Best Identity Theft-Protection Services Of 2022 Bankrate Caret RightMain Menu Mortgage Mortgages Financing a home purchase Refinancing your existing loan Finding the right lender Additional Resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Bank Banking Compare Accounts Use calculators Get advice Bank reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Credit Card Credit cards Compare by category Compare by credit needed Compare by issuer Get advice Looking for the perfect credit card? Narrow your search with CardMatch Caret RightMain Menu Loan Loans Personal Loans Student Loans Auto Loans Loan calculators Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Invest Investing Best of Brokerages and robo-advisors Learn the basics Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Home Equity Home equity Get the best rates Lender reviews Use calculators Knowledge base Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Loan Home Improvement Real estate Selling a home Buying a home Finding the right agent Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Insurance Insurance Car insurance Homeowners insurance Other insurance Company reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Retirement Retirement Retirement plans & accounts Learn the basics Retirement calculators Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Advertiser Disclosure

Advertiser Disclosure

We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover.

How We Make Money

The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you. SHARE: Maskot/Getty Images October 27, 2022 René Bennett is a writer for Bankrate, reporting on banking products and personal finance. David Schepp is a wealth editor for Bankrate, focusing on deposits and consumer banking content. Bankrate logo

The Bankrate promise

At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references and links to products from our partners who compensate us. how we make money. Bankrate logo

The Bankrate promise

Founded in 1976, Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. We’ve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by and edited by , who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy. Our banking reporters and editors focus on the points consumers care about most — the best banks, latest rates, different types of accounts, money-saving tips and more — so you can feel confident as you’re managing your money. Bankrate logo

Editorial integrity

Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.

Key Principles

We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.

Editorial Independence

Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate logo

How we make money

You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. With the pandemic-fueled expansion of online activity, U.S. consumers also face an increased risk of cybercrimes. There was a in data breaches in 2021 from the previous year — though 2022’s numbers seem 2021’s total. The good news is that the technology to prevent cybercrime also continues to grow. With identity theft-protection services, you can easily from being stolen and keep your finances safe from hackers. Featured partner For Comprehensive Protection

McAfee

Highlights $1 million in identity theft coverage Identity restoration support Monthly credit report

Overview

Plan features

Plus: $39.99 for the 2-year plan; $49.99 for the 1-year plan (5 devices)

Pros & cons

Pros
Cons
Best all-in-one system

Aura

Highlights Free two-week trial Up to $1 million in insurance 60-day money-back guarantee

Bankrate s view

Aura comes with a comprehensive set of tools designed to fight cybercrime, including a password manager, credit inquiry alerts, malware blocking and a virtual private network (VPN). The service has a sleek interface for desktop and mobile, and it encrypts all online activity, making it harder for hackers to access your personal information. Aura closely monitors online activity to detect any threats to personal data, such as breaches of passwords or a . In the case that identity theft is detected, customers are immediately alerted, and a white-glove fraud resolution team helps the victim resolve the fraud issue. Aura also provides up to $1 million in identity theft insurance to cover losses, such as lost wages and travel expenses.

Plan features

Aura offers a free, two-week trial. After that, there are three billing plans: individual, couple and family. The individual plan comes with all of the services offered by Aura, aside from parental controls, and protects up to 10 devices. The next level up, the couple plan, comes with the same features but for two people and up to 20 devices. For families, the plan covers five adults, unlimited children and up to 50 devices. The family plan also comes with child social security monitoring and parental controls for devices. All annual plans have a 60-day money-back guarantee. Monthly costs (discounted if billed annually):
$15 for the individual plan
$29 for the couple plan
$50 for the family plan

Pros & cons

Pros Free two-week trial Money-back guarantee Family plan available Up to $1 million in insurance per adult
Cons Family plan is somewhat pricey
Best for monitoring credit

Identity Force

Highlights 30-day free trial Up to $1 million in insurance Credit score simulator

Bankrate s view

IdentityForce, a division of TransUnion, offers an extensive monitoring system that detects fraudulent credit activity, changes of address, illegal trading of information on the dark web, sex offender registrations and inappropriate activity on social media. Customers get an alert when there’s evidence of any of these activities. Plus, the service notifies you when there’s a major data breach, such as if a social media platform is hacked or if a company is cyberattacked, so customers can take necessary steps to protect their information. Should personal information be breached or used for fraudulent purposes, IdentityForce connects victims with a resolution specialist to complete paperwork, make calls and assist with other steps to restore their identities. Victims are also able to quickly cancel or replace debit, credit or ATM cards through the online service, and the company will reimburse up to $1 million in losses. One of IdentityForce’s unique featuers is its credit management features, accessed with the UltraSecure+Credit plan. Not only does the service grant customers instant access to credit reports and scores from multiple bureaus, it also provides a credit score tracker and a credit score simulator. With the simulator, you’ll be able to foresee how different financial decisions, such as taking out a loan, affect your credit.

