ID Watchdog Reviews – Identity Theft Protection 2019

ID Watchdog Ratings

Protection Rating

8.9

Customer Service		9.2
Value		8.8
Features & Services		8.6
Ease of Use		9

If you’ve been putting off your online security then it won’t take long before you end up with a huge dent in your bank account, credit health or worse, with your identity and that of your loved ones on the dark web.

If you’re thinking, “I’m not exactly a multimillionaire; so I’m safe”, you couldn’t be more wrong!

Absolutely no one is safe!

Even if you have a few hundred dollars in your checking account, you’re a target. And the financial dent is only one part of the picture. Once your identity is compromised, you get exposed to risks that are much higher. Stolen identities are often used to commit crimes.

So it makes perfect sense to start thinking about your online security and privacy proactively.

Let’s discuss in more detail how identity theft has changed the modern business landscape and how it affects us all.

We have also added an in-depth review of an online ID protection service called ID Watchdog. So read on to find out what exactly it provides you with and decide if it’s the right choice for YOU!

All About Identity Theft

What is it?

Any action that aims to obtain access to your sensitive information without your knowledge and permission comes under identity theft.

The Dangers Of Identify Theft And Why You Must Act Now?

You see, it’s not only your life that gets affected if a hack takes place. It exposes your entire family to huge risks. Apart from severe financial damage, your legal record and reputation are at stake. There are countless reasons for taking onboard a reliable online ID theft protection service.

Round the clock surveillance: There are so many avenues that present a potential opening to hackers. An ID protection service will constantly monitor thousands of data points to plug in these gaps

Swift notifications: Your bank accounts, credit card activity, and credit health will be under constant surveillance and you will be immediately notified in case there’s any attempt to gain unauthorized access.

Financial restoration: Most ID theft protection services offer an insurance cover of up to $1 million to ID theft victims. Moreover, they will also assist you with the entire legal process to help restore order as quickly as possible.

Here’s How You Can Choose The Best Identity Protection Service

Here’s what to consider while deciding on a service:

Evaluate several options: Don’t settle for the very first service that comes across your browser feed. Take your time to assess several options before settling on the one that’s best for you.

Look at what others are saying: Customer reviews are often one of the best sources to judge if the service is good enough.

Simplicity & Clarity: Be sure to clarify your concerns about the plans, and security terms. If the service representatives are willing to answer your questions honestly and upfront, then it’s a sign you’ve found a reliable security service.

Features and Services

Let’s see what the service offers in terms of ID security, surveillance and the restoration process for ID theft victims.

What is it?

ID Watchdog is a relatively well-known online ID protection service. It is run and owned by Equifax, which most people know as a major consumer credit report agency. That being said, the company also had a data breach back in 2017, when personal information of more than 140 million people was compromised – something to take into account.

ID Watchdog isn’t the only online identity protection service that Equifax owns and runs – it also operates ID Trust.

ID Watchdog Features Comparison List

	ID Watchdog Plus	ID Watchdog Platinum
Minotor & Detect
Credit Report Monitoring	1 Bureau	3 Bureau
Credit Score Tracker		1 Bureau Daily
Vantage/Credit Scores		1 Bureau Daily/3 Bureau Annually
Manage & alert
Credit Report Lock	1 Bureau	Multi-Bureau
Financial Accounts Monitoring
Equifax Child Credit Lock	Included in Family Plan	Included in Family Plan
Add Second Adult	Included in Family Plan	Included in Family Plan
Add Up to 4 Children	Included in Family Plan	Included in Family Plan
support & restore
ID Theft Resolution Specialist
Identity Theft Insurance	Up to $1 Million	Up to $1 Million
Stolen Fund Reimbursement		Up to $500,000

A Closer Look At ID Watchdog Features

Although it may still have a long way to go before it can match the current industry leaders; it still manages to provide a reliable surveillance and ID restoration framework. This includes the $1 million insurance cover in case of ID theft. Here’s what you should expect:

A robust monitoring framework: ID Watchdog essentially has two-tier data surveillance to ensure security. To start off, they will continuously monitor public records and data avenues to sniff out any signs of identity breach.

