Data breaches happen nearly every day, leaving your personal and financial data up for grabs to the highest bidder. Identity theft protection services can’t prevent a data breach, but they can offer you peace of mind if the unthinkable happens. The best identity theft services will scan the dark web for your data, monitor your credit reports, protect you with insurance and help you recover your identity if it’s compromised. There’s not a one-size-fits-all solution for everyone. Instead you should opt for the ID theft protection service that fits in your budget and offers the features and coverage amount you need. You can sign up for a free identity theft protection service for basic coverage or pay up to $80 a month for more robust protection.
We tested eight of the top identity theft protection services to help you find the right fit for you and your family.
Best identity theft protection services of 2025
Pros
- All plans offer three bureau credit monitoring
- Cover up to five adults and unlimited children
- Offers a couples plan
- Simple, easy-to-use interface
Cons
- Family plan is expensive compared to competitors
- No identity theft insurance for minors
- Lacks some monitoring features
Why we like it:
Aura wins our top pick for best identity theft protection service. It’s a comprehensive catch-all service that gives you the most bang for your buck compared to the competition. For as low as $15, you’ll get features other services require you to upgrade for. We also appreciate its straightforward pricing model (just four plans to choose from).
Like most services, Aura scans the dark web for your personal information — such as your name and Social Security number. A big pro for Aura is that three credit bureau monitoring is available with any identity theft protection tier. (Note: This does not include Aura’s Kids plan, which is focused on safe gaming tools. For comprehensive coverage for children, you must sign up for Aura’s Family plan.)
Aura monitors many elements of your identity online, including your home and auto title, financial accounts and criminal records in case any crimes have been committed in your name. Any Aura plan also includes perks like a virtual private network, password manager and antivirus for up to 10 devices, per adult. Email aliases are available to keep unwanted emails out of your inbox.
This service’s family plan uniquely covers five adults and unlimited children. All the benefits of the Kids plan are available on Aura’s family plan. Parents also receive assistance in freezing their children’s credit reports. No identity theft insurance is provided to minors. But Aura offers up to $1 million in coverage for any adult covered on a family plan.
Who it’s best for:
Aura is a great choice for individuals looking for a comprehensive, but affordable identity theft protection plan. It’s also good for families and kids since unlimited children can be added to the family plan.
Who shouldn’t sign up for it:
If you’re looking for identity theft insurance for minors or coverage beyond $1 million, look for another identity theft protection service like LifeLock.
Starts at $13 per month
- $13 per month for Kids plan
- $15 per month for Individual plan
- $29 per month for Couple plan
- $50 per month for Family plan
Annual plans cost $120 for Kids, $144 for individuals, $228 for couples and $240 for families (five adults and unlimited children) under current promotional pricing.
The prices displayed below are current as of June 2025. You may receive a discount when clicking on CNET’s link.
Pros
- Great in-between service for those torn between Aura and LifeLock
- Offers up to $2 million in identity theft insurance
- Comes with a customized identity theft protection action plan
- Comprehensive quarterly credit report summaries
Cons
- Credit bureau monitoring is only offered with its most expensive tier
- VPN available only on mobile devices
- Dark web notification risk scores aren’t really useful
Why we like it:
IdentityForce is a great in-between identity theft protection service for those deciding between Aura and LifeLock. With a subscription, you receive a good mix of the unique services that LifeLock offers, but pay monthly or yearly fees that are closer to Aura’s price point.
You can potentially receive more identity theft protection insurance through IdentityForce than Aura ($2 million versus $1 million per adult). IdentityForce’s top family plan is also cheaper than Aura’s. However, be sure to note that IdentityForce’s family plans cover two adults while Aura covers up to five. Both cover unlimited children.
Among its top features, IdentityForce provides a password manager, virtual private network antivirus protection, investment account alerts and social media monitoring.
Unique to IdentityForce is a personal identity safety score that’s used to create a personalized action plan. Its comprehensive quarterly credit reports also stood out to us in our tests, though it’s worth noting, you don’t have to pay money to access your credit reports.
Who it’s best for:
IdentityForce is a good identity theft protection choice for individuals and families who need to cover two adults or less. It’s a more budget-friendly option than many other identity theft plans, with helpful features that competitors often charge more for.
