theft is a severe threat we all face. A great deal of your personal information is likely already circulating through many different vendors.
There are services available which can mitigate the danger, but ultimately it is up to you to ensure your personal data is as secure as you can make it.
Having the right identity theft protection helps protect you against some of the most vicious financial crimes someone can commit in your name.
In extreme cases, the thief may even use your stolen identification to commit crimes as if you were physically present at the scene.
On top of that, you have the responsibility to clear your name and reverse the financial damage.
That’s why finding the best identity theft protection services are so important in the world we live in today.
These services help you fight back against the thieves. They help restore your reputation while getting your finances back on track.
And they give you some piece-of-mind knowing someone is keeping an eye out for fraud happening in your name.