4 Responses to “Kroll Identity Theft Shield identity theft protection service review”

1. Ruth Says:
   July 2nd, 2008 at 5:58 pm

   You say that Identity Theft Shield does not have any process to PREVENT identity theft. That is because there is NO WAY to prevent it. Your name & mine & our information is in too many data bases over which we have no control. Identity theft does not stop with FINANCIAL theft! What about MEDICAL, DMV, SOCIAL SECURITY & CRIMINAL? Will Lifelock do anything about them?

2. Joe Fahrner Says:
   July 2nd, 2008 at 10:39 pm
   Hi Ruth,

   Thank you very much for your comment.

   While there is no way to prevent 100% of identity theft crimes, there are certainly several identity theft protection services that greatly reduce the risk that their subscribers will be victimized. Identity Theft Shield does not offer any of these types of services which is why we say it does not prevent identity theft.

   The recovery assistance offered varies by provider. LifeLock does cover some of the types of identity theft you mention. Others, such as ID Watchdog, cover all of those and more. That service also has early warning tools that can catch potential identity theft in its earliest stages and way before it would show up on a credit report.

   We have received quite a few comments and emails from proponents of Kroll/prepaid legal’s identity theft shield product since we posted our review. What is interesting is that most of those communications focused more on the perceived shortcomings of competitive service rather than extolling the virtues of identity theft shield.

   Are their aspects of identity theft shield that we are not representing accurately in our review? Or, is it simply that identity theft shields proponents believe there is no benefit in making any attempt to prevent identity theft?

   Thanks,
   Joe Fahrner
   NextAdvisor.com

3. Kenneth Brown Says:
   July 24th, 2008 at 11:16 am

   Joe,
   I don’t think it is that you are misrepresenting the ID Shield at all, you compared a portion of it to other comparable companies.

   LifeLock associates your SSN with credit monitoring, GREAT! Because 99% of the time that is what is needed to pull your Credit Report.

   ID Shield, protects you if someone uses your SSN to get a job and not pay taxes for a whole year. It also protects your Drivers License, Medical, Character & Criminal, Social Security, and Financial Identity.

   It sounds like Lifelock simply deals with the Financial part of your Identity and prevents that part of it, which is great. I would rather be protected in all areas instead of just one.

   I think this is were Ruth wasn’t portraying her word’s very well.

   Take care,
   Ken Brown

4. Joe Fahrner Says:
   July 24th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
   Hi Ken,

   Thank you very much for your comment.

   I wouldn’t say that LifeLock only deals with the financial aspects of identity theft. It is accurate to say that setting fraud alerts, as LifeLock does, is certainly a way to help lessen the risk of financial identity theft.

   But, LifeLock also offers other proactive measures to help prevent or alert subscribers to other forms of identity theft. For example, their eRecon service looks for instances of it’s subscribers personal information (name, address, social security number, driver’s license number, bank account/credit card numbers, etc) being bought, sold or otherwise improperly used online. Additionally, they monitor address change requests (a classic way to steal an identity is by rerouting postal mail to gain access to sensitive data).

   We see these tools as being effective in preventing several of the types of id theft you have pointed out.

   If you want to simply compare restoration services, we believe that ID Watchdog is a far more comprehensive service than Identity Theft Shield. ID Watchdog mixes early warning through extensive monitoring of public records databases with a guarantee that will restore your identity no matter what form of theft you have fallen victim to. They have the most extensive recovery/restoration guarantee we have seen in the industry.

   Ultimately, our goal is to provide information so that consumers can make their own decision. There is no one right service for everyone and just because we don’t believe that Identity Theft Shield is the best service in general doesn’t mean that it isn’t the right service for some people based off of their needs.

   Thanks again for stopping by and for your comment.

   Joe Fahrner
   NextAdvisor.com

Leave a Reply