TrustedID Company Profile
Headquartered in Redwood City, California, TrustedID was founded in 2005 by Scott Mitic, formerly a vice president at Fair Issac, creators of the FICO lending score and Omar Ahmad, former CIO for Napster. Scott Mitic has stated publically his reasons for starting TrustedID was he got tired of watching credit bureaus place greater importance on selling consumer’s data than protecting it. TrustedID is designed to offer proactive identity theft protection and claims to be “the only complete solution for protecting your identity.”
The service has been highlighted in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Newsweek and Time magazines, CNNMoney.com, and is the identity theft protection plan of choice for Suze Orman – the CNBC financial guru.
How TrustedID Protects You
Fraud Alerts
TrustedID will place and renew fraud alerts on your credit file with Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. This requires the credit bureaus to verify your identity before issuing credit, usually by calling your phone number on file.
Removal from Marketing Lists
TrustedID will remove your name from marketing lists advertisers use to send you pre-approved credit offers and junk mail. This is one of the many ways thieves steal identities.
Annual Credit Reports
TrustedID will order credit reports from the three major credit reporting agencies and have them delivered to you for review.
Scans Internet for you Data
TrustedID regularly scans the internet for your private information including social security number, credit cards, driver’s license, and other sensitive data to protect it from being sold or traded online.
Medical Benefit Review
TrustedID will review your medical benefit statements to ensure nobody else is receiving your medical benefits.
Spyware Protection
Provides you with advanced anti-spyware software to protect you from identity thieves when you go online.
- Identify your missing documents
- Contact each credit, bank or document issuing company while you’re on the phone
- Cancel the lost cards (credit/debit cards, driver’s licenses, social sec. cards, checkbooks,etc.)
- Fill out the paperwork and request new replacements
- Initiate the fraud affidavit and police reports if the wallet was stolen
- Depending on the severity, additional follow-up and resolution calls will be arranged.
24/7 Customer Support
If you have any questions or need immediate assistance, TrustedID has protection specialists to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
CreditLock
TrustedID is also the only company that allows you the ability to “freeze” your credit at your discretion for an additional fee. With the CreditLock service, you can place a “lock” on your credit file, denying others access to it. This ability is paramount if an identity thief has gotten a hold of your information and is attacking your identity as he will not be able to open new accounts. It can also be useful in the everyday for those people no longer requiring credit or wanting to be extra cautious. With Credit Lock you will have to contact TrustedID and “unlock” your file if you require a legitimate credit check, such as when you are applying for a loan. Pricing for CreditLock varies by state.
What makes TrustedID different from other companies?
There are three areas in which TrustedID stands out. The ability to place and remove Credit Freezes which prevents any unauthorized access to your credit file, its best in class $1,000,000 Service Warranty and the large discounts it offers in its family plan.
CreditLock
No other company offers credit freezes on all the three major credit reporting agencies. Equifax’s IDPatrol comes close but only allows you to place a credit freeze on the Equifax report and not Experian or TransUnion. See our section on Fraud Alerts & Credit Freezes to understand the benefits of a Credit Freeze over a Fraud Alert.
$1,000,000 Service Warranty
You can’t really appreciate the $1,000,000 Service Warranty unless you read the fine print. Not only does it offer the same amount of protection as Lifelock’s $1 Million Total Service Guarantee, but includes coverage for lost wages, a key point Lifelock does not cover. In fact, TrustedID offers more than twice the coverage as its nearest competitor in an area where the majority of identity theft victims say they incur loss.
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, the average identity theft victim spends about $1,000.00 in fees to restore their identity. Rarely would any victim come close to needing $1,000,000. Although most of the work involved is tedious and time consuming, it usually does not require attorneys or investigators to get involved. What most identity theft victims need is compensation for lost wages and that is why TrustedID’s $1,000,000 Service Warranty stands out. See our section on Identity Theft Insurance to better understand what these policies cover and what to look for.
Family Protection
A distinct advantage to choosing TrustedID is that you can opt for the Family Plan and get Lender DoubleCheck and warranty service for every adult and child living under your roof for one competitive price. This will save large families, especially those who also care for elderly parents or in-laws, a lot of money when compared to any other identity protection service. There are no exceptions (trust us we tried), everyone must be living at the same residence.
The Bottom Line
TrustedID’s IDFreeze product coupled with CreditLock is our editor’s choice for overall identity theft protection. They are the only ones to offer the ability to place credit freezes on all three credit reporting bureaus and with family discounts and “best in class” service warranty, it’s easy to see why this is our top choice.
TrustedID Discounts
Illinois Health Agents has negotiated a 15% discount on TrustedID plans, currently the best discount available anywhere. To get the discount click here or enter promo code TREK4 at www.trustedid.com.