Who shouldn’t sign up for it:
IdentityForce additionally differs from most other companies on our list because it offers no credit bureau monitoring with its base UltraSecure individual and family plans. This may be a deal breaker for some people. Credit monitoring services, including three credit bureau monitoring, are included in its more expensive UltraSecure Plus Credit plans.
If you have more than two adults in your family, Aura may be a better fit since IdentityForce only covers up to two adults per family plan.
Starts at $20 per month
- $20 to $35 per month for individual plans
- $25 to $40 per month for family plans
Annual plans range from $200 to $350 for individuals and $250 to $400 for families (two adults and up to 10 children).
The prices displayed below are current as of June 2025 You may receive a discount when clicking on CNET’s link.
Pros
- Up to $3 million in identity theft insurance
- A licensed private investigator is assigned to all identity theft cases
- Offers medical data reports and notifications, unlike most competitors
- Provides intuitive resources to walk you through how to protect yourself online
Cons
- Limits covered dependents to anyone living in your home
- There are some cheaper individual and family plans available
- No annual plan discounts
Why we like it:
IDShield provides up to $3 million in identity theft insurance with all plans, and assigns licensed private investigators to your identity theft case.
For the price, IDShield also packs quite a punch with its list of features. All individual and family plans include dark web and Social Security number monitoring plus white glove restoration services in case your identity is stolen. But IDShield will also monitor your public records and payday loans taken out in your name. Helpful tools, such as a VPN, antivirus software and password manager, are also available.
IDShield offers four plans (two for individuals and two for families) that go up in price depending on how many credit bureaus you want monitored — one or all three. Family plans cover two adults and unlimited children.
Who it’s best for:
IDShield is a good identity theft protection service for anyone who wants comprehensive support recovering their identity in the event it’s compromised. It offers a higher insurance amount than most competitors.
Who shouldn’t sign up for it:
IDShield might be too costly for some individuals and families. It’s also not a good fit for you if you need to cover more than two adults on a family plan.
Starts at $15 per month
- $15 to $20 for individual plans
- $30 to $35 for family plans (two adults and 10 children)
There are no annual plans available.
The prices displayed below are current as of June 30. You may receive a discount when clicking on CNET’s link.
Pros
- Can add dependents to any plan
- Offers ID theft insurance for minors
- Unique synthetic ID protection features
- Can read or print your credit reports right from your dashboard
Cons
- No clearly advertised family plans on its website
- Three-credit bureau monitoring is available for only two of four tiers
- Antivirus and VPN are not available as part of the core product
Why we like it:
If you’re looking for a plan you can customize to your needs, IdentityIQ works well. You can add antivirus protection and a VPN for an additional fee to any plan. You can even tack on credit score boosting features and AI finance tools.
IdentityIQ offers four base plans, ranging from $8.50 for its Secure Plan to $31.50 for Secure Max. All IdentityIQ plans include credit bureau monitoring (either one bureau or all three), dark web surveillance and up to $1 million in stolen funds reimbursement.
And while IdentityIQ doesn’t offer a designated family protection plan on its website, Secure Max does include $25,000 in ID theft insurance for up to four dependents. Its other three plans also allow you to add a second adult and up to three children for a fee. Lifelock is the only other company on our best list that offers insurance to minors.
Who it’s best for:
IdentityIQ is a good ID theft protection service if you’re looking for customizable coverage or if you don’t want to pay for a suite of features you won’t use.
Who shouldn’t sign up for it:
IdentityIQ isn’t an affordable option if you have a large family or if you don’t want to pay ad hoc for add-on services.
Starts at $8 per month
- $8.50 to $31.50* for individual plans
- No family plans advertised
Annual plans range from $87 to $321 under promotional pricing (without VPN and antivirus protection).
The prices displayed below are current as of June 2025. You may receive a discount when clicking on CNET’s link.
