Best Identity Theft Protection Services of 2024
Aura is our top pick for the best identity theft protection, followed by NortonLifeLock and Identity Guard.
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Last Updated on Nov 19, 2024
- Includes a VPN for additional identity protection
- Offers credit monitoring from all three major bureaus
- Cyberbullying and online predator protection available
- Up to $1 million of insurance coverage
- Protect up to seven members of your family with one plan
- Features constant dark web scans
- Near real-time alerts and 24/7 identity monitoring
- Access to dedicated case managers if you fall victim to identity theft
- Provides Facebook timeline analysis for added protection
It’s easy to protect something you can see and touch – like a piece of jewelry or family heirloom – but how do you protect your identity from thieves? Your identity is made up of your personal information, which is data that can be found everywhere from your social media profiles, public records, and even data broker websites. You can’t exactly contain it, so the best course of action is to get an identity protection service to do the job for you. But which one?
Based on our tests, Aura is the top option with its comprehensive and all-inclusive plans. It also has some of the best identity protection features and packages for families, especially those with kids. But besides Aura, we also recommend NortonLifeLock, Identity Guard, IdentityIQ, and McAfee. Keep reading to find out the best option for you.
Pro Tip: To really shore up your digital security, be sure to use one of the top VPNs on the market.
The Top 5 Identity Theft Protection Services of 2024
- Aura - Best for Family Protection
- LifeLock - Best Digital Identity Theft Protection
- Identity Guard® - Best Identity Theft Alerting
- IdentityIQ - Best Credit Protection and Monitoring
- McAfee Identity Theft Protection - Best User Experience
How We Chose Our Top Picks
Our top picks offer the must-have features of identity theft protection:
| Identity Protection | They monitor key areas like the internet, dark web, and public records for early signs of identity theft. |
| Credit Protection | They also monitor financial aspects of your life, including your bank and credit card accounts, credit score from the three credit bureaus, and investment accounts. |
| Insurance and Restoration | If your identity is stolen, they reimburse you for out-of-pocket expenses and stolen funds, and a case manager helps you get your life back on track. |
| Digital Protection | As a proactive measure, they offer cybersecurity tools that help keep your online data private and stop data-stealing malware. |
Our top picks have a lot of features in common. So, we focused our tests on the three key areas that make these services effective in preventing the consequences of identity theft:
- Identity Monitoring
- Credit Monitoring
- Cybersecurity
The Best Identity Theft Protection Services
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1. Aura - Best for Family Protection
Aura provides customers with solid identity theft protection, but it goes further, offering credit and fraud protection as well as complete device and network protection.
Product Specs
Dark Web Monitoring Yes Credit Reporting Yes Insurance Coverage Up to $1 million Free Trial 14-day Individual Monthly Plans $12 Family Monthly Plans $45
Aura Identity Monitoring
Aura cast a wide net to monitor our personal information, looking through public records, online accounts, and the dark web. What stood out the most is home and auto title monitoring, particularly the latter. It was the only service we’ve tested that monitors auto titles for fraudulent use (e.g. collateral loans). Our second pick, LifeLock, monitors home titles but not auto titles. Considering there are services that offer neither (see our IdentityForce review), Aura’s coverage was excellent.
Our identity theft expert had 22 alerts to check after signing up for Aura’s service. Aura Credit Monitoring
Aura was among the best credit protection services as well because all subscriptions include three-bureau credit monitoring. Most services including Identity Guard and LifeLock reserve that kind of protection for their top-tier plans. Not Aura. It even monitored our personal finances and looked for high-risk transactions such as credit card charges, payday loans, and car advances. None of the other services we tested offer those feature in their entry-level plans like Aura does.
Aura Cybersecurity
Lastly, Aura protected us through cybersecurity tools, including antivirus software, a VPN, a password manager, and Privacy Assistant. That last one searched people search sites and automatically requested the removal of our information. Only 6 percent of Americans use data removal services, but we’re seeing more identity protection services offer a similar feature, including McAfee (#5 on this list).
Cybersecurity Features Coverage VPN Up to 10 devices per adult user Antivirus software Up to 10 devices per adult user Safe browsing Up to 10 devices per adult user Password manager Available for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge Email alias Available for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge Note that the included VPN is not a full-featured VPN. It connected us only to a U.S. server. It encrypted our data and hid our IP address, but it didn’t give us other VPN benefits like unblocking geo-restricted websites and content.
