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FamilySecure

FamilySecure Review

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 Cost effective identity theft protection for families and children
Full Review:
 FamilySecure is a new identity theft protection service that focuses on protecting the entire family, including children, from identity thieves. While the FamilySecure product itself is relatively new, it is backed by Experian which is the largest of the three national credit bureaus. FamilySecure is one of the most cost effective ways to protect an entire family unit from identity theft as one membership will cover any two adults, including spouses, significant others, relatives or just good friends, and an unlimited number of children for just $19.95 per month.

Adult members receive unlimited online access to their Experian credit reports plus ongoing monitoring of their Experian credit file. If any changes post to their credit file they are alerted with real-time email notifications. Credit report monitoring is an effective tool in the early detection of both new account fraud, where criminals open new financial accounts in a victim's name using their personal information, as well as identity theft related crimes perpetrated against existing accounts.

FamilySecure uses a similar tactic to protect the identities of children. Since most kids shouldn't have an existing credit file, FamilySecure monitors each covered child's personal information to ensure that no credit file exists or is created in their name. Unforntunately, children are one of the fastest growing segments of identity theft victims. We think FamilySecure's child credit monitoring feature is one of the best tools we have seen to help prevent most types of child identity theft. In particular, we like that FamilySecure is frequently monitoring for any instance of credit secured in a child's name. This ensures that any suspect activity can be identified and addressed immediately versus going undetected for months or even years and wrecking havoc with the child's credit history for years to come.

FamilySecure offers two levels of identity theft recovery services for all of their members. First, any member who believes that they have been victimized by an identity thief can contact a FamilySecure representative on their toll free fraud resolution hotline. These specialists are able to help FamilySecure members investigate any irregularities in their Experian credit file and will assist in resolving any issues. Second, FamilySecure offers a $2 million dollar guarantee. While we typically discount the guarantees offered by identity theft protection services, FamilySecure's guarantee offers much more coverage in certain areas than we have seen from similar guarantees from other providers. Most identity theft protection service guarantees only cover the costs of recovering your identity and not the actual losses that may occur. FamilySecure will not only cover the expense of recovering your identity should you be victimized, but they will also reimburse you for stolen funds and some lost wages resulting from the identity theft, like cases where an identity theft victim needs to take time off work to file a police report. There is one catch- in order for a FamilySecure member to be covered by the guarantee the identity theft must be related to one of the accounts listed on their Experian credit report. Since Experian is the largest of the three major credit bureaus it is very likely that most accounts would show up on your Experian credit report, but that caveat in the guarantee is something to be aware of.

Overall, we believe that FamilySecure is a cost effective way for entire families to protect themselves from identity theft. It is particularly effective in quickly identifying potential identity theft crimes committed against children. The main limitation of the service is that it only monitors Experian credit files for its members. While it would be best if FamilySecure monitored all three credit bureaus, Experian is the largest of the three and should be sufficient for most consumers.

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Service Details:

Price: $19.95/mo. for two adults and unlimited children
Type: Detection - credit monitoring
Credit Reports Delivered: Unlimited Experian credit reports
Fraud
Monitoring:		 No
Mail List Removal: No
ID Theft Insurance/ Guarantee: $2,000,000

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