Pros
- Comes with features not available on rival services
- Identity theft insurance available above $1 million industry standard for all plans
- ID theft insurance is available for minors
- Includes a couples plan
Cons
- Annual plans for all tiers go up in price after the first year
- No password manager, VPN or antivirus protection available in base plans (requires signing up for Norton 360 with LifeLock)
- Expensive service, especially if you can’t use all of its features
Why we like it:
LifeLock is a top identity theft service with what feels like unlimited features, some of which aren’t offered by competitors. Subscribers benefit from monitoring tools that track unauthorized transactions, such as Buy Now, Pay Later, PayDay loans and utility alerts. After signup, you’ll discover even more features not advertised on its website.
However, LifeLock doesn’t offer antivirus protection, a password manager or VPN as a part of its standalone ID theft plans. You’ll need to pay for Norton 360 with LifeLock to get access to these. These online security tools are fairly common in the industry, and are a critical component of how CNET rates identity theft protection services. Since LifeLock is already one of the most expensive ID theft protection services on our list, we don’t like that you have to pay even more for security tools that other ID theft services offer by default.
Looking at LifeLock’s three tiers, Standard gets you the essentials you need in identity theft protection. This includes dark web monitoring, data breach notifications and Social Security number alerts. Subscribers also get the industry standard $1 million in identity theft insurance protection and white glove restoration. The service even throws in an extra $50,000 for stolen fund reimbursements and necessary expenses if you’re the victim of identity theft. These payouts increase in value if you opt for Advantage or Ultimate Plus.
The ID theft protection service’s Advantage or Ultimate Plus plans, which cost $23 and $35 per month, respectively, offer a wider range of features, such as social media accounts and phone takeover monitoring, fraud alerts for crimes committed in your name, as well as credit, checking and savings account activity notifications. Ultimate Plus additionally offers three-credit bureau monitoring.
Who it’s best for:
LifeLock is a good pick if you want peace of mind and don’t mind paying extra for robust coverage. It’s also a good service if you want identity theft insurance for your children. LifeLock’s family plans uniquely offer identity theft insurance to minors, which even our best overall service Aura does not. Families can receive up to $25,000 for stolen funds and personal expenses reimbursement per child in addition to $1 million to cover lawyers and experts necessary to recover their identity.
Who shouldn’t sign up for it:
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly identity theft solution or if you want antivirus protection, a VPN or a password manager for no extra cost, look elsewhere. LifeLock offers all three, but you’ll pay a pretty penny for them.
Starts at $12 per month
- $12 to $35 per month for individual plans
- $24 to $70 per month for family plans (two adults)
- $36 to $80 per month for family plans (two adults and five children)
Annual plans start at $90 to $240 for individuals, $150 to $396 for family (two adults) and $222 to $468 for family (two adults + five children) under current promotional pricing.
The prices displayed below are current as of June 2025. You may receive a discount when clicking on CNET’s link.
Pros
- Family plan covers five adults and unlimited children
- Entry Value plan offers an inexpensive way to purchase basic coverage
- Password manager included
Cons
- White glove restoration is only available with its Ultra plan
- Most monitoring features are only available with its Ultra plan
- No antivirus or VPN available
- Top individual plans offer less value than some rivals
Why we like it:
Identity Guard is owned by Aura and offers a more stripped down service than its parent company. It comes with three subscription plans for both adults and families: Value, Total and Ultra. All three offer dark web monitoring and $1 million in identity theft insurance.
Ultra offers the best value proposition. This is the only tier with white glove restoration services, which is a must have in our opinion. Additional features available through Identity Guard include a password manager, credit and debit card monitoring and three-credit bureau monitoring.
Who it’s best for:
Identity Guard really stands out for its family plan, which covers five adults and unlimited children even for its cheapest plan, at $15 per month. Most family plans only cover two adults over the age of 18. Its Ultra family plan is also priced very competitively in the market, at $40 per month, and is noticeably cheaper than Aura and LifeLock.
Who shouldn’t sign up for it:
Individual shoppers should probably steer clear of Identity Guard if you want a longer list of features, such as a VPN and antivirus protection. Other services also offer more in identity theft insurance.
Starts at $9 per month
- $9 to $30 for individual plans
- $15 to $40 for family plans
Annual plans range from $80 to $216 for individuals and $120 to $288 for families (five adults and unlimited children).
The prices displayed below are current as of April 30. You may receive a discount when clicking on CNET’s link.