What We Like
- Fast alerts
- All plans offer the same core features
- Includes plenty of cybersecurity features
- Affordable plans starting at $12 per month
What We Don’t Like
- Included VPN connects only to U.S. servers
- Smartphone apps are a little difficult to navigate
- No cheaper subscription options since all plans are all-inclusive
- Offers the necessities but not much else
Our Aura Experience
All of Aura’s features, including its cybersecurity tools, were conveniently accessible through the Aura app. This sets it apart from NortonLifeLock, which had different apps for its identity protection features and cybersecurity functions.
We can’t say that Aura’s setup was perfect though. A lot of information was thrown at us during the setup process – from which personal details to enter to how to use the cybersecurity tools. It took us a couple of hours to fully set up Aura. Once we did though, it was smooth sailing from there. We only ever had to go back to the app to check alerts and use the VPN and antivirus software.
FYI: We had to install the password manager and email alias features separately. They were both included in the Aura browser extension, which is available for Chrome, Firefox, and several other major browsers.
Aura’s VPN is effective, but it doesn’t offer many additional features.After that, we didn’t have to do much. We occasionally checked our Experian credit score, viewed alerts, or updated our information using the app – but that’s it. Aura ran completely in the background of our lives.
Aura Pricing
All Aura plans offer the same core features – you just have to decide how many people in your household get protection. You won’t have trouble protecting everyone though because Aura’s family plans cover up to five adults and unlimited children. Besides the family plan, there are options for individuals and couples, plus an add-on subscription for kids that focus on digital protections.
Aura Plans and Pricing Individual Couple Family Kids Monthly billing $15 $29 $50 $13 Annual billing $144 $264 $384 $120 Average monthly cost for annual plans $12 $22 $32 $10 Coverage 1 adult 2 adults 5 adults, unlimited children Unlimited children (can be added to Individual or Couple plans) We liked the comprehensiveness of Aura’s plans. It can adapt to different family setups. For example, if you’re a single parent with children, getting the Individual plan and then adding the Kids plan will save you about $10. On the other hand, if you live with extended family or have kids over the age of 18, you can protect everyone with the Family plan that covers up to five adults. In comparison, LifeLock’s family plan protects only up to two adults.
FYI: The features of the Kids plan – parental controls, cyberbully protection, predator alerts – are also available in the Family plans.
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2. LifeLock - Best Digital Identity Theft Protection
LifeLock customers enjoy ID theft monitoring and device protection with Norton 360 antivirus.
Product Specs
Dark Web Monitoring Yes Credit Reporting Yes Insurance Coverage Up to $1 million Free Trial 30-day Individual Monthly Plans $7.50 and up Family Monthly Plans $14.99 and up NortonLifeLock Identity Monitoring
Aside from its lack of auto title monitoring, we think the LifeLock Ultimate Plus plan gives Aura a run for its money. It gave us comprehensive identity monitoring, including fictitious identity monitoring that Aura lacked. That feature looks for signs of synthetic identity theft, where a thief uses bits and pieces of your information to create a fake identity. It’s harder to monitor than traditional identity theft, but with LifeLock, every piece of your personally identifiable information is locked down.
Our identity theft expert setting up Norton LifeLock’s identity theft protection. NortonLifeLock Credit Monitoring
Just like Aura, LifeLock monitored our credit files from the three main bureaus. It alerted us when we applied for car financing as well as when we opened a new savings account. Impressively, the alert came in as soon as we left the bank. We were testing IdentityForce at the same time, and its alert didn’t come until later that day. (See our LifeLock vs. IdentityForce comparison for more.)
Aside from credit files and new account applications, LifeLock Ultimate Plus also monitored:
- 401(k) and investment accounts
- Bank and credit card activities (withdrawals, balance transfers, etc.)
- Payday loans with payday loan lock
- Buy now, pay later purchases
Note: Not all plans include three-bureau credit monitoring. In fact, only the Ultimate Plus plan does. So if you want as comprehensive credit monitoring as we got, prepare to pay at least $19.99 per month for individual protection, or go with Aura with options starting from $12 per month.
NortonLifeLock Cybersecurity
One of LifeLock’s greatest advantages is its partnership with Norton. Our subscription gave us access to Norton 360; it’s similar but better than the Norton software we tested in our Norton review (one of our favorite antivirus brands).
