July 12, 2011, 2:30 PM — If you use the Internet or own a credit card, the threat of having your identity stolen is omnipresent. Now, leading Internet service providers, financial institutions, and companies such as Sony are offering customers peace of mind with free identity theft protection. Other companies such as Debix are offering a free bare-bones version of ID theft protection to anyone online.
Cheapskates, beware: Although the offers sound good--and although they will save you between $10 and $15 monthly compared to paid ID theft protection alternatives--some of the offers we spotted could give you a false sense of security. We examined free ID theft protection offers from banks, ISPs, and assorted companies, and we collected some advice to help you decide which services to consider and which ones to avoid.
What to Look For
Great
At its core, an identity theft protection service should monitor all three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) constantly to see if anything fishy is going on, and it should send you an immediate alert if it spots any red flags, says Jay Foley, executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit ID theft protection resource.
Good
Among free ID theft protection services, you'll rarely get both monitoring of your credit reports and immediate alerts about suspicious activity. Protection isn't worth much if your name, Social Security number, and financial data are in the wrong hands and the service doesn't let you know, Foley says.
Any ID theft protection service that offers less probably exists for the sole purpose of upselling you to a paid protection plan. But as Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, points out, "Even a little protection is better than none."
Just All Right
While some of the services we spotted offer robust ID theft protection, most lack recommended safeguards. The aim of those lesser ID theft protection services is to monitor the Internet for any hint that your identity might be for sale on the black market, and to help victims close compromised accounts, place fraud alerts, and minimize damage.
Who Offers What?
Internet Service Providers
Odds are good that your ISP offers a basic form of identity theft protection. Comcast announced last month that its 23 million Xfinity broadband customers would have free ID theft protection, called the Constant Guard Protection Suite, as part of a partnership with Intersections, an ID theft protection firm.
The service doesn't monitor credit bureaus or give you automatic alerts. Instead it offers basic protections that it calls "lost-wallet protection" for your personal data. That is, if your credit card info is stolen--physically or digitally--the service will help with replacing your cards, by contacting your credit companies. Comcast also provides access to identity theft protection experts who can give counseling on how to repair a stolen identity.
Comcast's suite of ID theft protection tools serves more as marketing for its full, premium ID theft plans, which range between $8 and $13 a month.
Last year AOL began offering paying dial-up customers (those who pay $26 a month) free identity fraud protection from LifeLock. For those still subscribing to AOL dial-up service, the protection service is a great deal, providing credit bureau monitoring and alerts along with lost-wallet protection, cybermonitoring, and million-dollar identity theft insurance.
Banks
Many smaller banks and credit unions offer free ID theft protection as a way to stand out from the pack. Plans vary, but programs such as the one from Canandaigua National Bank and Trust in New York offer surprisingly strong protection to customers. Open a checking account at Canandaigua National Bank and Trust, and you'll receive both credit bureau checks and alerts (as security experts recommend) at no additional cost.
In 2007 nearly 130 banks and credit unions in the United States offered free ID theft protection. Four years later it's worth asking your bank about ID theft protection. The programs we spotted won't cost you anything, but do require you to explicitly sign up for the services.
Sony