Pros
- Comprehensive list of monitoring features
- Lower price tag than most competitors
- Up to 10 minor children covered in family plans
- Limited benefits available to other adult dependents
Cons
- No credit bureau monitoring available
- Barebones user interface on web and mobile app.
- No data deletion services offered
Why we like it:
Zander is a good option if you want identity theft protection, but don’t want to break the bank.
With its Essential Plan, you get what we believe are the three pillars of identity theft protection: Social Security number monitoring, dark web monitoring and identity theft insurance of up to $1 million. Zander’s Essential Plan also includes alerts on significant data breaches that may impact your personal information.
Its Elite Bundle includes everything in the Essential Plan, and adds Experian credit lock, as well as bank, credit, loan and retirement account monitoring. A password manager, VPN and antivirus protection are also included in this plan.
Zander offers a family plan option under both its Essential and Elite Bundle plans. Notably, up to 10 children are covered under its family plan.
Who it’s best for:
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly identity theft protection plan and don’t mind monitoring your own credit, Zander could be a good fit.
Who shouldn’t sign up for it:
The service would rank higher on our best list if it offered credit bureau monitoring of any kind with its service. You’ll need to keep an eye on your credit reports yourself, which you might be OK with given the low price tag. However, for about $1 more a month, you could sign up for IdentityIQ Basic or Plus and get one credit bureau monitored for you, which is better than none.
Starts at $7 per month
- $7 to $12 per month for individual plans
- $13 to $22 for family plans
Annual plans range from $75 to $130 for individuals and $145 to $240 for families (two adults and unlimited children covered for free).
The prices displayed below are current as of June 2025 You may receive a discount when clicking on CNET’s link.
Pros
- Free tier offers a snapshot of your online identity with a dark surveillance report and personal privacy scan
- Family plan covers up to 10 children under the age of 18
- Bonus monitoring features
Cons
- Customer experience is bombarded with ads
- No antivirus, VPN or password manager
- No annual plans
Why we like it:
With Experian IdentityWorks Basic, you get a free Experian credit report, plus monitoring and alerts. You also get a one-time dark web surveillance report and a personal privacy scan. The latter involves Experian searching people finder sites and informing you what personal information is accessible to potential bad actors or robocallers. The free tier also includes a FICO score tracker and FICO score monitoring.
Paid Experian IdentityWorks plans feature continuous dark web and three bureau credit monitoring, Social Security number tracing and up to $1 million in identity theft insurance with white glove restoration. Social media monitoring of your accounts and financial account takeover alerts are also included.
Experian IdentityWorks’ Premium and Family plans are nearly identical, with the exception that the Family plan covers two adults and offers child identity monitoring for up to 10 children. The latter is on the high end for the industry.
Who it’s best for:
You can’t beat a free identity theft service and we like that you get free credit monitoring with this service. It’s a good pick if you want to stay protected for free, and don’t mind a clunky user experience in exchange. Overall, Experian IdentityWorks might rank higher in the future if the user experience is much improved.
Who shouldn’t sign up for it:
We don’t recommend the paid version of Experian IdentityWorks’ since they’re also riddled with ads from financial partners. For the price point, it’s an unwelcome experience and you can get similar comprehensive coverage elsewhere. Paid tiers also lack online security tools (VPN, password manager and antivirus). It’s also not a good choice if you need to cover more than two adults.
Starts at $0 per month
- Free to $25 for individual plan
- $35 for family plan
No annual plan available.
The prices displayed below are current as of April 30. You may receive a discount when clicking on CNET’s link.
Identity theft protection services, compared
Service | CNET Rating | Dark web monitoring | SSN monitoring | Insurance | Credit lock available | 3-bureau credit monitoring | VPN, password manager and antivirus |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aura | 9.2 | $1 million, per adult covered | |||||
IdentityForce | 8.3 | $1 million – $2 million (coverage varies in New York) | X | ||||
ID Shield | 7.7 | Up to $3 million for all plans | X | ||||
IdentityIQ | 7.7 | $1 million stolen funds reimbursement; $25,000 in ID theft insurance with secure max plan | X | X (available as add-on) | |||
Lifelock by Norton | 7.5 | $1 million to $3 million, depending on plan* | X (must bundle with Norton 360) | ||||
Identity Guard | 7.5 | $1 million for all plans | X (Password manager only) | ||||
Zander | 7.2 | $1 million, per adult covered | X | ||||
Experian Identity Works | 6.1 | Up to $1 million for premium and family plans | X |
June 23, 2025: We awarded Aura a CNET Editor’s Choice badge for best overall identity theft protection service, based on its value, services and ease of use.