Norton 360 With LifeLock Ultimate Plus Coverage Antivirus software Unlimited devices Norton secure VPN Unlimited devices Ad and tracker blocker Unlimited devices Privacy monitor (data removal service) Unlimited devices Cloud backup 500 GB Password manager Chrome, FireFox, Safari, and Edge Parental controls Unlimited devices Pro Tip: For an overview of Norton’s VPN, see our Norton Secure VPN review. It’s currently No.5 on our list of the best VPN services; plus, it’s the same VPN included in Norton 360.
What We Like:
- Top-notch identity theft protection and cybersecurity suite in one
- Up to $3 million coverage
- Additional digital security features for children
- Synthetic identity theft protection
What We Don’t Like:
- Family plans for two adults and five kids can cost as much as $81.99
- Prices increase after the first year
- Multiple apps need to be installed
- Limited credit protection features in lower-tier subscriptions (Select, Standard, Advantage)
Our NortonLifeLock Experience
We managed our identity and credit protection features through the LifeLock app and used the separate Norton app for the cybersecurity features. We admit it was a hassle having to switch apps, but in the grander scheme of things, we were glad LifeLock didn’t try to jam all its features in one place. Norton’s cybersecurity tools were far more feature-rich than that of Aura, so it was easier to protect ourselves online with a dedicated app.
Norton LifeLock helps remove personal information from data broker sites. As for the LifeLock app and dashboard, they focused on identity and credit protection. We managed our personal information via the web dashboard and PC app; however, when it came to alerts, we relied on the mobile apps. That said, we received a lot of alerts – even small credit card charges from our Uber rides.
FYI: Expect a barrage of alerts in the first weeks, as that’s when LifeLock will continuously search the web and public records for potentially leaked information. Once you’re through that phase, you’ll see a drastic decrease in the number of alerts you receive.
NortonLifeLock Pricing
You can purchase LifeLock on its own without cybersecurity features, or you can purchase a Norton 360 plan with LifeLock. And, unlike Aura, there are several subscription tiers: Standard, Select, Advantage, and Ultimate Plus. That means you can set a budget and go from that, unlike with Aura that requires you to go all the way in terms of features. That said, LifeLock’s pricing is higher than Aura. The Select plan already costs $14.99 per month, similar to Aura’s $15-per-month Individual plan.
NortonLifeLock Individual Subscriptions Standard Select Advantage Ultimate Plus Monthly price without Norton 360 $11.99 n/a $22.99 $34.99 Monthly price with Norton 360 n/a $14.99 $24.99 $34.99 Annual price without Norton 360 $89.99 n/a $179.88 $239.88 Annual price with Norton 360 n/a $99.48 $191.88 $299.98 -
3. Identity Guard® - Best Identity Theft Alerting
Identity Guard leverages IBM artificial intelligence to deliver advanced identity theft protection and credit monitoring.
Product Specs
Dark Web Monitoring Yes Credit Reporting Yes Insurance Coverage Up to $1 million Free Trial 30-day Individual Monthly Plans $7.50 and up Family Monthly Plans $14.99 and up Identity Guard Identity Monitoring
Identity Guard has been using A.I. to power its identity monitoring since 2018, and the results showed. It found our old online accounts that most other identity protection services we tested missed. Identity Guard also monitored our social media accounts for signs of hacking and spam chats – a feature only a few services like McAfee offer.
Our identity theft expert testing out Identity Guard’s Dark Web Monitoring feature. That said, social media monitoring is available only to Ultra users. Lower-tier plans enjoy fewer benefits, which was why LifeLock ranked one spot higher. (See our Identity Guard vs. LifeLock comparison for more.)
Fun Fact: In a study we conducted, we learned that Americans would sell their social media data for just over $2,000 on average. The truth, however, is that social media companies like Facebook and X collect tons of data from users, which may be harmful if shared or sold to others.
Identity Guard Credit Monitoring
Just like LifeLock, we only got comprehensive credit protection when we signed up for the top-tier Ultra plan. We didn’t receive any credit protection at all with the entry-level option, and the mid-tier option only gave us the basics like one-bureau monitoring. That’s why if you’re going with Identity Guard, we strongly recommend that you go with the Ultra plan. It includes:
- Credit and debit card monitoring
- 401(k) and investment account monitoring
- Experian credit lock
- Free annual three-bureau credit report
Anyone can get a free credit report from the three bureaus every week, but credit card and investment account monitoring are useful.