Plan features

For the basic plan — called UltraSecure — customers get a 30-day free trial. The UltraSecure+Credit plan comes with credit management tools and includes some other features, such as a VPN and mobile phone threat detection, that the basic plan does not. With both plans, customers have the option to add child identity theft protection for $2.75 a month for each child. Monthly costs (discounted if billed annually):
$17.99 for UltraSecure
$23.99 for UltraSecure+Credit

Pros & cons

Pros 30-day free trial Extensive monitoring system Up to $1 million in identity theft insurance Option to add-on credit monitoring tools
Cons Must pay extra for credit monitoring tools
Best for property owners

LifeLock

Highlights Many plan options Can be paired with other Norton products Home title monitoring available

Bankrate s view

With Norton’s LifeLock service, the features available to protect personal identity vary among its three products. Each product comes with three plan options: one for an individual, one for a two-person family and one for a family of two adults and up to five children. The plans don’t come with device security, but they can be paired with Norton 360 suite at extra cost to include device security tools such as a VPN.

Plan features

The LifeLock Standard product covers up to $1 million in legal and expert fees and up to $25,000 in stolen funds. With this plan, LifeLock monitors credit, the dark web and other networks where personally identifiable information may be used illegally. LifeLock Advantage comes with all of the same features as the Standard product, except with a total of up to $100,000 in coverage for stolen funds. LifeLock Advantage comes with some extra features and alerts, including an identity block feature to block unauthorized account openings. Some additional alerts include alerts on crimes committed in your name and on bank account activity. The final product, LifeLock Ultimate Plus, comes with all of the same features as the Advantage product, plus up to $1 million covered for stolen funds and some more features. In addition to investment account alerts and social media monitoring, among others, it includes an extra home title monitoring feature that accounts for any properties where you have ownership. Monthly costs for individuals (discounted if billed annually):
$8.99 for LifeLock Standard for the first year, then $11.99
$17.99 for LifeLock Advantage for the first year, then $22.99
$23.99 for LifeLock Ultimate Plus for the first year, then $34.99

Pros & cons

Pros Three plan options for each product Can be paired with Norton 360 to include extra device security tools LifeLock Ultimate Plus covers up to $1 million in stolen funds Home title monitoring feature available with LifeLock Ultimate Plus
Cons Lowest plan only covers $25,000 in stolen funds Plans don’t include device security tools unless you pay to pair with Norton 360 Annual cost increases after the first year
Best for device security

IdentityIQ

Highlights Unique Bitdefender software Up to $1 million insured Enhanced credit monitoring available

Bankrate s view

IdentityIQ offers services to help protect customers not only from identity theft but also from other cyberattacks. On all plan options, customers get full monitoring of their information and accounts as well as the Bitdefender Total Security package for a small extra fee. The Bitdefender software is a unique feature designed to detect malware and protect files on various personal devices, available for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. It comes with a VPN, antivirus and antispyware, a password manager and parental controls. Like its competitors, IdentityIQ provides all of the typical services to help monitor for, spot and resolve cases of identity theft. Some of these services include credit report monitoring, dark web monitoring, expert assistance for restoring identity and up to $1 million in theft coverage. IdentityIQ also provides enhanced tools for managing credit, such as a credit score tracker and a credit score simulator, but these tools are only available on the highest priced plan.

Plan features

There are four levels of plan options available with increasing monitoring capacity. Only the Secure Max plan comes with family protection, which provides an extra $25,000 in ID theft insurance for children. Monthly costs, with Bitdefender included (discounted if billed annually):
$8.99 for the Secure Plan
$11.99 for Secure Plus
$21.99 for Secure Pro
$32.99 for Secure Max

Pros & cons

Pros With Bitdefender software, customers get enhanced device protection Highest priced plan includes enhanced credit management tools Family plan available Up to $1 million in identity theft insurance
Cons Bitdefender costs extra Enhanced credit management tools only available on highest priced plan
Best for scanning the web

Identity Guard

Highlights Enhanced AI web monitoring Wide variety of plans Up to $1 million in insurance

Bankrate s view

Identity Guard’s service includes all of the basic features that help to protect identities — namely, web monitoring, alerts and up to $1 million in identity theft insurance. Expert help for remediating fraud is only available on the Ultra plan. Identity Guard is designed to scan the web for personal information shared without authorization. The service is partnered with IBM Watson Artificial Intelligence, combining traditional web monitoring with AI detection to more effectively scan for threats. The Identity Guard site provides a free dark web scanner for any site visitors to check if their personal data has been compromised. Additionally, with a family plan, the service scans for your child’s information on the dark web and potential cyberbullying.

