 |
TrustedID Review: Identity Theft Protection |
Compare to Other ID Theft Protection |
Website: |
Visit Website |
Rating: |
 |
| Best value, especially for families; exclusive 15% discount & free 30-day trial; to sign up over the phone, call 800-234-6611 | |
Full Review: |
[Editor's Note: TrustedID has created a toll free number that NextAdvisor.com readers can call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to speak to a TrustedID representative, ask questions, or sign up for their service. If you are interested in signing up, we recommend that you call them at 800-234-6611, and be sure to mention NextAdvisor.com to ensure that you receive our exclusive 15% discount.]
TrustedID is an outstanding identity theft protection service. Its features are second to none, and with NextAdvisor's exclusive 15% discount and free 30-day trial, it is the best overall value in identity theft protection. When you click through to TrustedID from NextAdvisor.com, you will receive the 15% discount automatically, with no promotional code required. This is the best price for TrustedID and isn't available anywhere else. TrustedID's Internet black market monitoring service monitors your personal information such as Social Security number, credit cards and bank accounts for any suspicious activity. It begins working as soon as you sign up by taking the Social Security number you used in the sign-up process and monitoring its use immediately. Adding all your credit card and bank account numbers is quick and easy and you should do this right away. This service monitors the Internet's black market for the use of any of these account numbers and immediately alerts you if it finds any of your numbers are being bought or sold. Trusted ID also monitors the Internet and public records for any changes to or misuse of your name, address, or Social Security number. TrustedID is the only service we've found that also gives you medical record protection. The service will help you request your medical benefit history from all your providers so you can make sure no one else has been receiving benefits in your name. They then monitor your account for any suspicious usage on an ongoing basis. TrustedID recently introduced a new feature, the Identity Threat Score, which provides a gauge of your individual risk level based on an analysis of the various records and databases that TrustedID monitors. Your score will help TrustedID's protection specialists determine the necessary steps to proactively protect your identity. TrustedID's $1,000,000 identity theft warranty starts the moment you sign up so you can be confident you'll have the peace of mind that comes with their warranty and restoration services should they ever be needed (more on that below). TrustedID also helps you send letters to opt out of junk mail in general and credit card and other lending offers in particular. Not only do these clog your mailbox and kill trees, but they are also a prime target for identity thieves to steal, gain your personal information and open a credit card account in your name. Your free credit reports are mailed to your house, and the address is verified through the credit bureaus before doing so. As part of your account, you are offered a service called CreditLock, which makes your credit report at all 3 bureaus unavailable to everyone without permission. While this is a good option for those who rarely use their credit, or those who are stationed overseas, it does cost $44.95 to lock your credit reports with all three bureaus and $39.95 to unlock them - every time! We typically only recommend using this feature if you know you have been the victim of an identity theft. In that situation, it is extremely valuable. Finally, TrustedID also includes free anti-spyware software with your membership. This is definitely a nice added feature. The software is branded with TrustedID's brand but is developed and maintained by Sana Security, a highly reputable and well-reviewed identity theft prevention software company. TrustedID has a pricing structure that makes it a particularly good value for large families. The family plan is about twice as much as the individual plan, but you can add everyone in your household, so it makes sense for households of more than two people. For those that want to take the additional step of setting fraud alerts on their credit files, Trusted ID has developed a simple interface that walks you through the process of setting your own fraud alerts online with Equifax, one of the three major credit bureaus. Once your fraud alerts are set, Equifax will notify the other two credit bureaus, Experian and TransUnion, on your behalf and fraud alerts will be set on your credit files at those two bureaus as well. After you set your fraud alerts the first time they will need to be renewed every 90 days. Trusted ID sends an email notification that reminds you to reset your fraud alerts before they lapse. The downside to setting fraud alerts on your credit file is that it might delay a credit application process because your identity must be confirmed before an account is open (usually you will be called and must speak to a representative of the credit grantor), but for those that are very concerned about identity theft this is a small price to pay it will not hurt your credit or prevent you from getting credit. TrustedID's ID theft service warranty covers you for up to $1,000,000 in costs to recover from identity theft. While this is a great benefit, direct monetary losses from identity theft are almost always much less, since you are not legally responsible for paying any