Identity Guard Cybersecurity
Identity Guard subscriptions come with a free Internet Security Suite by ZoneAlarm, a decent but not-so-popular brand. That’s for Windows only, unlike Norton 360 which can work across different platforms. Macs need antivirus, too, and so do smartphones. If you choose Identity Guard, we recommend getting antivirus software from a third party.
Fortunately, all Identity Guard subscriptions come with a VPN and password monitoring to help safeguard your privacy.
What We Like:
- Affordable entry-level plans starting at $6.67 per month for individuals
- Family plans (as low as $11.99 per month) cover five adults and unlimited children
- Comprehensive social media monitoring under Ultra plan
What We Don’t Like:
- No “limited power of attorney” for identity recovery service
- Limited credit and personal finances protection in lower-tier subscriptions
- Entry-level Value plan doesn’t include custom fraud resolution services
Our Identity Guard Experience
Our Identity Guard experience had ups and downs. The simple dashboard categorized alerts into dark web, activity, and threat alerts; this let us quickly identify what area needed attention. We also appreciated the regular reminders via text, app alerts, and email about how we can enhance our identity protection.
Our identity theft expert looking through the features of Identity Guard’s extensive dashboard. However, Identity Guard’s app appeared dated compared to competitors like Aura. Despite recent updates, it lacked the modern aesthetic and occasionally suffered from sluggishness and glitches. Those issues could be problematic when you’re racing against the clock in resolving potential identity theft cases.
FYI: On the bright side, we love Identity Guard’s alerts because they give you a simple and straightforward action plan. If you receive an alert and are not sure how to handle it, Identity Guard will give you useful suggestions.
Identity Guard Pricing
The budget-focused Value plan is one of the most affordable options anywhere, but it lacks credit protection. It kind of reminds us of Zander Insurance’s subscription plans. The Total and Ultra plans are both pricier, but they include credit monitoring and more advanced protections. And note that there are also family plans. Identity Guard is one of the best-value identity protection services for families.
Identity Guard Plans Value Total Ultra Individuals $6.67 per month $15.99 per month $23.99 per month Families $11.99 per month $23.99 per month $31.99 per month Pro Tip: While Identity Guard doesn’t offer free trials, all annual plans come with a 60-day money-back option.
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4. IdentityIQ - Best Credit Protection and Monitoring
IdentityIQ customers enjoy identity theft protection in both credit and non-credit related areas. Among its many other features, IdentityIQ provides dark web monitoring and keeps an eye out for arrest and conviction records in your name.
Product Specs
Dark Web Monitoring Yes Credit Reporting Yes Insurance Coverage Up to $1 million Free Trial 7-day Individual Monthly Plans $5.94 and up Family Monthly Plans $25.50 and up 
IdentityIQ Identity Monitoring
IdentityIQ’s dashboard makes it easy to get a handle on your credit. Unlike Identity Guard, all IdentityIQ plans include the same identity monitoring benefits. Besides the standard internet and dark web monitoring, these features stood out:
- Synthetic ID Theft Protection: Just like LifeLock, IdentityIQ monitored public and digital records for all items that included pieces of our personal information – not just those that perfectly matched our PII.
- Lost Wallet Assistance: If we lost our wallets, IdentityIQ would have helped us cancel our credit and debit cards, replace our IDs, etc.
- Opt-Out IQ: IdentityIQ automatically opted us out of junk mail subscriptions. It also enrolled our phone numbers on the National Do Not Call list.
Pro Tip: Opting out of junk mail subscriptions and enrolling on the DNC list is a good way to protect yourself from scammers, but if you want to improve your identity protection, you should also look into data removal services. Such services will opt you out of data broker sites that contain a scary amount of your data – from your name and contact details to your address and known relatives. See our top-recommended data removal services here.
IdentityIQ Credit Monitoring
The primary distinguishing factor between the IdentityIQ subscription plans is how much they will protect your credit. Our Secure Max (top-tier) plan gave us:
- Credit score change alerts
- Credit score tracker and simulator
- Monthly credit reports
On top of those, we appreciated IdentityIQ’s Utility Payment Reporting. Utility payments aren’t commonly reported to the major credit reporting bureaus, so they don’t often affect credit scores. After IdentityIQ reported our internet and electricity bill payments from the last 24 months, though, we saw our credit score increase. It didn’t protect our credit, but it helped us improve our credit worthiness.
