Secure your digital life with identity theft & credit protection, device security and online privacy.
Identity theft is a very real threat to most Americans, and over 60 million people have had to deal with having their identity stolen. In 2018 alone, over 14.4 million people were victims of this crime, and any person can find themselves in this situation. But, there are ways to protect yourself, and companies like IdentityIQ offer protection services that work towards keeping you and your identity safe. By covering and monitoring multiple aspects of your life, IdentityIQ keeps you up to date and informed about everything.
Monitoring your credit history, public records, online activity, and any filed applications using your information, IdentityIQ prevents fraud from occurring and will alert you of any suspicious activity. This well-rounded and comprehensive approach to security is what makes IdentityIQ stand out from similar companies, and their thorough and precise system is extremely effective at catching things early. If you want to keep yourself safe, and prevent hackers or thieves from gaining access to your personal and sensitive information, then IdentityIQ may be the best choice for you.
How Does It Work?
The services offered by IdentityIq are extremely easy to access, and once you are a member there is very little for you to do except sit back and enjoy having their protection. All memberships begin with registering online, and their website has a very straightforward process where you simply follow along step by step. After inputting your information, you will need to verify your identity, and then select the plan you are most interested in. Plans differ based on the services they include, and you can see a full breakdown of each plan before you choose one. Once you have registered and selected your plan, all you will need to do is pay your monthly fee in order to access your chosen services. IdenitityIQ takes care of everything else for you, and all of the monitoring and detecting is done on your behalf. The company actively checks your credit history as well as your social security number to detect and prevent any abuse. If they happen to find something suspicious, IdentityIQ will notify you right away, and then take the necessary steps to prevent, block, or fix the issue.
IdentityIQ includes all the services we’d expect from a full-service monitoring agency, the kind that we feature in our list of best identity theft protection. These include credit reports, dark web monitoring, and constant scans of any public and court records. Plus, IdentityIQ includes a few extras like application monitoring and complete Social Security number tracking. Of course, as with most services, the more we pay, the more we get, but even its lowest-tier option offers strong protection and a $1 million insurance policy. IdentityIQ’s other features include:
✔️ Daily credit monitoring: With all four of its plans, IdentityIQ sends us daily monitoring alerts letting us know if there have been any changes to our credit. If we see anything suspicious, it’s easy to contact IdentityIQ professionals who quickly investigate further.
✔️ Dark web monitoring: Most of the trading and selling of stolen identity data takes place on the dark web. A complete identity package with a victim’s name, Social Security number, driver’s license number and email address can be purchased for as little as four dollars,1 and many sites selling this information claim to have over 170 million individual Social Security numbers.2 By constantly scanning the dark web, IdentityIQ helps ensure that our credentials aren’t being bought and sold to the highest bidder.
✔️ Lost wallet: Obviously, if our wallets are stolen, we’re most worried about cancelling our credit . But thieves can make use of our identification and Social Security cards, as well. IdentityIQ helps us put our life back in order if something like this happens, not just cancelling our cards but also helping to make sure that no one else can take over our identities.
✔️ Credit scores and reports: Additionally, for its Secure Plus tier, IdentityIQ provides an annual Experian credit score. With the Secure Pro plan, we got bi-annual credit reports from all three bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. And with the Secure Max plan, those reports came monthly.
✔️ SSN monitoring: Most identity monitors keep an eye on our Social Security number by looking for any association of that number with the wrong address. IdentityIQ goes one step further: they actually take note of every time our Social Security number is used, looking for any instances that might not make logical sense.
✔️ Application monitoring: In addition to monitoring every time that our Social Security numbers are being used, IdentityIQ also looks closely at every single application filed under our names to make sure that we are actually the ones filling it out. This doesn’t just include applications that run credit checks, but every single application where our names appear.
✔️ Public and court records: IdentityIQ is constantly checking public and court records to ensure that our data isn’t showing up any place where it shouldn’t be.
IdentityIQ has three plan options for you to choose from, and each one is priced at an extremely affordable point. They mainly differ based on the features that you choose, including the type of monitoring you want, whether or not you want insurance, and more. Below is a breakdown of the four plans, along with their individual monthly prices.
● Secure Plan – The entry-level IdentityIQ membership cost is $8.99/month. It includes features like daily one-bureau credit report monitoring, SSN alerts, dark web and internet monitoring, coverage for personal expense compensation, lost wallet assistance, US-based ID restoration services, coverage for lawyers and ID theft expert fees, and up to $1 million in stolen funds reimbursement.
● Secure Plus – It costs $11.99/month and includes everything in the Secure Plan plus annual tri-bureau credit reports and scores, IdentityIQ alerts with application monitoring, and change of address notifications.
● Secure Pro – For $21.99/month, you’ll get everything in the Secure Plus plan except that the tri-bureau credit reports and scores will come bi-annually. Additionally, this plan includes enhanced credit report monitoring, alerts on crimes committed in your name, and credit score change alerts.
● Secure Max – The ultimate IdentityIQ plan costs $32.99/month. In addition to all the features in the Secure Pro plan, it gives you access to a Credit Score Tracker, a Credit Score Simulator, fraud restoration with LPOA, and family protection. Plus, you get monthly tri-bureau credit reports and scores.
With identityIQ’s multi-pronged approach to monitoring, the biggest areas where fraud occurs are constantly checked so that you can be alerted immediately if anything changes. From unauthorized credit usage to payday loan applications, and even dark web activity, IdentityIQ ensures that your personal information doesn’t land in the wrong hands. Not only are they actively monitoring, but if something were to occur and you did become the victim of identity theft, IdentityIQ will work closely with you to make sure there is no financial impact and that your information is restored quickly.
If you are concerned about the ever-growing problem of identity theft and want to make sure you don’t become the next victim, choosing IdentityIQ is one of the best choices you can make. They will keep you constantly up to date so that you never have to worry and can enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing your sensitive data is always protected.
Each of IdentityIQ’s four tiers offers good value for the money. In addition, IdentityIQ is one of the few companies to offer a plan specifically designed for families (the Max Plan). On the downside, we aren’t fans of companies that sell our data, and for IdentityIQ’s price, they shouldn’t need to do this. We’re also troubled by the way the company hides information, like its discounts, annual plans, and cancellation phone numbers. Ultimately we’d say this monitoring company is fine as long as you don’t mind the data collection, the somewhat confusing website and the lack of a mobile app.