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You’re buying a new TV for your house, but after swiping your credit card, the cashier tells you your card was declined. WHAT?!
You check your recent transactions and see that someone’s been using your card for the past month. Your identity has been stolen, and you feel like your world has been flipped upside down. This is when having an identity theft protection service, like Identity Guard, comes in handy.
Not only do these services alert you when they detect potentially fraudulent activity, but some even help you recover after the damage is done. How does Identity Guard protect your identity? With so many competing services, is it your best bet?
Identity Guard®
Pros
- $1 million in insurance
- Monitoring alerts sent to you quickly due to Watson AI constant scan technology
- A+ BBB rating (been BBB accredited since 1996)
- Family plans available
- 24/7 phone support for those who have lost or had their credit cards stolen
Cons
- They don’t send fraud alerts to credit bureaus
- Does not monitor sex offenders
- No free trial
Key Features
- $1 Million ID Theft Insurance** – If your identity is stolen, Identity Guard® will provide up to $1 million to help get your life back on track.
- Safe Browsing – Helps protect your privacy and secures your online activity.
- Dark Web Alerts – Notifies you if your information is exposed in black market sites, forums or chat rooms.
- Watson Artificial Intelligence (AI) Scanning – Identity Guard is the only ID theft service to utilize IBM Watson AI. Watson is an early warning system that is always scanning for vulnerabilities. If it finds a risk, it sends an alert so you can act quickly.
- Cyberbullying – Monitors for potential cyberbullying on social media.
Pricing
| Individual Value | Individual Total | Individual Ultra | Family Value | Family Total | Family Ultra | |
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| Individual Value | Individual Total | Individual Ultra | Family Value | Family Total | Family Ultra | |
| Price Per Month | Regular Price: $8.99/month
Discount for our Readers: $6.67/month |
Regular Price: $19.99/month
Discount for our Readers: $13.33/month |
Regular Price: $29.99/month
Discount for our Readers: $19.99/month |
Regular Price: $14.99/month
Discount for our Readers: $10.00/month |
Regular Price: $29.99/month
Discount for our Readers: $19.99/month |
Regular Price: $39.99/month
Discount for our Readers: $26.67/month |
| $1 Million Identity Theft Insurance |  |
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| Online “Dark Web” Monitoring | |
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| Social Security Number Monitoring | |
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| Monthly Credit Score | |
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| 3-Bureau Credit Report | |
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| Anti-Phishing App | |
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| Safe Browsing Extension | |
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| Potential Cyberbullying On Social Media | |
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My Experience With Identity Guard®
Identity Guard® offered us a free trial period to test out the Ultra plan in exchange for an unbiased review. I signed up for the individual plan and tested it for 3 months. Setting up my Identity Guard account was straightforward. I connected all of my personal accounts, filled out my information, answered a few questions, and monitoring began.
Troubles Downloading The App
Next, I downloaded the Identity Guard® app, and here’s where I ran into some hiccups. I kept trying to log in, but it wouldn’t take my credentials. I was stuck on this for a couple of days before reaching out to customer service, which I found very helpful. They pointed out that I needed their other app, Identity Guard with Watson. Identity Guard could do a better job of clarifying the required app to its users upfront.
Convenient Monthly Emails
Identity Guard® sends me monthly emails about my credit score* and alerts for major data breaches and other situations that may cause my identity to be in jeopardy. I appreciate these emails because it reminds me to look over my information and make sure everything’s in check.
Retirement Account Monitoring
One thing I like about Identity Guard®, that other companies lack, is that it monitors my retirement accounts. Since I’m not looking at these accounts on a consistent basis, it’s nice to know someone is watching over them for me.
Clean Dashboard
I also like the dashboard for both the desktop and app versions (see above for sample desktop dashboard). It’s simple with a more modern look compared to IDShield. However, I wish the desktop version had two-factor authentication. With the app, I can turn on “Touch ID” as an extra layer of protection.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’ve been pleased with my experience with Identity Guard®. However, I don’t think I could justify paying $29.99 per month for the service (or $19.99 once you account for the 20% discount you get with our link) when I can get similar monitoring from a competitor for much less.