IdentityIQ Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity features were provided by Bitdefender. If you’re not familiar, give our Bitdefender VPN review and Bitdefender antivirus review a read. The VPN was decent, but the antivirus software was top-notch. It was one of the best at detecting malware, and it protected us from phishing. It also had a file shredder feature that completely destroyed deleted files containing sensitive information to the point that they’re unrecoverable. It was almost on par with Norton, making IdentityIQ a good LifeLock alternative.
What We Like:
- Cybersecurity features provided by a top antivirus brand
- Adding cybersecurity features adds only $2 to $3 per month (cheaper than buying antivirus software)
- Features that help improve credit score
- Budget-focused Secure plan
What We Don’t Like:
- Doesn’t offer a lot of credit protection features
- Requires a third-party app for cybersecurity features
- Limited phone support
- Higher-tier plan (Secure Max) is expensive at $29.99 per month
Our IdentityIQ Experience
IdentityIQ’s app was easy to use, but a bit too simple. It didn’t offer many extra features like we saw from the Aura app – besides the Credit Score Tracker Simulator. The cybersecurity features were contained in third-party apps from Bitdefender.
Testing out IdentityIQ’s credit monitoring features. Most of the time we needed to access our IdentityIQ dashboard, we preferred using the web version. It was more minimalistic than other identity protection dashboards we tried, but at least it let us manage our plan (which the app didn’t). It’s also easier to update personal information on a computer than an app.
FYI: You can also request a copy of your credit report from the three credit bureaus once a month, every six months, or every year, depending on your plan. To do that, just log in to your IdentityIQ dashboard and find the Credit Report section. Keep in mind that the government has provisioned everyone to receive a free copy of their credit reports once a week.1
IdentityIQ Pricing
IdentityIQ’s pricing starts at $6.99 per month. We went with the highest option, Secure Max. Head over to our IdentityIQ pricing page to compare what the other plans include.
Cybersecurity features are optional. You can add the Bitdefender VPN and antivirus software to any of the four plans; it only costs about $2 to $3 per month – a great deal if you ask us.
IdentityIQ Subscriptions Secure Secure Plus Secure Pro Secure Max Monthly price $6.99 $9.99 $19.99 $29.99 Monthly price with cybersecurity features $8.99 $11.99 $21.99 $32.99 Annual price $71.30 $101.90 $203.90 $305.90 Annual price with cybersecurity features $91.70 $122.30 $224.30 $336.50 FYI: Antivirus software can cost $30 to $100 per year (around $2.50 to $8.50 per month); this is why paying IdentityIQ an additional $2 to $3 per month to access Bitdefender antivirus and VPN is a good deal.
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5. McAfee Identity Theft Protection - Best User Experience
McAfee combines its decades of experience in malware protection with credit and identity monitoring to protect customers’ identities proactively.
Product Specs
Dark Web Monitoring Yes Credit Reporting No Insurance Coverage Up to $1 million Free Trial 30-day Individual Monthly Plans $4.17 and up Family Monthly Plans $16.67 and up 
McAfee Identity Monitoring
McAfee didn’t offer some of the more advanced identity monitoring features like we saw from Aura (home and auto title) or LifeLock (synthetic ID theft); however, all in all, McAfee monitored around 60 different types of information, including:
- Drivers license numbers
- Insurance ID cards
- Tax IDs
- Usernames of online accounts
- Passport number
McAfee’s data breach monitoring alerted us to a five-year-old data breach we hadn’t heard about before. Who knows what would have happened if we didn’t learn about that?
No data breaches were found with our McAfee dark web scan. McAfee Credit Monitoring
If you sign up for the Ultimate plan, like we did, you can access these features:
- You’ll be able to freeze/unfreeze and lock/unlock your credit on demand. Both can help you stop unauthorized access to your credit accounts.
- McAfee will include your 401(k) and other investment accounts in its monitoring.
- You’ll get three-bureau credit monitoring instead of just one bureau from the mid-tier option.
- You’ll get an alert if someone tries to take over your bank account – a.k.a. account takeover.