fraudulent debt accumulated by a thief. The real cost of identity theft is the loss of ability to get credit for an extended period of time, the time and effort it takes to restore your good name, and many other adverse consequences that can even include mistaken incarceration. Thus, we think the most valuable part of the warranty is the identity theft restoration service that TrustedID gives you as part of the warranty. In the extremely unlikely event that your identity is stolen while you're a TrustedID member, they will pay for and perform all the tasks necessary to restore your identity, which can be extremely time-consuming, difficult and costly. We've found TrustedID customer service representatives to be very helpful and easy to reach at any time of the day or week. TrustedID has done a nice job of improving their online account dashboard so you can now see all the different ways your being protected and whether your account is missing any information. Overall, TrustedID is a great identity theft protection solution and an comprehensive yet cost-effective option for those serious about preventing identity theft. |
Search our blog archives and frequently asked questions for more information about Identity Theft Protection Services
| Price: | Free 30-day trial; $8.50/mo or $84.15/yr for individuals; $16.99/mo or $161.49/yr for families |
| Fraud Monitoring: | Credit cards, public records, Social Security number, bank accounts, medical records |
| ID Theft Insurance/ Guarantee: | $1,000,000 warranty |
| Reports Delivered: | One 3-bureau credit report each year |
| Computer Security: | Anti-spyware protection |
NextAdvisor Identity Theft Protection Blog Headlines
Copy machines can store your private info
Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
Today, copy machines, fax machines and many printers are just like computers; they?re smart and they have hard drives or flash drives and can store data that can be extracted. Peripherals in the olden days, just like dot-com-heavy stock portfolios, were dumb.
Because of the increased demand of networked [...]
Pay-at-the-Pump Skimming Using Bluetooth
Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
Skimming data off of debit and credit cards has been happening at ATMs, gas pumps and electronic funds transfer point of sale terminals for quite some time.
When criminals plant skimming devices, they have to physically attach a skimming device that fits over the face of the ATM?s card [...]
Hacking humans' naiveté
Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
Naiveté: A lack of sophistication or worldliness. That sums up a lot of people I know. "There's a sucker born every minute" is a phrase often credited to P.T. Barnum (1810 ? 1891), an American showman. It is generally taken to mean that there are (and always will [...]
The $10,000 fake ID
Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
When I was 17, my friend ?Baldo,? as he was known by all, was the Fake ID Master. He also fixed TV?s and still does today. But he didn?t actually create ?fake IDs,? he altered real ones. The technology he used back then is still used today. It?s [...]
Does Identity Guard accept prepaid credit cards for enrollment?
The following is an actual reader submitted question:
Q: Does Identity Guard accept prepaid credit cards for enrollment?
A: Currently, Identity Guard does not accept prepaid credit cards to enroll in their identity theft protection services. They do, however, accept both debit cards and regular (non-prepaid) credit cards. If you don't have a regular credit card, [...]
Assassin or identity theft victim?
Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
The assassination of senior Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh has made a little buzz in the States, but over in Dubai, as more details become available, it is becoming apparent to some (depending on which side of the wall you live on) that the real assassins stole the identities [...]
How to remove a fake profile from Facebook
The following post in our Reader Question series is an actual user submitted question:
Q: How can I remove a fake profile of myself from Facebook?
A: What can you do if you find out someone has created a fake Facebook profile in your name? This is actually a pretty easy situation to resolve. If [...]
Fostering awareness & improving security education
Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
Financial institutions have the most to gain by improving security education of their clients and employees?and the most to lose if they don't.
A while back I appeared on a local TV show talking about phishing. Amazingly, still, not everyone knows what phishing is. A good friend saw the [...]
Victoria's Secret Miranda Kerr photo scandal has the wrong focus
Who's Dave Kiely? Dave Kiely is an employee at Australia's MacQuarie bank who's become a minor web laughing stock after he was shown looking at nearly-nude photos of a Victoria's Secret model on live TV. How did it happen? It was a familiar scene for a financial broadcast: a banker was being interviewed for a [...]
Targeted injection attacks on the rise
Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
In the latter half of 2009, criminal hackers went from mass SQL injection campaigns to targeted attacks. SQL is abbreviation of Structured Query Language, pronounced ?Ess Que El? or ?Sequel.? The shift in strategy has switched to a focus on high-profile websites, concluded Websense's State of Internet [...]
About Us Blog Contact UsTerms & Privacy PolicyAffiliate ProgramSite map
Copyright© 2006 - NextAdvisor.com - All rights reserved.