Identity theft protection services scan your personal identifiable data online and on the dark web to alert you if your data is found. Hackers work day and night to illegally access our most sensitive data stored by companies, third-party vendors or state and federal governments. Data stolen in data breaches is often sold on the dark web to the highest bidder. That’s why it’s important to stay protected.
“ID theft is the third certainty in life after death and taxes,” said Adam Levin, a cybersecurity expert, author and host of the podcast, What the Hack. “To an ID thief, we are their day job.”
ID theft protection companies look for your information such as your name, Social Security number address and phone number. If any trace of your identity is found on the dark net, the identity theft service will alert you via email, text or push notification.
There are steps you can take to protect yourself if you are mulling over whether you want identity theft protection. This includes freezing your credit for free or monitoring your bank accounts yourself. But the benefit of having an identity theft protection service is knowing that work is being done for you. If your identity is stolen, you also won’t be left on your own to recover it.
Credit monitoring
In addition to dark web monitoring, the best identity theft protection services offer credit monitoring to alert you if identity thieves try to open lines of credit in your name — including car loans, mortgages and credit cards.
We recommend that you sign up for an identity theft service that offers three credit bureau monitoring so you’ll get peace of mind knowing it’s checking in on your Equifax, TransUnion and Experian credit reports. A service that only monitors one credit bureau could miss a credit pull from another credit bureau that could signal a hacker is attempting to open an account in your name.
White glove restoration
In the event that your identity is compromised, an identity theft protection company will work with you on a recovery plan. The best services offer white glove restoration, which assigns a fraud specialist to your case to do the heavy lifting to restore your identity.
“Make sure the identity theft protection company you choose has fraud resolution experts and an aggressive resolution program,” said Levin. You don’t just want a list of what you need to do if your identity is stolen; you want someone working with you directly, he added.
Insurance
It’s also common for identity protection services to offer insurance (normally up to $1 million) to help pay for expenses like lawyer fees needed to recover your identity. Other costs that may be covered include lost wages, notary fees and stolen money. Services like LifeLock and IdentityIQ specifically advertise they may reimburse you for stolen funds.
Other features
Identity theft services may offer other monitoring tools and features such as:
- USPS address changes
- Social media accounts monitoring
- Alerts for crimes committed in your name
- Home and auto title monitoring
- 401(K) investment account alerts
Finding the right identity theft protection service comes down to your budget and the type of features you need. A few stand out features we recommend include white-glove identity restoration, identity theft insurance and three-bureau credit monitoring.
With Aura (our best overall pick), you get all of the above services and more included with all plans. Though Aura may lack some other features you need. It doesn’t offer monitoring of medical records or BNPL plans. IDShield and LifeLock’s base individual plans also offer more identity theft insurance coverage. So choose the one that best fits what you’re looking for.
Comparing ID theft protection monitoring features
Most services include dark web monitoring for personal information and credit report monitoring, but some offer less common monitoring services for your bank account and home and auto title monitoring.
If a company offers monitoring of multiple aspects of your personal information, it’s less for you to have to track on your own and easier to catch any issues that arise. However, you’ll have to pay more for these services beyond the standard dark web and credit report monitoring.
Choosing between basic and premium plans
Again, it comes down to the kind of features you’re looking for. A basic plan will do just fine so long as you’re OK with basic monitoring services. Most basic plans will include dark web monitoring and at least one credit bureau monitoring (unless your Aura, which includes all three).
You’ll typically need to pay to unlock 401k monitoring, title monitoring and social media monitoring. Higher tier plans might also include higher identity theft insurance — bumping the standard $1 million to $2 million or more.
You can monitor all of these things yourself, for free, but automating that process could be worth the money.
