Identity Theft Labs:partners to protect
BY PHIL MULKINS World Action Line Editor
Thursday, November 06, 2008
11/06/08 at 4:04 AM
Dear Action Line: Can you tell me if LifeLock is a good company to pay for identity theft protection? I know a lot of companies will monitor your credit report for illegal activities for a fee, but I can do that myself for free. It's a pain in the neck. I would rather pay a company to handle it, but not one that's going to take advantage of me. — S.C, Tulsa.
Identity Theft Labs: LifeLock is a fine ID theft prevention service similar to TrustedID, featured in the Oct. 15 Tulsa World Consumer Page. Both companies are monitored by Identity Theft Labs — tulsaworld.com/IDTheftLabs — a Web site run by the Identity Theft Labs Team.
ID theft basics: The team is a group of people "with diverse and extensive knowledge about identity theft — a contracted affiliate of LifeLock, LoudSiren (Debix), TrustedId and Identity Guard."
Its site offers a comparison of their services including the basics: maintains fraud alerts every 90 days, insurance against ID theft, lost wages coverage, recovery services, free annual credit reports, mailing list name removal, credit card monitoring, black-market and Internet monitoring for your private data, etc.
Best of the best: "We have had offers of affiliation from many other identity protection companies but we remain selective and careful in regards to whom we will represent," the Web site says.
"Companies must meet our stringent guidelines and must be determined to be the best of the best. We remain independent and unbiased and present our opinions without the influence of any other person, body or company outside of our small team."
ID theft biz: Identity Theft Labs says it strives to share its findings with consumers in an unbiased way, including its research results about the identity-theft and identity-fraud markets. It details the differences between each company so consumers can decide which plan is best for their needs.
Top three: It names Debix, LifeLock and TrustedID identity protection services as the top three, saying, "They have the best combination of protection, value and service guarantees." The team monitors 10 identity protection companies, but these three services stand out from the crowd, achieving great success in the marketplace through reputation, superior service and strong financial backing. Read its three reviews:
Debix review: tulsaworld.com/Debix — rated "very good" for $89 per year.
LifeLock review: tulsaworld.com/LifeLock — rated "excellent" for $99 per year.
TrustedID review: tulsaworld.com/TrustedID — rated "excellent" for $99 per year.
Identity Guard: tulsaworld.com/IDGuard — rated "best at credit monitoring" for $165 per year.
Identity war: The concept of proactive credit identity protection is the next great wave for consumers facing the rising sea of identity theft. The field is still young and many changes will come in the next six months, within the new realities of the economic crisis.
The Identity Theft Labs team will continue monitoring changes in the threats and updating its Web site recommendations as the war unfolds.
Submit Action Line questions by calling 699-8888 or by e-mailing phil.mulkins@TulsaWorld.com or by U.S. mailing it to Tulsa World Consumer, PO Box 1770, Tulsa OK 74102-1770.
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