What is identity theft protection?

Picture your online banking account, and consider what personal information you may have stored online. Now think about your other bank account, and that credit card. Social media, gaming platforms, recruitment sites, the list goes on, and the chances are many of us will end up with hundreds of accounts all potentially exposing sensitive data. ID theft protection aims to notify you of any concerning changes, like data breaches, so that you can act before it’s too late. Oftentimes, various databases will pull in things like bank card details, driving license numbers, health insurance information, and more. The better identity theft protection plans also offer credit monitoring at one or more of the credit agencies. A change in the credit score can signal an identity theft as a loan can be taken out in someone’s name, the cash obtained, and then defaulted on before you even knew the loan was taken out. By monitoring these activities, an identity theft protection user can be sent an alert if any event is detected. This then allows you to be proactive and shut the breach down before it turns into a considerably larger loss. For example, canceling a credit card that you did not take out before it racks up thousands of dollars in bills is the better outcome than having your own credit score affected. Sometimes, your chosen company will offer to do things for you, too, helping you to save time and hassle.

Is identity theft protection worth it?

Just in 2021, over $5.9 billion were lost thanks to fraud, and the most common fraud was identity fraud, according to an FTC report . With that being said, it is important to keep in mind that identity theft in our online world can strike at any time, and whether you believe identity theft protection is worth it, will depend on your circumstances. If you perceive that the risk of identity theft is high, and you have the necessary budget to cover protection, then choosing a service is almost a no-brainer. It all comes down to the value you place on what the services provide for you, and whether you believe the risk of identity theft can actually cause you significant harm (which in almost all cases, it can).

Identity Theft Protection vs Monitoring Services: What's the difference?

The terms Identity Theft Protection and Credit Monitoring Service are often thought about and used interchangeably as both are designed to protect consumers from having issues with their credit score. However, they are not really the same. A Credit Monitoring Service is designed to do just what the term implies: to keep a watch on a user’s credit. If and when a change occurs, typically a decline in the credit score, the user gets a notification of some sort, such as an email, that the credit score declined. However, it offers little else, or what prompted the change. Identity Theft Protection is a stronger offering. This service will monitor multiple areas, which can include the credit score, though they will often combine the monitoring of the dark web, criminal databases, Social Security Number repositories, and other resources to assess for any threats to an individual’s identity being used for criminal purposes.

How identity theft happens?

Identity theft has become more commonplace thanks to advancements in technology and us doing more business online. To avoid being their next target, it's essential to stay vigilant and acquaint oneself with the telltale signs of identity theft. This cybercrime involves a thief gaining unauthorized access to your personal information and using it to impersonate you in fraudulent activities like securing loans, insurance, housing, or even a job. If you notice strange bills or inexplicable charges on your credit card, unauthorized withdrawals from your bank account, or debt collectors hounding you for accounts you didn't open, then it's time to act fast. Don't just sit there wallowing in despair, take control of the situation by contacting the relevant authorities and institutions where the crime occurred. To nip identity theft in the bud, consider adopting proactive measures such as placing fraud alerts or locking your credit reports. Remember, prevention is better than cure, so keep an eye on your accounts and stay a step ahead of the fraudsters.

Signs of ID theft: what should I look out for to see if my identity was stolen?

When someone’s identity is stolen, for the first few days, there may be no signs of anything amiss. From there, it may be as subtle as not receiving an expected bill, such as a credit card statement or bank statement as the thief may have falsely changed the address to delay the criminal act being uncovered. Red alerts that your identity has been taken include receiving credit card charges that you did not make, or even a new credit card in your name that you did not apply for. Keep in mind that thieves often start with a small purchase to verify that the card works, so pay attention to even small purchases. Any of the above should prompt you to immediately contact the provider of the credit card so the charges can be protested, or the new card can be closed immediately before the charges accumulate. Other things to be wary of include calls from collectors requesting money on a loan you did not take out. Finally, a significant drop in credit without an obvious issue, or a denial of a loan or credit card with a previously high credit should also sound the alarm.

What are the steps to take to prevent my identity from being stolen?

Naturally, efforts should be taken to prevent ID theft. However, if it does happen, there are important steps to get things right again. It starts with contacting local law enforcement to file an identity theft report. Contact your financial institutions, such as your bank or credit card provider. Go through credit card charges, and dispute any that you did not make to limit the liability. Also, alert them of potential additional fraud, and have them put a fraud alert on the account. Most credit card providers can send out an email or text when they are used, indicating the amount of the charge, and where the card to use to alert you in real-time if unauthorized charges are being applied to the card. Furthermore, check with the credit bureaus, and ask to place a credit freeze. This then limits the ability to open new credit accounts as additional protections are in place for anyone to access your credit information. Requesting to place the freeze at any of the three major credit unions (Transunion, Experian, and Equifax) alerts the other two to freeze it as well, because they share certain information like this.