Individual vs. family plans
Whether you need coverage for just yourself or your family will inform the plan you choose. If it’s just you, the individual plans will be your best bet, but if you’re looking for wider coverage, take a look at the family plans.
How much insurance coverage do you need?
Identity theft insurance typically covers you against the costs incurred while recovering your identity. Most insurance will cover the cost of replacing important documents, any legal fees you might incur, case manager fees, any alert fees on your credit reports and even lost wages.
However, most insurance plans will not cover stolen money or financial loss from fraudulent purchases. You’ll need to go to your credit card issuer or bank for that. Check the terms of your plan to see what it does and doesn’t cover.
The industry standard is to have coverage of up to $1 million, but some services, like LifeLock, offer more, typically on the higher membership tiers.
Comparing identity restoration services
Not all ID theft restoration services are created equal. For instance, some say they’ll walk you through what you need to do, versus actually doing it for you. The latter form of restoration service is called white-glove restoration, and is obviously the better of the two.
If your identity is stolen, white-glove programs will do the work for you, rather than giving you more work to do during an already stressful situation. And you don’t always have to pay more to get it. Looking at you, once again, Aura.
Free vs. paid identity theft protection services
As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Free services are better than having no protection, but they obviously won’t offer as much protection as a paid service. You can get free credit report monitoring and free dark web monitoring, but for everything else, from insurance to three-credit bureau and SSN monitoring, you’ll have to shell out for it.
Choose the tier that makes sense for you. Check out the feature list on each service. Unless there’s something you’re particularly interested in, like title monitoring and a higher insurance coverage amount, you might be fine with just the basic tier.
Identity protection for children
Not every identity theft protection service will extend protections like insurance to your children. Although many will offer some type of coverage for minors, two services that offer ID theft insurance for your kids are:
- LifeLock by Norton
- IdentityIQ
Identity theft protection costs can range from under $7 to upward of $30 for individuals and up to $80 or more for couples and families, depending on the level of service you want.
Typically, features like three credit bureau monitoring, credit locks, social media monitoring and bank account monitoring are included only in identity theft protection providers’ more expensive tiers.
Identity theft protection service pricing, compared
Identity theft service | Individual | Couple | Family |
---|---|---|---|
Aura | $15 | $29 | $50 |
IdentityForce | $20 or $35 | N/A | $25 or $40 |
ID Shield | $15 or $20 | N/A | $30 or $35 |
IdentityIQ | $8.50 to $31.50 | N/A | $12 to $48 |
Lifelock by Norton | $12 to $35* | $24 to $70* | $36 to $80* |
Identity Guard | $9 to $30 | N/A | $15 to $40 |
Zander | $7 or $12 | N/A | $13 or $22 |
Experian Identity Works | $0 – $25 | N/A | $35 |
*First year only. All pricing is for monthly plans.
CNET reviews identity theft protection services for the functionality of the software, the user experience and the quality of identity restoration services. During testing, we provide our Social Security number to each ID theft service so that our full identity can be monitored. We also test the most expensive tier available so that we can access all features.
Dark web and SSN monitoring are normally turned on once you subscribe to an ID theft protection service. We test to ensure that all alerts at signup match up with our personal history and breaches flagged by other services. It’s not guaranteed, but if new alerts occur during testing, we also take that into consideration in our testing.
We manually turn on all available features, if needed, such as financial account monitoring, credit monitoring and online security tools (password manager, VPN and antivirus) to gauge the usability and effectiveness of alerts. Bonus features like credit score trackers, public records monitoring, social media monitoring and more are tested to determine how useful they are to a subscriber.
In all, we evaluated over 20 identity theft protection services. Ten made it to the testing stage after passing the eye test, based on features and overall value based on price. We rank services across a developed list of criteria, including the identity and credit monitoring features, online security tool capabilities, the level of identity theft insurance and pricing for the most comprehensive individual and family protection plans.
An identity theft protection service will rank lower on our list if it doesn’t offer credit monitoring from all three major credit bureaus in any tier, annual plans or a satisfactory user experience. For example, features are difficult to find on a user dashboard or aren’t really useful.
