Identity theft protection has been around for a long time, which is no surprise since even back in 2005/2006 (wow it seems so long ago) a Gartner study showed that nearly 15 million Americans were victims of fraud that stemmed from identity theft.
Traditional Credit Monitoring
The traditional, and definitely the most popular, method of protection is called credit monitoring. Estimates are there are up to 3 million Americans who are subscribing to credit monitoring of some kind.
Credit monitoring is good (and definitely better than nothing at all!), but the problem is that it is totally reactive. It alerts you after a thief has already started to commit the crime or the fraud. In other words, it is telling you something that has already happened.
How does TrustedID compare?
TrustedID has a product called IDFreeze which does of course does do credit monitoring, but has a number of other features too:
- Lender DoubleCheck – You need to give approval by phone before anything can be done that affects your credit. Your contact information is given to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion and they will call you before any credit is granted.
- CreditLock – This feature is also known as a Credit Freeze and is quite unique to TrustedID. Basically a freeze is put on your credit file and credit bureaus can not unlock it without explicit permission from you. This is pretty much the highest level of protection I have heard of. As of November 2007 it is available in all 50 states.
- Credit Report – You’ll automatically get your credit report annually from the 3 big bureaus so that you can review it and make sure things are OK.
- $1,000,000 Warranty – They put up a $1 mil guarantee to cover out of pocket costs if there is identity theft while you are covered by IDFreeze. To be honest usually it is not the money but the waste of time and effort that really kills you with identity theft, but still its nice to have.
- Identity Theft Specialists – They have a live in-house team of identity theft specialists that will work with you to both figure out what needs to be done, but help you do it.
- Stop Pre-Approved Credit Card Offers – My shredder just breathed a sigh of relief. Those things are deadly and a big source of ID theft
- Credit Card Monitoring – Lets you know if there is any indication that your card has been compromised
All in all, a bit more comprehensive I’d say. Have your ever used credit monitoring? Did you find the alerts helpful?
Don’t Let Identity Theft Add To Your Debt Concerns.
How Does TrustedID Protect You?
TrustedID offers a three-pronged approach to identity theft protection that we think is extremely well thought out and solid. TrustedID IDFreeze, TrustedID CreditLock, and Data Breach Response Services.
IDFreeze
This it the main product they offer and a good first product for anyone to get. This is the their one million dollar promise to keep your identity and financial information safe and secure. They offer it for both individuals and for families. In our opnion, this is a must for anyone and the yearly fee is quite cheap for all that protection and peace of mind.
CreditLock
The CreditLock product will make sure that no person or company can look at your credit rating without your knowledge. You would be very surprised how many people can gain access to your credit report. With this service you will get a call to verify that you the person or company requesting to veiw your credit report is authorized to do so.
Data Breach Response Services
These services are not for individuals. This product is mainly for big corporations and government agencies so we were unable to review them but… I will say it make us feel pretty confident knowing that the average consumer is getting protection from the same people that are trusted by the government!

Take Care and Be Safe!
Suze Fulton
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December 2nd, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Hey everyone, i blasted my credit file to bits as a youngster, trust me you really need it later in life, for a home a holiday
July 22nd, 2010 at 1:51 pm
hi
How do you know which debt settlement or debt consolidation program to choose, when theirs 1000's out there?
Chris