Best identity theft protection of 2023

The internet has never been a more dangerous place, with hacks and breaches going on all the time. What's more, they are constantly evolving at a rapid pace, with methods becoming ever more sophisticated by the day. 

For this reason, it is more important than ever to protect your identity online. Even if you are not targeted directly, data leaks at firms that hold your Personal Identifying Information (PII) can put you at risk regardless. If these fall into the hands of threat actors, they can cause all sorts of damage, including fraud and even blackmail, to name just a few examples. 

Fortunately, there are plenty of services out there that can keep your identity protected, even in the worst case scenarios. They can alert you immediately if you fall victim, crawling the dark web to see what intel they can gather on criminal activities that may involve your details. They can also offer other measures to safeguard you online, such as credit monitoring and even security features like a VPN and antivirus protection. 

Testing these services personally isn’t feasible; however, we have conducted a thorough analysis of the most prominent and reputable identity protection services around, carefully scrutinizing the kinds of monitoring they conduct, how they notify you and how fast they are. And, of course, we have also taken into consideration their pricing.

We also have a separate guide for the best identity theft protection for families

In the meantime, below we've listed what we think are the best identity theft protection services currently available.


Reader Offer: Save up to 50% on Aura identity theft protection

Reader Offer: Save up to 50% on Aura identity theft protection
TechRadar editors praise Aura's upfront pricing and simplicity. Aura also includes a password manager, VPN, and antivirus to make its security solution an even more compelling deal. Save up to 50% today. 

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Quick list


The best identity theft protection of 2023 in full:

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Best identity theft protection overall

(Image credit: Aura)
Best overall identity theft protection provider

Specifications

ID Theft Insurance: $1 million per adult
Family Plan Offered: Yes
Credit monitoring: Yes (on higher tier plans)
Dark web monitoring: No

Reasons to buy

+
Antivirus, password manager and VPN services come as standard 
+
60-day money-back guarantee
+
AI to block unwanted calls
+
Gathers data from public court records to identify potential frauds

Reasons to avoid

-
Pricey
-
Limited basic options
-
Credit monitoring requires a higher level plan
Subscribe if:

You want all the bells and whistles: Aura has many features to protect your identity, and it also comes with a VPN, antivirus, and a password manager to boot.

You want to block unwanted calls: Its relatively new Call Assistant is included in all family plans, using AI to filter spam and scam calls for you.

Don't subscribe if:

You're on a budget: Aura can be quite expensive, and the entry level plan lacks credit monitoring, a fairly basic feature.

The bottom line

🔒 Aura is a very comprehensive package that offers everything you'd need and more to protect you and your family's identity online. The more premium plans can be quite expensive, though. ★★★★½

Though we don't think it's the best budget option, Aura offers a sleek and easy-to-use interface that has an attractive dashboard without excessive details. Across all of the pricing plans the standard features include antivirus protection, a password manager, and a VPN, which we found is more than what some of its rivals offer. 

However, keep in mind that an entry-level plan offers basic functionality, lacking some of the more important aspects, such as credit monitoring. However, all plans come with $1 million Identity Theft Insurance and 24/7 US-Based fraud experts & support. Individual protection starts at $9 per month if you opt for annual billing or $12 if you opt for monthly billing. 

For more pricing information, take a look at our table below. Note that the Family plan is the only one with child safety tools like parental control, safe gaming features, etc.

Read our full Aura review.

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PlanMonthly billing Annual billing
Individual$12$9
Couple$20$17
Family/Group$30$25

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Best identity theft protection for families

(Image credit: IdentityForce)
Best options for child protection

Specifications

ID Theft Insurance: $1 million
Family Plan Offered: Yes
Credit monitoring: Yes (on higher tier plans)
Dark web monitoring: Yes

Reasons to buy

+
Base plan offers junk mail and social media monitoring
+
Family plan covers an unlimited number of children
+
Medical ID fraud monitoring

Reasons to avoid

-
Pricing
-
Quarterly credit reports
-
iOS app needs improvement
Subscribe if:

You have a big family: IdentityForce supports an unlimited number of children, and has an add-on called ChildWatch that keeps you abreast of concerns relating to your child's identity.

You want to get rid of junk mail: IdentityForce has a useful junk mail opt-out feature that can save your inbox from getting clogged with useless spam. 

Don't subscribe if:

You want regular credit reports: Credit reports are only given each quarter with IdentityForce, so not great if you want to stay on top of your score.

You want a good mobile app: Looking at the user reviews, both the iPhone and Android apps appear to need some improvement. 

The bottom line

🔒 IdentityForce offers great coverage for families, and has plenty of other great protection features. If you want more regular credit monitoring, though, you may want to look elsewhere. ★★★★½

Massachusetts-based IdentityForce markets its identity theft protection packages for many different use cases, including family plans with added child protection, as well as business and government-focused offerings. We found the web access great, and while there are iOS and Android apps, when we looked at their user ratings, they weren't high on either platform.

Social media monitoring comes with the basic plan, along with a handy junk mail opt-out feature that can help keep your inbox clean and functional. The top plan offers three-bureau credit monitoring, assistance if you need a credit freeze, alerts for the investment account, and numerous other features. 

While we’re on the topic of credit scores, keep in mind that IdentityForce delivers the reports quarterly. We don't think this is a deal breaker, though, especially considering how powerful the bundle of credit services is. 

Additionally, the smart SSN tracker that comes with the ChildWatch add-on looks great to us, offering comprehensive tools to protect your child’s identity online. To make things better, the plan offers an unlimited number of children, so if you have a big or growing family, we think this feature could be a boon for you. 

When it comes to pricing, IdentityForce is not the cheapest solution we found, and offers basically two plans for individual users: the UltraSecure at $17.99 per month per member and the UltraSecure+Credit at $23.99 per month per member. If you want to dip your toes, there is also a 30-day free trial.

Read our full IdentityForce review.

  • To speak to an expert about how identity theft protection software can keep you secure online, call IdentityForce directly on this toll-free number 888-266-3930.
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