McAfee Cybersecurity
Our Ultimate plan gave us full service personal data and online account cleanup. It didn’t just search the web for data broker sites and old accounts; it also helped us clear our data from those. For data broker sites, McAfee sent takedown requests on our behalf. For old accounts, it initiated account deletion.
Those are, of course, on top of McAfee’s impressive antivirus features. We delve deeper into those in our McAfee review, so give that a read if you want to learn more.
What We Like:
- Intuitively designed all-in-one app
- Affordable average monthly rates for the first year
- Data cleanup services
- Protection Score lets you know how safe you are
What We Don’t Like:
- All annual billing; no monthly billing option
- Three-bureau credit monitoring for top-tier plan only
- Some features you can activate only if you sign up for auto-renewal
- Price increases after the first year
Our McAfee Experience
McAfee managed to pack all its features in one app, a feat NortonLifeLock failed to achieve. McAfee pulled it off with impressive app organization. Within the McAfee app are tabs for the different areas of protection, such as web protection, privacy protection, device and malware protection, and identity protection. There was also a Protection Score area that rated how safe we are from identity theft. But even though all the features were packed into one app, the navigation and controls were intuitive.
Using McAfee’s resources to better understand the service — part of our research process. Pro Tip: The Security.org team built a tool similar to McAfee’s Protection Score, which we named Security Score. Give it a try to see how safe you are both from physical dangers like home invasion, robbery, and theft, as well as cyberthreats like malware, hacking, and phishing.
McAfee Pricing
With McAfee, only annual billing is available; however, there’s a 30-day money-back option in case you change your mind. All plans also include cybersecurity features.
McAfee+ Plans Premium Advanced Ultimate For individuals $49.99 $89.99 $199.99 For families $69.99 $119.99 $249.99
Honorable Mentions
IDShield – Affordable Family Protection
IDShield offers affordable protection to families. IDShield family plans start at $29.95 and cover up to 11 members. It also offers Minor Child Monitoring; this goes beyond just protecting kids online and monitors their SSN to protect them from child identity theft.
ID Watchdog – Protection With up to $2 Million Coverage
This Equifax-owned brand provides generous insurance coverage up to $2 million. While it doesn’t offer unique identity monitoring features, its credit monitoring stood out for monitoring high-risk transactions; also, it let us set a threshold amount that would trigger those alerts.
Allstate – Identity Theft Insurance and Identity Restoration
Allstate’s white-glove identity restoration service and insurance made it worth the money. Being an insurance company, it offers a lot of safety nets like the $25,000 home title fraud reimbursement. It’s still more than capable of protecting users, thanks to cybersecurity features from Webroot.
Summary of the Best Identity Theft Protection Services of 2024
| System |
Aura
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LifeLock
|
Identity Guard®
|
IdentityIQ
|
McAfee Identity Theft Protection
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
| Ratings | 9.6/10 | 9.2/10 | 9.5/10 | 9.3/10 | 8.6/10 |
| Read Review | Aura Review | LifeLock Review | Identity Guard® Review | IdentityIQ Review | McAfee Identity Theft Protection Review |
Identity Theft Explained
In the eight-minute video above, our Chief Editor explains what identity theft is and what we can do about it.
What Is Identity Theft? Everything You Need To Know
Identity theft is a crime where someone uses the personal information of another person to commit fraud. The consequences vary – from losing money and facing legal problems to having a ruined credit.
In 2023, nearly a million Americans suffered from it and lost nearly $2 billion dollars.2 The most common type was credit card fraud, which affected more than 400,000 individuals. Next to that was loan fraud, with nearly 150,000 victims.
What Different Types of Identity Theft Are There?
There are different types of identity theft, including credit card fraud and loan fraud. Here are other types to beware of:
- Financial identity theft: This involves stealing money from you, either through your bank accounts, credit cards, or other personal accounts. To do that, thieves steal credit card numbers, hijack bank accounts, cash out investment accounts, etc.
- Medical identity theft: This is when someone uses your medical insurance to pay for their medical bills. It can raise your health insurance rates or might even trigger errors in your medical treatment.
- Senior identity theft: Criminals specifically target older folks, knowing that they’re less likely to monitor accounts for identity fraud and more likely to fall for scams. See the best identity theft protection for seniors.
- Criminal identity theft: You can end up with a criminal record without breaking any laws if an identity thief provides your personal information or stolen ID at a traffic stop or when arrested.
