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LifeLock

LifeLock Review

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Bottom Line:
 Best value for identity theft protection; 30 days free
Full Review:
 LifeLock is a great identity theft prevention service at a great price. As a special offer for visitors to NextAdvisor.com, you can now get 30 days free AND $11 off the price of the service, paying just $9 per month or $99 per year after your free trial. You must click the link from our site to get this special promotion.

Preventive services, such as LifeLock, employ tools like setting fraud alerts on your credit file with all 3 bureaus, which means that lenders must call or write you for verification before they can issue new credit. Since most identity theft occurs when thieves use your personal information to open new credit accounts (credit cards, bank accounts, phone accounts, etc.), fraud alerts aim to prevent identity theft by stopping the fraudulent accounts from being opened in the first place. (There are also what we call detection services that monitor any changes to your credit report and are a great way to catch identity theft in its early stages and before damage is done. They do not, however, help prevent ID theft.) The CEO of LifeLock stands behind his product so firmly that he will gladly hand out his social security number on the website. While it is a great testimony for his service, we don't recommend you try it at home!

LifeLock is a preventive identity theft service - their sole purpose is identity protection and recovery for you and your family. LifeLock also offers an excellent solution to protect children from identity theft. Child identity theft is an even faster growing crime than identity theft against adults. LifeLock works by installing and maintaining fraud alerts on your data with the 3 major credit bureaus. What this does is force a bank or other credit issuer to contact you personally before any new account can be opened in your name. Fraud alerts are a method of extra protection and they do not hurt your credit or score in any way. They also send you a 3-bureau credit report annually, at the time of and the anniversary of your signup with the company. LifeLock also reduces pre-approved credit offers and junk mail with your name on it from circulating, thereby reducing your chance of having your identity stolen. LifeLock recently added a new feature that is included in their service called WalletLock, which we think is excellent. If your wallet is ever stolen, you just call LifeLock and speak to a WalletLock specialist, who will contact each credit card, bank or document issuing company, cancel your affected accounts and complete the paperwork and steps necessary to replace your lost documents, including your credit/debit cards, driver's license, social security card, insurance cards, checkbook - even travelers checks - at no additional cost. LifeLock recently added two new services included in your membership to further protect you. The first, eRecon, monitors the internet's black markets for any use of your credit card numbers, driver's license, social security number and email. The second, TrueAddress, notifies you if your address has been changed in any national databases, a common tactic of identity thieves. LifeLock's guarantee is one of the best out of any of the top companies for identity protection, and it is clearly stated on their web site. They guarantee your good name up to $1 million if your identity is ever stolen. While this guarantee is great, direct monetary losses from identity theft are almost always much smaller since you are not legally responsible for paying any fraudulent debt a thief accumulated. The real cost of identity theft is the loss of ability to get credit for an extended period of time, the time and effort it takes to restore your good name, and many other adverse consequences that can even include mistaken incarceration.

Signing up was quick for us, and after 2 screens the company clearly labeled what we could expect from our account over the next 12 months or so. (For example, within 2 weeks we will be notified about the fraud alerts from the bureaus, within 2 months our junk mail will be drastically reduced, and every 90 days our fraud alerts will be reissued.) Upon contacting customer service by phone with some questions, we didn't have to wait more than a moment for someone to pick up the phone, and they are available 24/7 for any questions or problems. LifeLock offers both monthly and yearly payment options for individuals and families, as well as a Business-class service. Overall, LifeLock is a pioneer in identity theft protection and still offers the best value for identity theft prevention.

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Service Details:

Price: Free 30 day trial; $9.00/mo or $99.00/yr
Type: Prevention - sets and renews fraud alerts
Credit Reports Delivered: 1 3-bureau credit report each year
Fraud
Monitoring:		 Credit card, social security, driver's license, address change
Mail List Removal: Preapproved credit and general junk mail
ID Theft Insurance/ Guarantee: $1,000,000
Total Service Guarantee

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