LifeLock Alternatives

Protecting your identity is incredibly important. If someone steals your personal information they can do a lot of financial harm to you, including opening credit cards or getting loans in your name, stealing your tax return, or participating in other forms of fraud using your name.

LifeLock is a service that helps to protect you from identity theft, but it isn’t the only service that does this. Identity theft protection is a whole industry and there are many companies that exist in the market. If you’re looking for identity theft protection and don’t think LifeLock is the right choice for you, consider these alternatives.

Overview: LifeLock Alternatives

BestLifeLock Alternatives

Experian

Experian is one of the major credit bureaus in the United States. It’s expanded its services to offer identity theft protection.

Basic Features

Experian, like most identity monitoring services, monitors many different aspects of your identity, including your credit. It also scans the dark web for your personal information to see if you’ve been affected by a data breach or other event that puts you at risk of identity theft.

One unique feature of Experian is CreditLock. You can open the Experian app and lock your credit report with one tap, which can help protect your identity and stop fraudsters from opening credit accounts in your name.

Fees

Experian offers two levels of coverage but offers discount pricing if you purchase the service for your children or a partner and children together.

• IdentityWorks Plus comes with $500,000 in identity theft insurance, fraud resolution service, lost wallet assistance, CreditLock, and basic monitoring service.It costs $9.99 per month for individuals, $14.99 per month for an individual and up to ten children, and $19.99 per month for a couple plus up to 10 children.
• IdentityWorks Premium adds $500,000 in additional insurance plus more monitoring services, such as court record monitoring and payday loan monitoring. You also get quarterly access to your FICO scores from all three credit bureaus. Premium costs $19.99 for an individual, $24.99 for an individual and up to ten children and $29.99 for a couple and up to 10 children.

Pros and Cons

Related: LifeLock vs. Experian

IdentityForce

IdentityForce is an identity protection company located in Framingham, Massachusetts. Its been operating since 1978.

Basic Features

IdentityForce offers identity protection services to individuals and small businesses, making it popular for people who are self-employed or who own a business.

IdentityForce uses personalized breach risk analysis to personalize your identity theft protection based on your unique risk profile and give you advice on how to best protect your identity. For example, by analyzing previous data breaches that included your information, IdentityForce can show you exactly what information was made public and how much it places you at risk.

Like other identity protection services, IdentityForce offers $1 million in identity theft insurance. It monitors different aspects of your identity and can also help you monitor and control your credit.

You can also purchase ChildWatch service, which protects your children’s identities.

Fees

There are two levels of service offered by IdentityForce.

• UltraSecure costs $17.95 per month and includes all of IdentityForces non-credit report related features, including identity monitoring, fraud alerts, social media monitoring, court record monitoring, medical ID fraud monitoring, and more.
• UltraSecure+Credit is an upgrade available for $23.95 per month. This service includes all of the benefits of UltraSecure but adds access to credit reports from all three credit bureaus, a credit score tracker, and a score simulator.

Pros and Cons

PrivacyGuard

PrivacyGuard is a credit reporting, credit monitoring, and identity theft protection service that you can use to keep your credit and your identity safe.

Basic Features

PrivacyGuard offers two types of service: credit protection and ID protection.

Credit protection focuses on keeping you informed about your credit and making sure that your credit report is accurate and isn’t affected by mistakes or fraud. This service includes things like:

• Monthly credit reports from all three bureaus
• 24/7 credit report monitoring
• Monthly status updates
• Access to the PrivacyGuard app
• A dedicated fraud resolution agent
• Credit score simulator
• Credit information hotline

ID protection focuses on protecting your identity, making sure people cant steal your personal information and use it to commit fraud. This service includes things like:

• Public & Dark Web Scanning
• Social Security Number Monitoring
• Driver's License & Passport Monitoring
• Bank Account Monitoring
• Debit & Credit Card Monitoring
• USPS Address Change Verification
• Monthly Status updates
• Dedicated ID Fraud Resolution Agent
• Online Fraud Assistance
• $1 Million ID Theft Insurance
• Lost & Stolen Wallet Protection
• Annual public records reports

You can also sign up for Total Protection which combines ID and Credit protection and adds some additional monitoring.

Fees

You can purchase ID Protection, Credit Protection, or Total Protection, which combines the two services.

ID Protection costs $9.99 per month. Credit Protection is $19.99 per month. Getting both by buying Total Protection will cost you $24.99 per month.

Pros and Cons

IDShield

IDShield is an identity theft monitoring service that was founded in 1969. The company offers monitoring services to individuals and families.

Basic Features

IDShield includes three services: financial monitoring and protection, privacy and reputation management, and restoration and support service.

Financial monitoring and protection include credit and Social Security monitoring as well as monitoring for things like public records, court cases, payday loans, and address changes. These services can help you avoid financial fraud and save you costly debt or legal fees.

Privacy and reputation management can help you reduce the number of solicitor phone calls you get, monitor your social media for things that may damage your reputation, and provide support if your child is the victim of cyberbullying.

Restoration and support services are all about recovering from fraud or identity theft and include unlimited consultation with IDShields identity experts, assistance from private investigators who can help identify fraud, and credit score tracking.

Fees

IDShield offers two levels of service, 1-Bureau and 3-Bureau. You can purchase an individual plan or a family plan, which covers two adults and 10 children. The primary difference is that 1-Bureau plans only monitor your credit reports at TransUnion while 3-Bureau plans monitor reports from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

The 1-Bureau plan costs $13.95 per month for an individual plan or $26.95 per month for a family plan. The 3-Bureau plan costs $17.95 per month for individuals and $32.95 for families.

Pros and Cons

FAQs

These are some frequently asked questions about identity protection services.

Are identity protection services worth the cost?

It’s up to you whether paying for identity protection services is worth it. You can do everything that an identity protection company can, like monitoring your credit report, if you’re willing to put in the effort. In essence, you’re paying for the convenience and peace of mind they can provide. If that’s worth the cost to you, then it’s worth paying for the service.

How can I protect my identity from being stolen?

There are a lot of actions you can take to reduce the risk of identity theft. Make sure never to use the same password on multiple websites, avoid suspicious websites, never give out your personal information, and check your credit reports regularly to help protect your identity.

Can you be held liable if your identity is stolen?

For the most part, if someone steals your identity, you may not be held liable if they do things like take out a loan in your name. However, that doesn’t mean that identity theft isn’t a problem. You’ll have to spend time dealing with the fraud and repairing your credit. In the meantime, it can make it difficult for you to qualify for new loans.

Bottom Line

There are dozens of identity monitoring services out there, each with its pros and cons. If you’re interested in purchasing identity protection, take the time to shop around and find the service that works best for you.

Also read:

• Is LifeLock Worth It? Here Is Why It Might Not Be
• LifeLock vs Identity Guard
• Best Identity Theft Protection Services
• Lifelock Review