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Identity Guard Review |
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Most comprehensive service w/ tons of features; free 30-day trial |
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If fear of identity theft is your primary reason for checking your credit, there is no question that Identity Guard Total Protection is your best option. Even if identity theft is just one factor, Identity Guard's exhaustive list of features and 30-day free trial make it worth serious consideration. In addition to providing 3-bureau monitoring, free credit reports from all 3 bureaus and free credit scores from all 3 bureaus, Identity Guard Total Protection offers an extremely impressive and potent arsenal of tools to stop identity theft and credit card fraud. Identity Guard goes far beyond other credit montioring services by also monitoring public records for any changes in your name, scanning for application or social security fraud, and monitoring the Internet's black market for any use of your credit cards or other personal information. They've also recently added anti-keylogging software, lost wallet protection (they can cancel your credit card accounts and give you up to $2,000 advance if you need it) and a Personal ID Risk Assessment.
Perhaps the most notable recent addition the the Identity Guard service is the free Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite, an award-winning Internet security solution including anti-virus, firewall, anti-phising and anti-spam software with hourly security updates. This normally costs $49.95 to buy but is free with your Total Protection enrollment and includes all virus definition updates and annual renewals as long as you maintain your membership. Of course if you don't want or need this security software you don't have to download it. In addition Identity Guard Total Protection now also gives you a 30-day free trial of their service. They also make it very easy to place fraud alerts with the bureaus yourself if you want to take that extra preventative step. You get all those for free with your 30-day trial so even if you decide you don't like it, you get to keep at no cost all 3 credit reports and scores, a public records report and the Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite for free. Buying all these separately would cost you over $100. In terms of the more standard features, Identity Guard Total Protection give you daily 3-bureau credit monitoring with email alerts, a 3-in-1 credit report (an easy to read format of your report from all 3 bureaus) and your credit scores from all 3 bureaus when you sign up. The scores are based on the CreditXpert scoring system, which isn't as popular as the FICO system that most lenders use, but is a very good approximation of it. Your subscription includes access to a very useful credit analyzer. You can try out different scenarios, such as paying off your credit card by a certain amount or opening up a new loan, to see how your credit score will be affected. If you are monitoring your credit, this analyzer can help you to make the best choices to raise your credit score. Identity Guard gives you a new report and scores every 3 months. When combined with Identity Guard's daily monitoring of your credit report at all 3 bureaus, this should be plenty for most people. Overall, Identity Guard Total Protection offers both a great credit monitoring service and the best identity theft protection you can get. |
| Free Reports & Scores: | Free reports & scores from all 3 bureaus |
| Free Trial & Monthly Fee: | 30 day free trial; $14.99 per month |
| Reports & Scores Delivered: | Free quarterly reports and scores from all 3 bureaus |
| Bureaus Monitored: | All 3 bureaus |
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