White glove restoration is arguably the most important factor in our scoring, since the service guarantees the company will do the heavy lifting of recovering your identity for you. Identity restoration can’t be properly tested unless your identity is stolen. Instead, we make clear in each review what a company says victims can expect after identity theft occurs, including the level of insurance payment you may be entitled to. The information is sourced from publicly available information on a company’s website and insight gathered through direct communication by us with the provider.
We reviewed over two dozen services and considered them all for testing for this best list. Many did not pass the eye test in terms of price, types of plans offered or necessary features to be considered for testing, according to our methodology. A few notable protection services that we chose not to test include ID Watchdog, McAfee Plus Ultimate, PrivacyGuard, ID Notify and IDX Identity because they did not offer all of the factors we look for in an identity theft protection service.
Two services not on our best list that underwent additional testing by CNET are new offerings in the market from ExpressVPN (Identity Defender) and NordVPN (NordProtect). Both offer highly-rated VPNs on our best list and we were intrigued by what their identity theft protection offerings looked like.
ExpressVPN, CNET’s best overall VPN service, launched Identity Defender earlier this year. It features $1 million in identity theft protection insurance, dark web and social security monitoring as well as the company’s industry leading VPN and a password manager. Unfortunately, the service doesn’t offer family plans or any credit bureau monitoring. You must also sign up for an annual plan in order to receive identity theft insurance coverage.
It’s a similar story for NordProtect: There’s no financial account monitoring or family plan to speak of. NordProtect at least offers credit bureau monitoring for TransUnion, but not for Equifax and Experian. In addition to $1 million in identity theft insurance, NordProtect subscribers get $50,000 in cyber extortion coverage. NordProtect is available as a standalone service, but, in our opinion, should be purchased through NordVPN’s Prime tier so that you can get more features, including the company’s VPN.
Both ExpressVPN Identity Defender and NordProtect are pretty light on the monitoring they will do of your identity on your behalf compared to services on our list. For example, Aura will monitor your financial accounts, three credit reports and your home and auto title as part of your plan. For these reasons, these services are best for customers who want a top VPN service and view identity theft protection as an icing on the cake.
The first step to protecting yourself against bad actors trying to steal your identity is learning what to look for and how to stop some of their common tactics.
Common types of identity theft
- Financial identity theft is when bad actors steal your money. Credit card, debit card, crypto and mortgage fraud are all examples of financial identity theft. When someone uses your stolen SSN or other identifying information to open new financial accounts in your name.
- Employment identity theft is when someone steals your identity and uses it to secure a job or falsify an employment opportunity to try to steal other identities.
- Medical identity theft happens when someone steals your identity to receive medical treatment.
- Criminal identity theft occurs when someone uses your identity to commit a crime and evade responsibility. Your identity is used to break the law, and then you’re left holding the bag.
- Synthetic identity theft happens when a criminal stitches together real aspects of an identity with fake pieces to create entirely new identities that they use to borrow credit and never repay. It typically involves a real person’s — usually a child’s or other vulnerable person’s — stolen SSN.
Can you prevent identity theft?
Identity theft protection services offer after-the-fact protections. None of these services guarantees they can prevent identity theft, but they provide the tools needed to catch it, act on it and restore your identity if need be.
However, some services include antivirus protection, which can help prevent your information from being stolen via malware, and VPNs, which can hide your IP address from nefarious websites.
Maximizing your protection
When you sign up for protection, take full advantage of everything the service provides. That may sound obvious, but if you’re not utilizing things like title or credit or social media alerts when they’re offered, setting up your VPN across all of your devices, or downloading and installing the antivirus software, you’re leaving holes in your security.
Self-protection measures
One in five people has experienced identity theft in their lifetime, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. It happens more often than you might think. There are some measures you can take to stay safe online.
- Sign up for an identity theft protection service: If you have room in your budget, an identity theft protection service can monitor the dark web, credit bureaus and more for any unusual activity.
- Avoid phishing attempts: Phishing is a common tactic used by identity thieves trying to get access to your personal information. Be sure to read every email or text you receive carefully, and don’t take the bait by clicking any strange links.
- Check your statements: Get in the habit of checking your bank and credit card statements to make sure they’re accurate.
- Check your credit report: You can request a free credit report from each bureau every week at AnnualCreditReport.com to review your credit history.
