Because we now live in the digital age where we conduct the bulk of our financial transactions online, we run the risk of identity theft.
Identity theft is when someone deliberately steals your identity and uses it to obtain credit and other financial benefits in your name.
Identity theft isn’t only done online; however, online phishing is the most common way people steal other people’s identities. As long as we do business online, identity theft will be an ever-present risk.
We routinely provide our address, banking details, and credit card information to multiple companies online — from Netflix to Amazon. How well they protect our data is anybody’s guess.
With the current spate of data breaches–from Target, Equifax, Facebook, to the dating website, Friend Finder–it’s only right that we deploy all the tools available to monitor and protect our identity online.
An identity thief does not need to target you directly. They can target any one of the multiple companies you do business with online, and they will get all the information they need to wreak havoc on your life.
Sometimes, the risk of identity theft can seem intractable but don’t fret; we’ve listed below some of the best credit monitoring and identity theft companies to help you monitor your identity online.
We should note that none of the companies below will protect you from identity theft. They will, however, monitor your identity 24/7 and alert you of suspicious activities. You, on the other hand, will then be empowered to stop the thieves in their tracks.
So here are the best credit monitoring companies:
1. Credit Karma – Provides Free Credit Monitoring
We listed Credit Karma first because, at no cost to you, they’ll provide comparable and perhaps better credit and identity monitoring services than many of the companies listed here.
Credit Karma has a state of the art system that monitors your social security number and alerts you if there are suspicious activities on your credit profile.
For example, if someone opens a credit card in your name, Credit Karma’s free credit monitoring services will immediately alert you.
With that information, you can quickly take the necessary steps to lock down your credit file, close the fraudulent account, and change your passwords.
Credit Karma also has other benefits, and we’ve listed a few of them below.
[READ: Credit Karma Review: Is Credit Karma Safe? What You Need To Know]Some Benefits Of Using Credit Karma Identity Theft Monitoring Service.
Credit Karma offers additional free resources which you might find very useful to your financial wellbeing. Here are a few:
- Identity monitoring.
- Savings account – Fee-free
- Tax filing software – Free
- Credit cards and loan recommendations.
- Credit score monitoring
- Simulator for your credit score, and
- informative financial articles, to name a few.
2. Identity Guard
Identity Guard, as the name implies, provides identity monitoring services to the public.
For a monthly fee of $20.83, they will provide the following services:
- Dark Web Monitoring
- Risk Management Report
- Safe Browsing Tools
- Anti Phishing Mobile App
- Monthly Credit Score*
- Address Monitoring
- 3-Bureau Credit Monitoring
- Tax Refund Alerts
- Credit Score* and Report
- Social Insight Report
Most of the services listed above are services you can get for free when you sign up with other free credit monitoring like Credit Karma.
IdentityTheft.Gov is a free government service that will give you a free and customized recovery plan if your identity gets stolen.
3. LifeLock
Lifelock, like all of the companies listed here, provides credit monitoring and identity theft protection–but with a twist: they also provide up to $1000,000 in reimbursement for stolen funds due to identity theft.
Here’s how that works. When you sign up with Lifelock, you get to choose one of four subscription tiers.
The first tier provides basic services and charges a $9 monthly subscription fee in the first year, then $11.99 afterward. This tier provides identity and social security alerts, plus credit monitoring with just one credit bureau. It also comes with a $25,000 reimbursement guarantee for stolen funds.
The second tier, also $9 a month for the first year, but $14 after that. This tier provides everything in the first tier, plus Norton security and VPN services for up to five devices.
The third tier brings significant improvements over the first two: alert on crimes committed in your name, $100,000 in stolen funds reimbursement, and bank and credit card activity alerts. They also provide Norton security and VPN for up to ten devices — all for a $19.99 monthly subscription in the first year and $24 thereafter.
Lifelock Top-tier subscription
The final subscription level is the fourth tier, which charges $29.99 in the first year, and $34.99 after that. This is the only tier that provides credit monitoring with all three credit bureaus. They also offer up to $1,000,000 in stolen funds reimbursement. In addition to all that, they provide Norton security and VPN for unlimited devices. They also offer 401(k) & Investment Account Activity Alerts, in addition to all the alerts they provide in the third tier.
I must say, Lifelock provides services you wouldn’t get for free on the internet. For example, insurance of up to $1 million, VPN, Norton Security would more than justify getting a paid subscription.
However, if you’re only looking for comprehensive credit monitoring, you can get that free of charge with multiple companies on the internet.
4. Privacy Guard
Privacy Guard is one of those companies that will exceed your expectations. They go the extra mile to provide maximum value for money.
If you are concerned, not just about identity theft, but about things like public records monitoring, bank account monitoring, your children’s social security number monitoring, then Privacy Guard will be a better option for you.
Privacy Guard provides an extensive array of protections that aren’t just limited to identity theft.
5. Identity Force
Identity Force is an identity theft protection company that provides a wide range of protection services to businesses and individuals.
Some of the products to highlight in their portfolio are: Medical identity theft protection, IRS tax fraud, and ID protection, child identity theft protection, as well as credit monitoring.