Consumer Reviews
Positive Reviews
Identity Guard gives us peace of mind. We know it works because when we’ve done transactions, we get notified for those transactions. My husband just got a new truck and he got a ping saying there was activity on his account. We’re also building a house and it’s nice to know that if something was to happen or someone was to try to steal our identity or if they got a loan, we would get notified and it would be handled sooner than later. – Crystal, Consumer Affairs 6/14/2021
Identity Guard immediately alerted me with a fraud alert that someone was opening a bank card with Wells Fargo in my name. I called a live person at IDG who put me in touch with an IDG agent Leon. Leon on a live 54 minute call helped me navigate thru 4 Wells Fargo fraud departments to stop this fraud. – Heinz H., Trustpilot 7/7/2022
Complaints
During our initial assessment we were told about a new feature “Privacy Secure”. As soon as this was installed, everything stopped working. Called CS and tech support. They say they created help ticket but cannot give an estimate on when it will be resolved. CS was rude and system is not working for almost a week now while we are being charged. – Sandhia, Consumer Affairs 2/21/2021
I had cancelled my subscription the same day that I saw the auto-renew charge pending and received auto-generated email that conveniently requested I contact customer service for more information to cancel the subscription. This auto-email prevented me from canceling in time and Aura will not issue even a pro-rated refund. Poor business practices for a service that is mediocre at best. -Chris, Trustpilot 6/28/2022
Identity Guard® vs The Competition
Here’s a glance at how Identity Guard® differs from other top identity protection services.
Identity Guard® vs IdentityForce
- IdentityForce monitors sex offenders in your area, while Identity Guard® does not.
- IdentityForce provides full recovery services and 24/7 access to its fraud specialists; Identity Guard® also offers 24/7 access to specialists, but you’re responsible for all the legwork to recover your identity.
- Identity Guard® doesn’t send fraud alerts to the credit bureaus, while IdentityForce does.
See All The Differences Between Identity Guard® And IdentityForce
Identity Guard® vs IDShield
- IDShield’s Family Plan is cheaper than Identity Guard®‘s.
- Both Identity Guard® and IDShield have full recovery services, but IDShield’s fraud specialists are licensed private investigators.
Identity Guard® vs LifeLock
- Both monitor similar areas, but LifeLock also monitors the sex offender registry in your area.
- With Identity Guard® you can cover two adults and two children for only $34.99 per month. To get the same level of coverage for a family of four with LifeLock, you’ll end up spending more than $70 per month.
- LifeLock provides full recovery services and 24/7 access to its fraud specialists, who take care of most of the recovery process for you. While Identity Guard® also offers 24/7 access to specialists, you’re responsible for all the legwork to recover your identity. Identity Guard also provides up to $1 million in expense reimbursement insurance (as does LifeLock).
See All The Differences Between Identity Guard® And LifeLock
What About Other ID Theft Services?
According to the ID Theft Center’s 2021 Annual Data Breach Report, the overall number of data compromises (1,862) is up more than 68% compared to 2020. The new record number of data compromises is 23% over the previous all-time high (1,506) set in 2017.
Just because you got an email from your credit card company saying there was a security breach and it’s taking care of it, doesn’t mean it’s handled. You may need to do more. Check out the video below for more information.
And to see how Identity Guard® compares against other identity theft protection services, read our comparison article. You can learn more about Identity Guard® in our interview with CMO Barry Kessel.
Identity Guard® Disclosures
*The score you receive with Identity Guard is provided for educational purposes to help you understand your credit. It is calculated using the information contained in your TransUnion credit file. Lenders use many different credit scoring systems, and the score you receive with Identity Guard is not the same score used by lenders to evaluate your credit.
**Identity Theft Insurance underwritten by insurance company subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group‚ Inc. The description herein is a summary and intended for informational purposes only and does not include all terms‚ conditions and exclusions of the policies described. Please refer to the actual policies for terms‚ conditions‚ and exclusions of coverage. Coverage may not be available in all jurisdictions.