Should I get identity theft protection?

From tiny tots to wise seniors, identity theft is an equal opportunity offender that shows no signs of slowing down. Protect yourself and your loved ones by considering these seven groups that could benefit from identity theft protection: 1. Digital Doers - Anyone who spends a significant amount of time online or has numerous financial accounts is at higher risk for identity theft. Every account is a potential point of attack, so be wary of suspicious activity or messages. 2. Senior Savers - Older Americans may have more money saved, but they're also less tech-savvy, making them prime targets for identity thieves. 3. Family Firsts - Children and teens with clean credit histories can be attractive targets for fraudsters. Keep them safe by signing up for a family identity theft protection plan. 4. Repeat Victims - If you've been hit by identity theft once, you're more likely to be targeted again. Stay ahead of the curve with reliable protection. 5. Busy Bees - If you don't have the time to monitor your accounts constantly, identity theft protection services can help. 6. Insurance Insureds - Don't risk losing everything. Protect your home, savings, and credit score with an identity theft insurance policy. 7. Dark Web Dwellers - After a data breach, your account credentials could be floating around on hacker forums. Use Identity Guard's Dark Web scanner to keep an eye on any potential leaks. Remember, the more accounts you have, the more important it is to keep your identity safe.

Best identity theft protection of 2023

Jump to:

Quick list
Best overall
Best for families
Best package
Best for beginners
Best for value
Best for FICO
Best for Costco members
Best for social media
Best for basics
Best budget service
How to choose
How we test
FAQs

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Fraud — (Image credit: Shutterstock / Sapann Design)

1. The list in brief
2. Best overall
3. Best for families
4. Best package
5. Best for beginners
6. Best for value
7. Best for FICO
8. Best for Costco members
9. Best for social media
10. Best for basics
11. Best budget service
12. How to choose
13. How we test
14. FAQs

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.

Quick list

Best overall

1. Aura

It’s not exactly cheap, but Aura is a feature-packed service no matter what plan you go for, and its unique Identity Guard gives you custom insights into your cybersecurity posture. A VPN, password manager and antivirus are included.

Best for families

2. IdentityForce

With plans that include child protection features, IdentityForce is a great choice for families. However, it also caters to business and even government organizations. The mobile apps could do with improvement, though.

Best package

3. Norton LifeLock

If you’re looking for an identity protection service that includes industry-leading antivirus protection, then look no further than Norton LifeLock - Norton 360 is here, one of the best antivirus software suites.

Best for beginners

4. Experian IdentityWorks

Experian will of course be well known to many, and this is one of the firm's identity protection services. Naturally, credit reports form part of the package, monitoring your scores with various agencies.

Best for value

5. ADT Identity Protection

ADT’s service represents good value for money, but some features are missing that you would find with others. Still, it does include monitoring of your bank account, credit card, the dark web, and more.

Best for FICO

6. myFICO

As you may have guessed, myFICO is great if you're after FICO monitoring. Regular updates on your score are a given, and you can also buy single reports too. However, there are no family plans, and the prices are quite steep.

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Best for Costco members

7. Complete ID

Are you a Costco member? Then good news, because Complete ID will grant you discounts if you are. Identity protections include delving deep into the dark web to detect any leaks. As another Experian-owned brand, credit monitoring is here too.

Best for social media

8. Allstate

Allstate monitors your social media profiles, and its digital footprint feature is handy to see what trails you leave behind online. Only TransUnion credit reports are offered on the first plans - the most expensive plan will also monitor Experian and Equifax.

Best for basics

9. IDnotify

Not the cheapest plan out there, and some of the features are pretty basic, but IDnotify does have some good financial tools, such as offering VantageScore updates and a simulator to let see what would happen to your score in certain scenarios.

Best budget pick

10. Zander Identity Theft Protection

This service is more focused on the prevention of identity theft, and includes financial monitoring, social security number alerts, and dark web scanning. You are covered for up to $1mn in losses and expenses, and family plans even up this to $2mn. Credit monitoring is absent, though.

The best identity theft protection of 2023 in full:

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Best identity theft protection overall

Aura website screenshot — (Image credit: Aura)

1. 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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Plan	Monthly billing	Annual billing
Individual	$12	$9
Couple	$20	$17
Family/Group	$30	$25

Best identity theft protection for families

IdentityForce website screenshot — (Image credit: IdentityForce)

2. 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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