What IS IDENTITY GUARD?

IDENTITY GUARD® Total ProtectionSM service is well-named. Let’s face it.. what we want from identity theft protection is a well-rounded protection service. This plan has earned our Editor’s Overall Best Choice of identity protection services because of its fabulous features at a low cost.

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

You get:

• Credit Scores - 4 times a year
• Daily business day monitoring at all 3 credit agencies - email alerts of changes
• Daily business day credit application database scans for fraudulent credit applications including: credit cards, cell phone accounts, mortgages and loans.

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 business day 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 Total Protection 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 legal fees or lost wages you may incur during the recovery process.
• Dedicated Identity Theft Assistance Center 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
• Simple no-nonsense disclaimer: On the slim chance that your money is stolen by identity thieves while you are a customer, you will be reimbursed the difference between your actual loss and the amount reimbursed to you by your financial institution, up to $1 million. The major stipulations are that you: report your loss within 90 days; you let them help you recover your losses, you apply for reimbursement from your financial institution.

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.

Security for your computer and PDA is vital. You absolutely HAVE to have an anti-virus program that updates every single day. The internet is literally swarming with automated programs called bots and spiders. They look for unprotected computers and never rest. When they find an unprotected backdoor - poof- they’re in and you’ve got a problem that you might not even know about.

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 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
• PRIVACY PROTECT® anti-keylogging software to encrypt every keystroke you make. Surf the internet with an added layer of security.
• MOBILE LOCKBOX® 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.

Things we’d like to see included are:

• Support for Mac/Apple products like iPhones. Currently, the anti-virus, anti-keylogging and MOBILE LOCKBOX® are only for Windows software. Macs are inherently less susceptible to hackers but some kind of protection to include these systems would be nice.
• Identity theft recovery done for you. I’m one of those people who absolutely despises calling customer service.

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.

Overall, IDENTITY GUARD Total Protection is a complete comprehensive identity theft protection service. Besides protecting you at home and on the road, it also lets you monitor your credit.

At $17.99 a month, you won’t find a better deal for all the protection you get. Try it risk-free for 30 days with enrollment. There are no long-term contracts - you can cancel anytime you want.

IDENTITY GUARD is owned by Intersections Inc., a publicly traded corporation that is protecting over 33 million identities. They have been in business since 1996 with a long track record of reliability. YourIdentitySafe.com recommends this plan as the Editor’s Overall Top Choice.

ENDORSEMENTS

• PC WORLD - IDENTITY GUARD® TOTAL PROTECTIONSM – PC World’s #1 Rated Service, April 2008
• JAVELIN - IDENTITY GUARD® TOTAL PROTECTIONSM – Best in Class, Javelin 2009 Consumer Identity Protection Services Scorecard
• BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU - INTERSECTIONS – Better Business Bureau A+ Rating