Does Identity Guard provide both 3 bureau credit scores and credit reports quarterly?

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June 6th, 2011 - Posted by Tasha

Q: You note that Identity Guard TOTAL PROTECTION provides 3 bureau credit SCORES each quarter. Does this mean that they include the credit REPORTS that make up those credit scores, or only the final credit score numbers?

A: As you mention, Identity Guard TOTAL PROTECTION® provides credit scores from all 3 credit bureaus when you sign up, and updates them on a quarterly basis thereafter. To see your scores, you just need to log in to the Identity Guard member center.

When you sign up for Identity Guard you'll also get your 3-bureau credit reports.  Then you'll get quarterly updates to your credit reports, which is a little different from the full reports you get at sign up. The updates aren't the complete reports, instead they make things a little easier by just including what has changed since your last report update. That way you can quickly scan through and double check any changes. Of course, Identity Guard's credit monitoring alerts you of key changes to your credit reports on an ongoing basis, but it makes sense to take the time to review these changes on a quarterly basis.

In addition you'll get a free public record report when you sign up, and an updated one every quarter. Add to this Identity Guard's identity theft protection features, a 30 day free trial, free Zone Alarm software and 18% off the price and it's a pretty darn good deal that we highly recommend.

6 ways to stay safe on Facebook: Managing your privacy to thwart identity theft

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June 3rd, 2011 - Posted by Sarah

Eleven percent of identity theft crimes occur online.

Let's face it: Almost everyone's on Facebook, and if you're not, chances are you'll succumb to social pressure to sign up eventually. It's a great way to connect with friends and family all over the world and easily share your experiences with others. However, it's not a good idea to go sharing personal information willy-nilly.

Facebook has made a number of updates to privacy settings since we wrote this popular post in 2008. So here we've collected an updated list of six ways to manage your privacy on Facebook and keep your personal information safe:

1. Limit the amount of personal information available on your profile.

A poll of Facebook users commissioned by NextAdvisor.com found that 27% of respondents listed their full name, date of birth, phone number, and email address on their Facebook profile. An additional 8% of respondents included all of that information plus their physical address on their profile. Many Facebook users also list other personal data, such as their spouse or significant other's name or birthday. In the hands of identity thieves, that type of information can be dangerous.

For example, an identity thief may be able to use your home address and phone number to submit a change of address form with the United States Postal Service and have your mail forwarded. This would allow access to even more sensitive information in order to open financial or other accounts in your name.

Savvy identity thieves can use contextual information in your profile to hack into online accounts. It can tip them off to potential user names and passwords you may use. Once an online account—whether an email, credit card, or other account—has been accessed, it can cause even further harm. It just gets easier for identity thieves: A recently released Android app can hack Facebook accounts if they are open on the same wireless network! Our recommendation is to limit the amount of personal information that is available on your Facebook profile:

• Never list your full date of birth, phone number, or physical address on your Facebook profile. Your real friends and associates will likely already know this information, so including it on your profile will only increase your risk of being victimized.
• Limit the amount of contextual password clues on your profile pages. Identity thieves know that many people use their birthday, a spouse or significant other's name or birthday, an anniversary date, mother's maiden name, pet's name, or other personal information as passwords on their personal accounts. It is also a good idea to make sure your online passwords don't include these types of personal items.

2. Proactively manage your privacy settings.

There are many components to managing your Facebook privacy settings. But we've broken it down for you here:

Sharing

Facebook's main purpose is sharing. However, like many people, you might have certain things you only want to share with only your networks, your friends, or just a chosen few. Luckily, Facebook makes this easy. When you click "Privacy Settings" under your "Account" tab, you'll see a list of what you share and with whom you share it.

For each shared item, such as "My status, photos, and posts" and "Phone numbers and address," you can choose one of three basic user categories: "Everyone," "Friends of Friends," and "Friends Only." Remember that "Everyone" means pretty much everyone, sometimes including other sites. You'll see the privacy settings that Facebook recommends, but we prefer the conservative "Friends Only" setting on all of your profile information to safeguard your information.

At the bottom of this page is a "Customize settings" link, where you can fine-tune your settings. Perhaps you don't want anyone to be able to view "Places you check in to." So you'd select "Only Me" for that category. If you wish to let your friends know when you're out on the town but want to keep your coworkers out of it, you can choose to block that information only from certain users. If you don't want the world knowing when you're at, say, the doctor's office, we also recommend you uncheck the "Enable" box next to "Include me in 'People Here Now' after I check in." To make sure everything looks right, click "Preview my profile," where you can view your own profile as a member of the general public or as a specific Facebook user.

Connecting

Connecting is not controlled on the Privacy Settings page but on a separate screen you access by clicking "View settings" at the top of the "Choose Your Privacy Settings" screen. By default, your name, profile picture, gender, and networks are visible to everyone.

Set these limits to what you're comfortable with. You could set everything to "Friends only," but you'd cut down on the chances of old friends and co-workers finding you. Instead, set them based on how private you think that information is or should be. For example, never make your high school visible to "Everyone" if you've used "What's your high school mascot?" as a security question on another website. We do recommend setting stricter visibility limits on "See your friend list." Such information could help identity thieves to engage in a little social engineering or get information such as your mother's maiden name (if, you know, your mom is your friend).