- Child identity theft: Thieves target children’s SSN to stack payday loans and make a quick getaway, get a driver’s license, or abuse credit under a child’s name. This sort of identity theft could go unnoticed for years.
- Tax fraud: The goal is to get your tax refund. You could become a victim of tax fraud even if you’re unemployed or actually owe the government a tax payment. Fraudsters can easily submit a phony income in your name, then change your listed address to receive a refund check.
Understanding Identity Theft Protection Services
Identity theft protection services monitor people’s PII and credit files to catch early signs of identity theft. They also provide safety nets in the form of insurance and identity restoration services.
- Identity theft prevention: Modern identity theft protection services offer cybersecurity features that help you stay on top of your online data and prevent online identity theft. Those features often include antivirus software, VPNs, and password managers.
- Identity theft monitoring: Identity protection also means detecting signs of theft to prevent damage. Services generally monitor credit reports and scores, the dark web, public records, and other areas where stolen identities might appear.
- Identity recovery: If your identity is stolen, an expert case manager can help restore your name. They can arrange for lawyers to contact credit reporting agencies and help get documents notarized.
- Identity theft insurance: Lastly, if you suffer from financial losses, you may be able to receive reimbursements for stolen funds, legal and expert fees, and other out-of-pocket expenses.
The Cost of Identity Theft Protection
When comparing identity theft protection services, the cost always comes up. Pricing varies across the market, depending on what features the service offers exactly. Some offer plans as low as less than $10 per month, while others go up to over $30. The average price is somewhere between $14 to $16 per month for individuals. For family plans, expect to pay between $20 to $30 per month.
Who Needs Identity Theft Protection?
We all have personal data, so we could all fall victim to identity theft. Literally everyone needs identity theft protection. However, some people need it more urgently than others.
Visiting our “What is My Security Score” tool can help you determine how much you need identity theft protection. This tool takes into account your physical and digital security score. By understanding what your security score entails, you can pinpoint areas that need reinforcement and make your identity a little more secure.
Identity Theft Protection Alternatives
Of course, identity theft protection services aren’t the only ways to protect yourself from identity theft. You can supplement them with these other tips from our identity theft, cybersecurity, and home security experts:
- Keep all your important documents, using one of the better home security systems to protect them if necessary.
- Get your mail out of your mailbox as soon as possible so no one can steal it and glean your credentials.
- Shred any papers that have your personal information immediately after you’re done using them.
- Use a long, complicated, and unique password for each of your accounts. Our Random Password Generator can help.
- Use antivirus software to avoid hackers gaining access to your accounts.
- Use a VPN while on public Wi-Fi networks.
- Only give your SSN when it’s completely necessary.
- Regularly check your credit report from the three reporting bureaus, as well as your personal financial accounts.
While nothing can guarantee that your identity won’t be stolen, these simple steps will make it less likely.
Our Methodology: How We Picked the Best Identity Theft Protection of 2024
Note that for every identity theft service we review, we actually test the service for at least two months. While we’re trying them out, here’s what we look for:
- Credit agencies monitored: We want credit monitoring from all three bureaus, plus frequent updates of both credit scores and reports.
- Financial areas monitored: We want subscriptions to keep track of our finances, making sure no one has accessed our payment information, bank accounts, credit cards, etc.
- Identity theft insurance: Services should also include identity theft insurance with a reimbursement of $1 million or more.
- Privacy policy: We read each company’s privacy policy to see how they protect the information we give them. We want to make sure that they won’t sell it to third parties.
- Encryption method: We also look into what encryption they use to protect our information stored on their servers. We generally prefer military-grade 256-bit AES.
- Pricing: We also try to determine if they offer enough features and protections to justify the price.
Recap
There’s no single way to protect yourself from identity theft. It should be a concerted effort between you, your family and the people around you, and your identity theft protection service. So while you continue to improve and adapt your identity theft prevention measures, be sure to supplement them with a good identity protection service.
More Digital Security Guides
Identity theft isn’t the only thing to worry about when it comes to your digital identity. We’ve put together a few guides that should help you stay secure online.
Federal Trade Commission. (2024). You now have permanent access to free weekly credit reports.
consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/10/you-now-have-permanent-access-free-weekly-credit-reportsFederal Trade Commission. (2024). Identity Theft Reports.
public.tableau.com/app/profile/federal.trade.commission/viz/IdentityTheftReports/TheftTypesOverTime