Plan features

A variety of plans cater to consumers with differing needs. Identity Guard offers three types of individual and family plans. The basic plan for each is called the Value plan and is an affordable option, but it doesn’t include bank account monitoring or credit protection. Identity Guard Total includes bank account monitoring and credit monitoring. Identity Guard Ultra includes these features plus extra monitoring, such as home title and investment accounts monitoring, as well as an annual credit report. Monthly costs (discounted if billed annually):
$8.99 for the individual Value plan, or $14.99 for families
$19.99 for the individual Total plan, or $29.99 for families
$29.99 for the individual Ultra plan, or $39.99 for families

Pros & cons

Pros Wide variety of plans available for different consumers Highest priced plans include home title and investment accounts monitoring Includes enhanced web monitoring with an AI scanner
Cons Fraud resolution only available on highest priced Ultra plan Bank account monitoring and credit protection not available with basic plan
Best for visual analysis

Allstate Identity Protection

Highlights 30-day free trial Includes visualized digital footprint Family plans available

Bankrate s view

Allstate Identity Protection features standard identity monitoring, including monitoring of the web and customers’ accounts, and a unique visual, digital footprint. The Allstate digital footprint records online activity and organizes it into a straightforward, web-like visual, where customers can track where their information is being stored or spread online. When there’s a data breach or threat to personal information detected, the digital footprint highlights the threat and helps customers navigate steps to protect their identity. Additionally, the digital footprint service provides tips and resources on reducing the amount of personal data exposed online. Allstate Identity Protections also provides expert remediation services if identity theft is detected. You’ll be insured up to $1 million for related expenses, not including stolen funds.

Plan features

There are two tiers for an Allstate Identity Protection plan, and each tier has an individual and a family option. Each plan comes with a 30-day free trial. With a family plan, the service covers up to 10 members, including minors, college-age children and seniors. The Premier plan adds enhanced financial monitoring, credit reports, social media monitoring and a tax fraud refund advance. Monthly costs (discounted if billed annually):
$9.99 for an individual Essentials plan, or $18.99 for families
$17.99 for an individual Premier plan, or $34.99 for families

Pros & cons

Pros Unique digital footprint feature offered on all products Provides tips and resources for reducing personal data exposure 30-day free trial Two family plans offered
Cons Basic plan doesn’t include financial or social media monitoring
Best for restoring identity

IDShield

Highlights Personalized identity theft restoration Extensive monitoring on all plans Family plans available

Bankrate s view

IDShield comes with 24/7 monitoring of personal data, protection against malware, credit monitoring and comprehensive services for identity restoration. The restoration services are a stand-out feature of IDShield’s products. If the software detects identity theft, the victim is assigned a licensed private investigator, whose responsibilities include contacting appropriate institutions, helping to place a credit freeze and/or fraud alert on credit reports and restoring the victim’s identity to pre-theft status. After resolution, the private investigators keep the case open for an additional 120 days should the victim be targeted again. Additionally, investigators are available to provide consultation regarding theft trends and tips for how to be a safe online consumer.

Plan features

IDShield plans share most of the same features, including an extensive monitoring system, full-service restoration and up to $1 million in reimbursement for unrecovered costs. The only differences between the plans are how many credit bureaus are monitored (one or three) and how many users the plan covers. The family option covers a couple and unlimited dependents. Monthly costs:
$14.95 for an individual for one credit bureau, or $19.95 for three credit bureaus
$29.95 for a family for one credit bureau, or $34.95 for three credit bureaus

Pros & cons

Pros Enhanced identity theft restoration services, including licensed private investigators Investigators provide consultation for avoiding identity theft Extensive monitoring features offered on all plans
Cons Prices are higher than some competitors
Best for affordability

Zander

Highlights Low-cost plans available Up to $1 million in insurance Family plans available

Bankrate s view

Zander offers two plans, the Essential Plan and Cyber Elite Bundle, both of which have individual and family options. For families, Zander covers up to two adults and 10 children. These offerings are more affordable than competitors, so they may be a good fit for those on a tighter budget.

Plan features

Zander’s two plans, the Essential Plan and Cyber Elite Bundle, come with a selection of cybersecurity tools. Each offers personal information monitoring, data breach updates, specialists to help with identity recovery and up to $1 million in coverage for each adult. With the Cyber Elite Bundle, customers will also get malware protection, such as a VPN and antivirus software, and alerts for when personal information has been used to apply for a new account. Zander does not provide credit monitoring, but the Cyber Elite Bundle does come with Experian CreditLock, which allows customers to instantly lock their credit files and block new accounts from being opened. Monthly costs (discounted if billed annually):
$6.75 for the individual Essential Plan, or $12.90 for families
$9.99 for the individual Cyber Elite Bundle, or $19.49 for families

Pros & cons

Pros More affordable than competitors Higher priced plans include malware protection and Experian CreditLock Family plans available
Cons Credit monitoring not available Malware protection not included with Essential Plan

Bottom line

Identity theft-protection services make it much easier to prevent your identity from being stolen. The various services largely offer similar features — monitoring, alerts and identity theft insurance — but they differ in how much information they monitor and what enhanced features they provide. Some services come with added monitoring capabilities, while others focus more on shielding your information with antivirus software. When shopping around for identity theft protection, consider these details and in what areas you’d like extra protection. SHARE: René Bennett is a writer for Bankrate, reporting on banking products and personal finance. David Schepp is a wealth editor for Bankrate, focusing on deposits and consumer banking content.

Related Articles