6 Best Identity Theft Protection Services of March 2025
March 10, 2025
Other kinds of identity theft
Some methods for stealing a person’s identity consist of exploiting specific types of documents, such as medical, investment and tax documents. A thief could also compile several pieces of information to create a fake version of you.
- Child identity theft: Scammers can steal a child’s personal information and use it to wrongfully obtain services and benefits, or to commit fraud. This often goes unnoticed until years later when the affected individual tries to obtain a job, car insurance or a new credit card.
- Medical identity theft: Your information could be used to obtain a health insurance policy or to submit false claims to Medicare and other insurers. This may also involve a scammer using your health insurance to visit a doctor or get a prescription.
- Tax identity theft: A scammer that gets access to your Social Security number can use it to file a fraudulent tax return and collect the refund before you do. Most people become aware of this type of theft when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) flags their tax return as a duplicate.
- Synthetic identity theft: Cybercriminals might create new identities by combining real personal information with fake data. For example, they may use a real Social Security number and a false name to apply for a loan.
How does identity theft protection work?
Identity theft protection companies help you monitor your private information across the internet to spot scams early on. They send alerts when your information might be compromised and can help restore your identity in case of theft, reimbursing you for losses in some cases.
The most common features of identity protection services are:
- Identity monitoring: Identity theft protection services monitor websites, databases and public records and alert you if your sensitive information is being shared or used by fraudsters. They may track your SSN, driver’s license, passport, home address, phone number and bank accounts (e.g. checking and investment accounts).
- Credit report monitoring: Credit monitoring services review your credit report from one or all three major credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — for signs of possible fraud and identity theft. If any suspicious activity turns up in your credit file, you are notified via email, text or phone so you can verify this information.
(If you’ve already been the victim of identity theft, and there is inaccurate information in your credit history, make sure to check out our guide to the best credit repair companies).
- Identity recovery services: Restoration services provide professional assistance to help you recover your identity and secure your accounts. This includes contacting government agencies, requesting a credit freeze and helping you write letters to creditors and debt collectors.
Although you can dispute your credit report on your own, hiring a company to do so can save you time and effort.
- Identity theft reimbursement: Also called identity theft insurance, this covers stolen funds and out-of-pocket expenses related to recovering your identity such as legal fees or lost wages. Coverage ranges from $20,000 to $1 million, but can go as high as $5 million in some cases.
- VPN services: A virtual private network (VPN) creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and its online destination. This limits how much of your data ends up online and how vulnerable you are to malicious third parties, especially on public wi-fi networks.
- Antivirus software: Antivirus search your device’s system files, documents, programs and applications to detect and remove malicious software (e.g. viruses, trojans, adware) that may be tracking you or stealing your information.
Latest identity theft news
Social engineering scams, which exploit human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities, have become prevalent methods for fraudsters to gain unauthorized access to individuals’ bank accounts. According to recent reports, such scams — phishing, vishing and smishing — now account for approximately 23% of all digital banking fraud incidents.
Data breaches continue to grow in number and size, as last year’s National Public Data breach showed, which left nearly 3 billion records exposed. Most recently, data breaches of DISA Global Solutions and edtech giant PowerSchool left the records of tens of millions Americans exposed.
Americans now permanently have the right to ask for a free credit report from each of the major credit reporting agencies every week. Although it might be tempting to do so, experts are recommending that consumers pull their report on a monthly basis to avoid unnecessary stress.
ID Theft Protection FAQs
How much does identity theft protection cost?
Identity theft protection costs between $10 to $30 per month for individuals. Family plans are naturally more expensive, starting at around $15 per month. If you’re on a tight budget, you can find individual plans for as low as $5 per month, but these only offer the most basic monitoring and generally lack quality theft restoration and credit services.
Is it worth paying for identity theft protection?
Paying for id theft protection might be worth it if you have multiple online and financial accounts or don’t actively monitor your credit. While basic security measures can help, these services offer peace of mind by continuously scanning for personal data exposure and fraudulent activity, which can result in severe financial losses and damage to your credit.
How can I check if someone is using my identity?
To verify if someone has stolen your identity, you should first check your credit card statements and bank account for warning signs, such as unauthorized transactions and new accounts under your name. You can also request a credit report if your credit score is behaving strangely or if you cannot prequalify for a loan or apply for a credit card when you usually could.
How can I prevent my identity from being stolen?
• Strengthen your passwords. Use complex, unique combinations and avoid reusing them. A password manager can help keep track of multiple passwords securely.
• Monitor your credit. Regularly check your credit reports and statements for unauthorized activity. You can request fraud alerts or freeze your credit to prevent new accounts from being opened in your name.
• Protect your devices. Install antivirus software, enable two-factor authentication whenever possible and keep an eye out for phishing attempts. Avoid carrying around sensitive documents like your Social Security card and shred important paperwork before throwing it away.
• Limit your online exposure. Deactivate or delete any unnecessary accounts, request that data brokers remove your information and limit internet cookies to minimize your digital footprint.
How do I report identity theft?
For phishing scams, forward suspicious emails to reportphishing@apwg.org and text messages to SPAM (7726). Remember to report the phishing attack to the FTC’s File A Complaint page and to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
To protect your credit, immediately contact your bank and credit card issuer and place a fraud alert with one of the three major credit bureaus: Experian (1-888-397-3742), TransUnion (1-800-680-7289), or Equifax (1-888-766-0008). The bureau you notify will inform the other two.
How we chose the best identity theft protection services
When evaluating identity theft protection services, we focused on three main factors in addition to cost: protection, restoration and reputation. The best services offer comprehensive identity and credit monitoring, have a robust identity theft restoration package and are in good standing with their customers and the industry at large.
Protection services
Identity theft protection services are based mainly on a system of monitoring and alerts that they use to notify customers if their information is compromised. They can then help them avoid fraud, or at least limit its impact.
We highlighted services that track a wide range of items as well as those with unique types of monitoring. Common alerts include those for dark web, social media, bank account, change of address and data breach monitoring. Other items, such as home and auto titles, investment accounts and high-risk transactions, are usually monitored on more expensive plans only.
Some services can also proactively limit how much information you leave online when surfing the Web, or they might protect your devices from spam and malicious software. We favored services that included cybersecurity tools like a VPN, password manager, malware blocker and antivirus on most or all of their plans.
Restoration services
In some cases, an identity theft protection service will notify you of leaked data after it has already been used or sold by fraudsters. A dependable service will offer some level of fraud insurance to combat this, which can reimburse you for legal fees incurred during the identity recovery process.
We favored services that advertise generous identity restoration packages of at least $1 million per individual. We also considered whether they had experts available around the clock to guide you through the recovery process, featured a credit lock on their platform and contacted financial institutions or government agencies on your behalf to report foul play.
Reputation
A company’s reputation can suggest what to expect when it comes to picking an identity theft protection service. As with any industry, legal action against a company should be a red flag in all but the most fringe cases. Customer feedback online slants negative, so we only flagged services that had considerably negative reviews on reputable third-party websites.
To determine reputation, we looked at complaints on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Better Business Bureau and identified any trends, including if they promptly responded to customers. We also considered feedback from reviews in Trustpilot and platforms with methods of verifying customer feedback, favoring services with higher ratings overall.
Summary of our top identity theft protection picks for your money
Aura – Best Identity Theft Protection Overall
LifeLock – Best Identity Theft Protection for Children
EverSafe – Best Identity Theft Protection for Seniors
IdentityForce – Best Identity Theft Protection for Families
Bitdefender – Best Identity Theft Protection for Content Creators
IDShield – Best Identity Theft Restoration
