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Identity Guard Review: Credit Report Monitoring |
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| All 3 credit scores free; most comprehensive & best overall service; 25% discount & free 30-day trial | |
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[Editor's Note: For a limited time, Identity Guard is offering a discount of $5.00 off every month ($14.99 instead of $19.99, 25% off) and a free 30-day trial to NextAdvisor.com visitors. There is no coupon code required to take advantage of this offer but you must click on a link from our site. So simply click on any Identity Guard link on NextAdvisor.com to take advantage of this limited time discount pricing.]
If fear of identity theft is your primary reason for credit report monitoring, there is no question that Identity Guard TOTAL PROTECTION® is your best option. Even if identity theft is just one factor, Identity Guard's exhaustive list of features and 30-day free trial make it worth serious consideration. It provides the most data you can get as well as the longest free trial. In addition to daily 3-bureau credit report monitoring and free credit scores from all three bureaus, Identity Guard Total Protection offers an extremely impressive and potent arsenal of tools to stop identity theft and credit card fraud. Identity Guard goes far beyond other credit report monitoring services by also monitoring public records for any changes in your name (as well as giving you a free public record report and an updated one every quarter), scanning for application or social security fraud, and monitoring the Internet's black market for any use of your credit cards or other personal information. They also include anti-keylogging software, lost wallet protection (they can cancel your credit card accounts and give you up to $2,000 advance if you need it) and a Personal ID Risk Assessment. Identity Guard Total Protection includes $1,000,000 in identity theft insurance to cover you in case you somehow are still victimized while enrolled in the service. Perhaps the most notable extra service that's included in Identity Guard Total Protection is the free Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite, an award-winning Internet security solution including anti-virus, firewall, anti-phishing and anti-spam software with hourly security updates. This normally costs $49.95 to buy but is free with your Total Protection enrollment and includes all virus definition updates and annual renewals as long as you maintain your membership. Of course if you don't want or need this security software you don't have to download it. Immediately upon enrolling, Identity Guard Total Protection gives you daily 3-bureau credit report monitoring with email alerts and your credit scores from all 3 bureaus. The scores are based on the CreditXpert scoring system, which isn't as popular as the FICO system that most lenders use, but is a very good approximation of it. When we cross-referenced our credit scores from Identity Guard with our actual FICO scores, they were virtually identical. Identity Guard gives you credit scores from all 3 bureaus and an updated public record report every 3 months. Your subscription includes access to a very useful credit analyzer. You can try out different scenarios, such as paying off your credit card by a certain amount or opening up a new loan, to see how your credit score will be affected. If you are monitoring your credit, this analyzer can help you to make the best choices to raise your credit score. Identity Guard recently updated their member center so that it is now extremely useful. They make it easy to see what identity protection tools you have and haven't activated as well as what updated information is available to you. They are also great about letting you know via email when you have new reports or scores available. Be sure to register all your credit card and bank accounts right away to take advantage of their excellent identity theft protection. In the event of a credit card theft, you can report the incident to Identity Guard and they will handle all the details for you, including reporting the cards as stolen and getting new cards issued to you. Identity Guard offers generous customer service phone hours (8am-11pm M-F and 9am-6pm Sat) as well as postal mail and e-mail contact methods. When we tried contacting them, a customer service representative answered almost immediately, and was able to provide useful advice about the service. Reporting for lost or stolen cards can be done on the phone or through your account, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a huge bonus, Identity Guard Total Protection now gives users who sign up from NextAdvisor.com a 30-day free trial of their service. So even if you decide to cancel the service after your 30-day free trial, you get to keep at no cost all 3 credit scores and a public records report. Overall, Identity Guard Total Protection can't be beat in terms of features and functionality. It offers both a great credit report monitoring service and the best identity theft protection you can get. Sign up for Identity Guard | Compare to Other Credit Report Monitoring |
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| Free Credit Scores: | Free scores from all 3 bureaus |
| Trial Period & Price: | Free 30-day trial; $14.99/mo (after our 25% discount) |
| Credit Reports Monitored: | All 3 bureaus' reports |
| ID Theft Insurance/ Guarantee: | $1,000,000 |
NextAdvisor Credit Report Monitoring Blog Headlines
How does credit monitoring affect your credit score?
Q: I've been told that your credit score can suffer if your credit report is checked too often in a 12 month time period. How does credit monitoring affect your credit score? A: Good news?first off, you can check your own credit score and/or report as many times as you want without it affecting your [...]
Does Identity Guard have a toll-free phone number to call for more information?
Q: Does Identity Guard have a toll-free phone number to call for more information? A: Yes, Identity Guard does have a toll-free phone number you can call for more information about their product: 1-855-727-5801. Identity Guard customer service representatives are available via that phone number from 8am to 8pm EST Monday through Friday. This is [...]
If I sign up for Identity Guard today, will I get immediate knowledge of open...
Q: If I sign up for Identity Guard today, will I get immediate knowledge of opened credit to date? A: Yes, if you sign up for Identity Guard TOTAL PROTECTION® today, you will find out about the lines of credit opened in your name to date. That's because when you sign up for Identity Guard, [...]
Will applying for a credit card hurt my credit score?
Q: I am looking to apply for a secured or unsecured credit card to help me boost my credit scores. If I apply for an unsecured credit card, will it drop my credit score when my credit history is pulled? Will applying for a secured card be the better option or does that also drop my score? How can I [...]