We feel the same way with "See your current city or hometown" and "See your likes, activities, and other connections." This publicly viewable information can help phishers and other social hackers target attacks toward you.

Finally, you can also access "Preview my profile" from this page.

Apps and Websites

Go back to the main privacy page, scroll down to the "Apps and Websites" section at the bottom left, and click "Edit your settings for using apps, games and websites."

One of the most useful tools is at the top. "Apps you use" allows you to turn off all applications or remove unwanted or spammy applications. You'll probably be surprised just how many applications you've said "yes" to. If you find ones that look suspicious or you simply don't want anymore, click them to expand. You can then view the last time the app accessed your data or remove the application altogether.

But perhaps most important to your privacy is how your information is used by other sites and apps. Click "Edit settings" next to "Info accessible through your friends." It will bring up a pop-up window that you can use to control which of your information is available to applications, games and websites when your friends use them. We recommend that you uncheck these items.

Next, you can control who can see your game and app activity. This button functions much like the other buttons on the main privacy page.

If you're not wild about the websites you visit knowing a lot about you, edit your "Instant personalization" settings, and uncheck the box at the bottom. This prevents Facebook's select partner sites from accessing the information that you've set as visible to everyone.

Lastly, we recommend that you disable public search. This setting controls whether information you share with everyone shows up in searches on and off Facebook. If someone Googles you, do you want your Facebook profile to show up? If it's a childhood friend, perhaps, but if it's an identity thief, you might think otherwise. There's a small "See preview" link here, too, so you can see how your page would look to someone arriving at your profile from a search engine.

Block Lists

There are many reasons you might want to block a person or application from seeing your Facebook profile. So when you click "Edit your lists" at the bottom center of the main privacy page, you can enter names of your Facebook friends or email addresses of people who are not your friends and click "block user." This means that person cannot be your friend or interact with you on Facebook, except inside apps or games you both use.

You can also block invitations from this screen. Is a friend who lives across the continent spamming you with invites that you can't possibly accept, or does an otherwise nice pal keep inviting you to play FarmVille even though you've declined multiple times? Type the name into the fields to block only their invitations.

Finally, you can view your blocked applications from this page. Blocking an app means it can't contact you or use your information anymore. To block an app, though, you need to go to the app's Facebook page and click "Block app."

Additional Privacy Controls

Facebook gives you still more options for privacy control. Each time you post a status update, link, status update, photo, or video, click the lock icon below it to choose who can see it. Note that this overrides whatever you have set for "Posts by me" in the Privacy settings.

You also now have more control over your apps. By default, they can only see what you've made visible to everyone. If an app needs to access more to operate, they must ask you for permission (via a box that pops up when you add an app), and they are not allowed to ask for more than is necessary for them to work.

The final control is over tagged items. When you're tagged in a photo or video and you want to override the default setting you selected for tags on the privacy page, remove the tag, which will also keep it from showing up on your profile. Remember that this doesn't keep the owner of the photo or video from sharing the picture (sans your tag) with people who aren't your friends.

These are our best suggestions for using Facebook's privacy settings. CEO Mark Zuckerburg maintains that users can expect privacy from Facebook's advertisers. Facebook doesn't sell personal data to its advertisers, but some ads include a Like button, and some or pair a profile picture of a friend who "liked" the ad or company with it to make it more relevant to you. And when you see Facebook content on another website, that site doesn't receive any of your profile information.

Still, with all the data floating around out there and the potential for identity thieves to socially engineer themselves into our lives, consider an identity theft protection service.

3. Only accept friend requests from people you know.

According to another recent Facebook poll commissioned by NextAdvisor.com, 49% of respondents said that they accept some or all friend requests that they receive from people they don't know. What many Facebook users may not realize is that by accepting friend requests from people they don't know, they are potentially opening themselves up to identity theft or related crimes. As a general rule, we suggest that Facebook users only accept friend requests from people that they already know or whose identity they can verify through some other means. Here are some ways to safely add new friends on Facebook:

• When you receive a friend request from people you already know, verify that they are who they say they are by sending them an email or giving them a phone call. It is easy for someone to set up a phony profile under the name of someone you know and trust in order to extract additional information from you.
• If you don't recognize the person who is making the friend request, feel free to ask how he or she knows you by sending a Facebook message before accepting. If you get no answer or a suspicious one, you can investigate further or simply ignore this friend request.
• Some experts believe that social networks like Facebook may become the next target of sophisticated phishing scams designed to steal your online passwords or other personal information. If you receive a friend request or other information over email purporting to be from Facebook, log into your Facebook account directly rather than clicking on any links in the email to verify that the communication is actually coming from the Facebook system.

4. Limit the amount of check-ins and "time and place" data that you expose.

Facebook gives users many opportunities to broadcast their schedule and whereabouts to their friends. Whether it is a simple status update or detailed itinerary, criminals can use information about your current or upcoming whereabouts to victimize you in a number of ways.

