How To Get The Best Identity Theft Protection:
Lesson #1: Don’t Get A Monitoring Service.

(We Are Founded And Operated By Former: POLICE OFFICERS, FBI, U.S. MARSHALS, SECRET SERVICE, TEXAS RANGERS, CHIEF STATE PROSECUTORS, AND THE FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY.)

 #1 — GET A SERVICE THAT PREVENTS (NOT MONITORS) ID THEFT AND COVERS EVERYTHING

Most identity theft protection services offer credit “monitoring.”  Any Identity Theft Expert will tell you that monitoring is practically useless.  Why?  All monitoring does is inform you, that you are now a victim.  That is far too late.  You want someone to prevent you from becoming a victim in the first place!  That is what www.keepmyID.org does best (for only $11-17/month).  If you see the words “monitoring” save your money.  Don’t sign up. 

In addition, almost all the companies out there only protect you from financial ID theft only.  That is about 50% of ID theft.  There is also:

• Medical ID Theft Protection

• Child and Elderly ID Theft Protection (up 35x since last year)

• Tax Fraud Protection (filing fake tax returns, etc.)

• Benefits Fraud Protection

• Criminal ID Theft Protection (getting arrested in your name)

• Employment Fraud Protection (a felon or an illegal getting a job in your name)

• Social Security Fraud Protection

• Family Fraud Protection

What is your monitoring service going to do about those.  I can tell you — nothing.  Make sure you get a service that (1) prevents (not monitors) identity theft and (2) covers ALL ID theft events; not just half of them.  Maybe you are not sure what they provide (understandably, as many companies blur the lines).  Watch out.  Many provide little to no protection.

Put them to the test:

#2 — THE FOUR QUESTIONS TO ASK ANY SERVICE BEFORE SIGNING UP:

(1) Do you hire an attorney for me from Day One?

In order to ensure preventative services are provided (fraud alerts, credit freezes, extended fraud alerts, credit reports, etc.) they must hire an attorney for you, to act as your personal representative.  That is the law.  Don’t settle for “we’ll show you how to do it.”  No, that is their job.   If they say NO, move on.  They are really just a monitoring service pretending to be a identity theft prevention service.  Again, be very wary of any service touting monitoring.

(2) Do you ensure that fraud alerts are put on my accounts every 90 days?

This is ID Theft 101.  Alerts are your main tool for blocking financial ID theft.  If they say NO, move on quickly.

(3) Do you protect me from ALL ID theft events (Medical, Tax, etc. [see above])?

Now, you may want to pay less and roll the dice on just covering yourself for financial ID theft.  That is fine and the most common ID theft worry.  But know you are taking the risk.  It is a cost/benefit analysis.  Total identity theft protection costs more (ours is $11 for financial and $17/month for total protection).  But the company should at least offer the protection if you want it.  If they do not, red flag, move on.  For example, we don’t make any profit on the additional $6 service (100% recovery services).  Really.  But we felt it was important enough to add anyway.  Sometimes doing the right thing is not profitable, but it’s the right thing to do.  Make sure your company has it.

(4) Do you offer unlimited recovery services and assign a case worker to do ALL the work for me? 

The FBI reports that you will spend 331 hours trying to clean up the mess that ID theft leaves behind.  You do not have time for that.  That is their job.  If they do not assign a case worker who does ALL (not part) of the work for you, move on.  Again this often costs a little more (as with our service) but it is worth it.  331 hours is a lot of time to lose.

At of the end of the day, we want to protect you and your families from ID theft.  That is our sole mission.  Whether you use us or a competitor is of lesser importance. We just want you to get protection.  You have a 1 in 3 chance each year of becoming a victim.  It will happen to you eventually.  You must have something to protect you this day and age.  Make sure that something is prevention, not monitoring, and that you will be covered in the event your ID is stolen.  There is no 100%.  So get full protection.  That is our advice. 

Note: And no, your Credit Card Company and bank do not protect you from ID theft (just bank fraud).  They just protect that particular account from monetary loss; not your identity.  That idea is a very common misconception.

What is the right identity theft protection service for you and your family?  Take a few moments to review our services, keep up with the latest identity theft protection trends on our blog, and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.  Have a specific question about identity theft?  Send us an email at support@keepmyid.org.