As mentioned before, Credit Karma and multiple other credit cards and credit monitoring services offer free credit monitoring.
Getting an Identity Force monthly subscription will make sense only if you want more than credit monitoring.
The company offers two subscription tiers: Ultrasecure and Ultrasecure + Credit.
Ultrasecure at $17.95 per month, provides the following services listed immediately below:
- Advanced Fraud Monitoring
- Smart SSN Tracker
- Identity theft insurance and recovery — up to $1 million
- Online PC protection tools
- Identity Force Mobile app
- Social media identity monitoring
- Bank and credit card activity alerts
Ultrasecure + Credit at $23.95 per month, provides all the above-listed services plus an additional few listed below:
- Three Credit Bureau Monitoring
- Credit Score Simulator
- Credit Report and Credit Scores from the three Credit Bureaus.
Like I stated previously, you can get most of the services listed here free of charge. However, if you want additional protections like identity theft insurance, then Identity Force doesn’t seem like a bad idea because they do provide that service.
6. myFico
If you’ve paid any attention to credit score issues or the discussion of credit-related topics, you may have heard the phrase “FICO score.” Well, FICO stands for Fair Isaac Corporation; and Fair Isaac Corporation is the company that invented the FICO scores.
myFico is the consumer division of the Fair Isaac Corporation, and they provide credit monitoring services for a monthly fee.
For a monthly subscription ranging from $19.95 to $39.95, you’d get the following from myFico:
- FICO Scores
- Scores for mortgages, auto loans & more
- Credit reports
- Score and credit monitoring
- $1 million identity theft insurance
- 24×7 identity restoration
- Identity monitoring
At $39.95 a month, subscription at myFico is on the high side, especially since they don’t offer many of the additional services other companies listed here offer.
[READ: DIY Credit Repair Hacks – Step by Step Process To Repair Your Credit]7. TransUnion Credit Monitoring
TransUnion is one of the three major credit bureaus. They offer an array of products, including TrueIdentity, a free identity protection service.
With TrueIdentity, you get alerts to critical credit information changes in your credit report.
You also get unlimited TransUnion report refreshes, the ability to lock your TransUnion credit report, and up to $25,000 in ID theft insurance — all for free.
For credit monitoring, TransUnion’s TrueIdentity covers all the essentials at no cost to you.
Of course, TransUnion also provides additional services like Creditcompass, a service that recommends a pathway to achieve your desired credit score.
Another service that TransUnion offers, which might be of interest to you, is the CreditLock Plus. Unlike other TransUnion services, this one comes with a monthly subscription of $24.95.
The $24.95 monthly subscription entitles you to a $1 million identity theft insurance and the ability to stop identity thieves for accessing your credit report.
8. Experian
Experian is another one of the three major credit bureaus, the others being TransUnion (previously mentioned) and Equifax.
For a $19.99 monthly subscription, Experian provides Fraud Resolution and up to $1 Million ID Theft Insurance, Identity Theft Monitoring, Alerts, and Dark Web Surveillance. In addition to that, they also provide 3-Bureau FICO Scores and Credit Monitoring.
They also offer a one-month free trial, after which subscribers can opt to continue for $19.99 a month or cancel their membership.
If you are averse to paying almost $20 a month for identity protection and credit monitoring, Experian also has a free tier that might interest you.
With Experian’s free service, you’ll get a rigorous credit monitoring, as well as alerts of changes in your credit report. However, you wouldn’t get ID theft insurance, which isn’t a necessity after all.
9. Zander Insurance
Zander Insurance offers an array of insurance products that span the gamut from life and health insurance to home and auto insurance. They also provide another thing: identity theft protection.
Zander Insurance identity theft protection is perhaps the most affordable of all the paid identity theft protection services listed here. At only $6.75 per month for the individual plan and $12.90 for the family plan, Zander Insurance provides a fantastic array of benefits.
For example, for just $6.75, Zander Insurance provides up to $1 million in insurance coverage for stolen funds and expenses that arise from a stolen identity.
Zander also protects against all kinds of ID theft: from medical ID theft, criminal ID theft, tax fraud, social security fraud, child ID theft, you name it, Zander probably provides it.
10. ReliaShield
Finally, on our list of the best credit monitoring services is ReliaShield.
Founded in 1999, ReliaShield has helped millions of Americans with their risk management needs.
ReliaShield’s core business is identity theft, and they do an excellent job at it.
The company extends protection for multiple types of ID theft — from court records and dark web monitoring to credit and address change monitoring; they do it all.
The highlight of ReliaShield offerings is their $1 million insurance for stolen funds arising from identity theft.
Bottom Line
Credit monitoring is essential for protecting your information against identity theft. While many companies offer credit monitoring services for a monthly subscription, you can get robust credit monitoring at no cost from many reputable companies like Credit Karma, TransUnion, and Experian.
However, if you are interested not just in identity theft insurance, but other forms of identity monitoring also — like medical identity monitoring and the likes — then it will make sense to get a subscription because subscription services usually go the extra mile. For example, the offer things like medical id monitoring, bank account monitoring, as well as, child ID monitoring.
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