For example, if you publicly announce an out-of-town vacation or plans to attend a certain event, criminals can use this information to determine when your home may be most susceptible to a burglary. This could open you up to any number of forms of identity theft or worse. Also exercise caution when you "check in" somewhere using Facebook Places. If you verify that you are at a faraway location, you could endure similar consequences.

In general, we strongly recommend that Facebook users not publish specifics about whereabouts and schedules.

5. Remember that even people you know can be identity thieves.

Unfortunately, several recent studies show that a significant number of identity theft victims know the person who victimized them.

Javelin Research found that a shocking 43% of identity theft crimes are perpetrated by people whom the victim knows, such as friends or family members. Additionally, the most common perpetrators of identity theft against children are the child's parent.

We strongly recommend that, even if you know and trust all of your Facebook friends, you still follow all these tips to prevent yourself from falling victim to identity theft.

6. Consider an identity theft protection service.

Identity theft, both online and in the real world, remains a growing threat to all Americans. We recommend that all consumers consider using a proactive identity theft protection service, such as Identity Guard or LifeLock, to protect their identity.

Each identity theft protection service is different, but most will do the following:

• Monitor your credit report and other personal information for fraudulent use.
• Provide you with identity theft insurance that will reimburse you on costs and expense you incur as a result of being victimized.
• Provide you with copies of your credit report.

You can learn more about the various benefits of identity theft protection services and about the specific services we review by visiting our identity theft protection service guide and comparison.

While social networks like Facebook can be fun and productive services, it is important for users to be aware of the risks that they pose. Taking proactive steps to protect your identity on Facebook will only improve the amount of enjoyment you can get out of the service.

NextAdvisor launches Voip.com review!

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June 3rd, 2011 - Posted by Sarah

It was gone, but now it's back! We reviewed Voip.com again. Now that it's been bought out by Phone Power, how has Voip.com changed? Click here to find out!

Summer savings on Trend Micro!

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June 3rd, 2011 - Posted by Sarah

Trend Micro isn't our favorite Internet security software, but the company's running a deal right now that's hard to beat: 40% off Titanium Internet Security. Just follow any Trend Micro link from NextAdvisor, and then enter coupon code "summer40." Enjoy a secure summer!

Can I back up two different types of computers on the same Mozy plan?

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June 2nd, 2011 - Posted by Sarah

The following is an actual user-submitted question:

Q. I will be backing up three computers. I have two Dells using Windows Vista and one Mac using OSX. Can I back up two different types of computers on the same Mozy (125 GB) plan?

A. Yes. We like Mozy: It's reliable and inexpensive (especially with our exclusive discount), and it can back up both Macs and PCs. It's a great solution for online backup. The 125GB plan offers backup for three computers. When we asked Mozy if you can back up the different types of computers, they said that it was possible; you just need to make sure to download Mozy on each machine from the Mozy website. So on your Dells, download Mozy for Windows, and on your Mac, download Mozy for Mac.

You can add even more computers or devices of any kind, but it costs $2 more per computer per month.

What happens if errors are identified on my credit report? Do credit monitoring services help to get these errors removed from the report?

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June 2nd, 2011 - Posted by Tasha

Q:  What happens if errors are identified on my credit report? Do credit monitoring services help to get these errors removed from the report? Is this a extra cost?

A: It depends on how full-featured the credit report monitoring service is. Some, like Identity Guard TOTAL PROTECTION®, provide both credit report monitoring and identity theft protection.  This means that if your identity is stolen while you're a member, you'll have the assistance of the Identity Theft Assistance Center to help reclaim your good name and clear up your credit report. There is no extra cost for this service.  Other credit monitoring services primarily monitor your credit reports and let you know if there are any changes; they don't help to correct errors.

It's smart to be aware of what is on your credit reports at all times. If you sign up for a credit report monitoring service that provides you with all 3 credit reports, like our top rated Privacy Guard, you should go through all of them with a fine tooth comb. You can also get your credit reports for free every year at annualcreditreport.com.

When you have your reports carefully review everything; your past and present addresses, lines of credit, any legal items like bankruptcy, your name, etc.  If you see any incorrect information it could be one of two things. Either it could be a genuine error, or it could be someone using your identity to profit (ie, identity theft).

If it's a genuine error, you'll need to contact the credit bureaus separately to have them remove it from your credit report. Read our FAQ to find out how to correct information on your credit report (the good news is that you can do it all online).  If it's identity theft, follow the tips on our What To Do If Someone Has Stolen Your Identity blog (if you're a member of Identity Guard or PrivacyGuard call them directly for assistance and resolution).

I currently use an external hard drive and would also like to keep that backed up automatically. Is this possible?

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June 1st, 2011 - Posted by Sarah

The following is an actual user-submitted question:

Q. I currently use an external hard drive and would also like to keep that backed up automatically. Is this possible?

A. You bet it's possible! Not all online backup companies back up external hard drives, but many do. Mozy is a great choice if you're new to online backup, but if you're an advanced user, we recommend SpiderOak. iDrive is an excellent solution for the budget-conscious. Other options include ElephantDrive, SOS Online Backup, and iBackup (which is basically the business version of iDrive). All of these online backup companies have the ability to back up external devices automatically. Just follow the directions after you sign up!