Who Offers The Best Credit Monitoring Service?
Experts agree one of the best things you can do to protect your identity is to conduct thorough reviews of your credit report with all three credit reporting agencies: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. While the The Fair Credit Reporting Act guarantees you access to your credit report once a year from all three bureaus, it simply isn’t enough. Think of the damage an identity thief can do to your credit history in a few weeks, much less a year. Fortunately, consumers have access to credit monitoring services that can review your credit file daily and send you alerts by phone, email or text to any changes.
Unfortunately, choosing between various services can be a bit more confusing. Which service updates your credit score quarterly? ProtectMyID or Identity Guard? What about the non credit related sources services like Lifelock’s Command Center reviews? Below we’ve compared the top rated credit monitoring services: Lifelock’s Command Center, Identity Guard’s Total Protection, Experian’s ProtectMyID, and Guard Dog ID’s Superior Protection.
| Review | Review | Review | Review | |
| Rating |  |
|
 |
 |
| Price | $17.99/month | $19.95/month | $15/month | $9.95/month |
| 3 Bureau Credit Monitoring |  |
|
No | |
| 3 Bureau Credit Score | |
|
No | Only Experian |
| Score Updates | Quarterly | Annually | No | Annually |
| Public records | |
|
|
No |
| Scans Internet | |
|
|
|
| Antivirus/Spyware | |
no | no | no |
| Keylogging Protection | |
no | no | no |
| Coverage | $1 Million | $1 Million | $1 Million | $1 Million |
| Promotion | 30 Days Free | 30 Days Trial | 30 Days Free & 15% Off | 30 Day Trial For $1 |
| Visit | Visit | Visit | Visit |
What To Look For In A Credit Monitoring Service
There are many credit report monitoring services, including those from the credit reporting agencies like Experian’s ProtectMyID or Equifax’s Credit Watch. We’ve included ProtectMyID but the problem with services like these are they typically review only one credit agencies reports. Although the option exists to purchase additional reports at a significant discount, these can add up.
For example, with ProtectMyID you can buy all three credit reports and scores for a one time fee of $19. With Identity Guard, quarterly updates to your credit score is included as part of their plan.
All the above services except Lifelock monitors your credit report for changes and negative information. They’ll notify you by text or email if they detect any suspicious activity.
Identity Guard is it’s the only service to update your credit score quarterly as well as provide antivirus and spyware protection.
Credit report monitoring can be an early warning system for individuals worried about identity theft. Early detection and action is the best way to prevent identity theft from getting out of hand. But not all identity theft is related to your credit report.
Identity thieves can also use your identity for criminal purposes, employment reasons, or civil reasons. Services like Lifelock’s Command Center and Identity Guard will also scan public databases and court records for your information. In addition, both services scan sex offender registry reports and payday loan activity for your information as well.
Guard Dog ID offers many similar services to Identity Guard and gives consumers the option to customize their protection. Their basic platform is robust and full of great features and you can upgrade credit monitoring protection with their Premium or Superior Protection.
Credit Monitoring Recommendation
Identity Guard offers the most sophisticated platform for credit monitoring and identity theft protection. Guard Dog ID comes in a close second but Identity Guard edges it out because of a slightly lower price, updated credit scores, and reputation. Guard Dog ID is a relatively new company and Identity Guard has been providing information security services for fortune 500 companies for years.
Identity Guard also provides members with the ZoneAlarm® Internet Security Suite and PRIVACYPROTECT®, a sophisticated program that will encrypt your keystrokes to protect you against “keyloggers”.
Identity Guard offers several stepped down versions of their Total Protection plan, Watchful Eye® for $9.99/month and Extra Caution® for $14.99/month.
For more information, visit Identity Guard.