- Use strong passwords: Use a mix of numbers, letters and symbols when creating your passwords and try your best to have different passwords for different accounts. It’s also a good idea to set up two-factor authentication on all of your accounts.
- Guard your Social Security number: You shouldn’t carry your Social Security card around with you in public or give out this number on a whim. You may need to provide it to apply for a new credit card or loan. Confirming the last four digits of your SSN is less risky.
- Don’t use public Wi-Fi: If you can, avoid using public internetfor anything other than basic browsing.
- Freeze your credit: You can also freeze your credit to prevent fraudsters from opening new accounts in your name.
Here are some notable recent data breaches where your personal data may have been leaked:
- Change Healthcare: 100 million people affected.
- National Public Data: Potentially hundreds of millions people affected, according to bankruptcy filing.
- Ally Bank: Potentially billions of people affected, according to September lawsuit.
- AT&T: 73 million people affected.
- Ticketmaster: Up to 560 million people affected.
- Avis Car Rental: 299,000 people affected.
- Comcast: 237,000 people affected.
- Fidelity Investments: 77,000 people affected.
- RIBridges: Potentially hundreds of thousands of Rhode Island residents affected.
Credit monitoring services track your credit reports and alert you when there are changes to your profile, so you’ll know if any suspicious activity pops up. The best identity theft services often offer credit monitoring as one of their services, along with other cybersecurity features like dark web scans. Identity theft protection also includes restoration services if your identity is ever stolen, and generally provides a wider array of financial alerts, including titles and social media monitoring.
Monitoring your credit is an important part of keeping your identity protected, but credit monitoring services alone generally aren’t comprehensive enough to safeguard your data. That said, many credit monitoring services offer free and paid versions, with the paid versions in some cases offering identity theft insurance and fraud alerts.
If your identity is stolen before you sign up, an ID theft protection service will still work with you to restore your identity. However, you may be denied identity theft insurance if your identity is already compromised upon signing up. This means you might be on the hook for legal fees and other restorative expenses.
You can report cases of identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission online at IdentityTheft.gov. The agency will create a recovery plan for you and prefill some forms and letters needed to help retrieve your lost identity.
You should additionally contact any third-party institution where you found evidence of your identity being stolen, such as a bank or credit card issuer.
Also, be sure to contact TransUnion, Equifax and Experian to report a fraud claim to prevent scammers from opening new credit accounts in your name. You can do this by calling the bureau or by going to each bureau’s website. Fraud alerts stay on your credit report for one year.
With identity theft protection, you’re paying for peace of mind, convenience and restoration services. While you could stitch together multiple free services (free VPN, free credit monitoring, free password manager, etc), having all of your alerts and services under one umbrella makes it much easier to keep track of. It also cuts down on the amount of legwork you’ll need to do.
The restoration and insurance benefits will help you recover your identity in the event it’s stolen, and cover you against some financial damage you may incur. Considering new data breaches pop up every day, these services can provide some peace of mind knowing you’re covered, doing what you can to keep your info safe, and have resources you can take advantage of should you need them.
Yes. Not everything is reported to each bureau. If an alert pops up on your TransUnion credit report, it may not necessarily be reported on your Experian or Equifax credit report. Each credit bureau can have a different credit score, too.
That’s why three-credit bureau monitoring is a sought-after feature for some identity theft monitoring services. It cuts down on what you have to keep track of. If you need to freeze your credit reports, you’ll also need to do so for each credit bureau. But if you have an ID theft protection service, it makes it much easier to apply a credit freeze on all three.
Freezing your credit can help protect your identity, but there are other reasons why you might still want an identity theft protection service. A credit freeze is just one feature ID theft protection services provide. These services alert you to take action and make it easier to place freezes if necessary. You’re also paying for restoration services, insurance, security features like antivirus, dark web monitoring, password managers and VPNs.
Individual plans only cover you, while family plans extend to more members and potentially children. Often, the only difference between individual plans and family plans is how many people they cover. However, not every service offers ID protection for children.
Aura, for example, offers cyberbullying and predator alerts for children, as well as VPN and antivirus protection. Lifelock also provides insurance for minors.