To further bolster security, they also monitor the USPS National Change of Address Registry. This is especially helpful when hackers divert your mail and other sensitive information to a different address. This significantly speeds up the detection process, allowing you to respond immediately.

Loan database surveillance: It’s a common practice that loans are taken out against stolen identities. ID Watchdog provides round the clock surveillance of subprime loan database to ensure that no loans are being taken out against your name without authorization.

Dark web monitoring: If your identity gets stolen, then it is quite likely that it will end up on the dark web available to the highest bidder. Watchdog will extensively scour all such avenues to make sure that your sensitive information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Multiple alerts: A close eye will be kept on your credit reports, financial data points, and other sensitive information. To start off, an ID Watchdog representative will ring you to confirm and report any activity. You will also receive alerts through email, texts, and the mobile app. Moreover, you can customize the frequency of these alerts to match your preferences.

Fully managed resolution: ID Watchdog has a robust identity restoration process for ID theft victims. They have formed an exclusive department to assist victims. It is called Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialists (CITRMS). Each victim is dealt on a case by case basis and assisted throughout the entire process of identity and financial restoration.

$1 million insurance cover: As an ID theft victim, you will be eligible for up to $1 million insurance cover. However, we strongly recommend thoroughly going through the documentation to properly understand the eligibility criteria.

Credit monitoring: You will have access to credit monitoring. However, the extent of monitoring will vary according to the plan you choose. The entry-level plan offers credit monitoring from only 1 of the 3 credit agencies. If you want it from all three credit bureaus i.e. Equifax, TransUnion and Experian then must shell out extra cash to sign up for the Platinum plan.

Credit scores and reports: This feature is only available for the Platinum plan but you get your credit scores and reports from all 3 agencies.

National provider identifier (NPI) alerts: This feature is somewhat unique and especially handy if you work in the healthcare sector. It’s not uncommon to come across cases of healthcare fraud. ID Watchdog will immediately let you know if any activity has taken place against your NPI.

Plans & Pricing

ID Watchdog offers a pretty simple plan classification. It offers two plans – Plus and Platinum. Let’s see what each of these has to offer.

ID Watchdog Plus: It will cost you $14.95 a month. However, if you’re looking to save some cash then you can sign up for their annual plan which will cost $149.95 for the year. Your monthly bill will come down to $12.50. Apart from the yearly credit scores and reports, you will have access to all the features that we discussed above.

ID Watchdog Platinum: It will cost you significantly more than the Plus plan with a monthly charge of $19.95. For the additional charge, you get only one extra feature – the yearly credit scores and reports from Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. All the other features are the same as the Plus plan. You can also opt to pay annually, which will cost you $219 or $18.25 a month.

Unfortunately, ID Watchdog doesn’t seem to offer any family plans at the moment, which is surprising considering most of its competitors offer one.

ID Watchdog Pros & Cons

Pros

You may receive up to $1 million in compensation in case of financial damage from ID theft.

An end-to-end ID restoration process is in place for ID theft victims. A dedicated department handles each case, making the entire process seamless thus minimizing the effort on the victim’s part.

ID Watchdog offers two-tier data surveillance to ensure security.

A simplified plan and pricing structure

They have made the plan cancellation process quite simple, which is usually not the case. All you need to do is call their customer care number and you’ll be off the hook. However, no refunds are made for partial months.

The customer support is quite reliable. It’s available 24-7 in several languages.

You can easily lock your credit report. However, there is a limitation in that you can only do so with reports from Equifax

Cons

As of now, no family plan is being offered

Social media surveillance isn’t offered. This leaves a noticeable chink in their ID protection armor.

The login process can be a bit cumbersome at times if you ask it to remember your computer. It can unexpectedly give you login errors and you may have to restart your browser.

Conclusion – Is It Worth Your Cash?

It’s hard to miss the fact that there’s little difference between the Plus and Platinum plans and that you have to shell out almost 35% extra to get access to your credit reports. Not to mention they currently aren’t offering any family plans.

Although ID Watchdog does cover the basics, however, the overall package is underwhelming - especially if you compare it with some of the other similarly priced options.

Last Updated on December 4, 2019