Identity Theft Protection Consumer Reports

Identity theft protection consumer reports are guides that are produced by independent and journalistic organizations. They provide unbiased reviews, facts and opinions on the subject of identity theft and companies that provide identity fraud protection services.

One of largest publishers of these type of reports is the aptly named US magazine Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports Magazine has a research and writing policy which they state is both independent and impartial.

There are many other consumer report style  publishers who have published a number of  articles and reviews about the growing crime of Identity theft and the service providers that offer identity theft protection.

The credit score scale review website has conducted its own research to produce the following report on ID theft protection services;

Report - The Rise Of The ID Theft Protectors

The explosion of the world wide web, the low cost of computers and increased access to internet access has created the new crime of online identity theft and fraud. Incidents of ID theft have grown rapidly over the last 8 years as identity thieves have become more sophisticated in the way they can exploit the weaknesses in many online security systems and programs.

This increasing menace has also created a market of service providers who prey on the fear and anxiety of consumers and act as their saviors by offering services to protect them. Of course these identity theft protection companies do not offer these services out of the kindness of their own hearts, these services are fee paying and in some cases a can be quite expensive.

There have been many studies carried by consumer research companies into these ID protection services. One such study was conducted by the Consumer Federation of America. Their study looked at over fifteen different companies who sold ID theft and fraud services. Their overall conclusion was that many of these companies services and products did not communicate a clear explanation of what they actually offered to the consumer.

These unclear explanations or corporate messaging involved the types of services, their charges and the benefits they could actually deliver. The CFA report also claimed that not all of these identity theft service providers can offer protection that many people think they can.

Common Misconceptions About ID Theft Protection

One the major misconceptions that many people have about these types of services is that they will actually prevent your personal ID  and financial information from being stolen. There are only two things in life that are certain and that is change and death. The reality is that these services cannot prevent your ID from being stolen although they can help you limit the risk.

Another misconception that is often promoted is that these ID protection solutions can only be carried out by specialist services. This is not case as many of the services provided can be undertaken by an the consumer either free or at low cost. The real cost is probably the time it takes to carry them out and the real and true benefit that these services can provide is saving you the time and hassle of doing them yourselves.

Dodgy Practices

Apart from making claims that they can prevent ID theft the CFA identity theft protection consumer report also revealed that other worrying practices:

• A lack of transparency about the services they provide, the end results and full disclosure of pricing.
• Many of these services tout credit reports for a fee even though consumers have a right to one annual credit report per year.
• Add on services are actively promoted such as insurance with limited details on what it actually covers.
• A common service provided are fraud alerts which are often promoted as a solution to preventing ID theft but in reality these services can have many weaknesses.

Using Identity Theft Protection Services

If you feel you can benefit from using an identity theft service provider you should make ask yourself the following questions to determine if you really need it:

• Am I at risk of becoming a victim of identity theft?
• Could I undertake any of the paid services myself?
• Is the cost of using these services worth the money and are they affordable? 
• Has the provider communicated clearly about what they are offering, how it will benefit and how much will it cost?
• Do they monitor your 3 credit report* (which you can do yourself for free) and do they offer any other criminal monitoring services to protect your identity?
• Do they provide a fraud alert system  and how will it update and how often when a fraudulent account is identified?
• Do they monitor any databases where your  bank accounts, personal records and social security number details are held?
• Does the provider offer customer support and when things go wrong?
• Do I need ID theft insurance and what exactly does the policy cover and more importantly what does it not cover?

* The credit bureaus Equifax,Experian and Transunion all produce their own credit report. You can order these reports for free at the federal trade commission website www.annualcreditreports.com.

It is important that you ask yourself these questions to be absolutely sure that you require these services and that the provider offers what they promise. I hope you found the identity theft protection consumer report useful.