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Check if your personal information is being traded on the dark web or if it's exposed on data broker websites

How Does IDStrong's Identity Theft Protection Work

IDStrong’s identity theft protection monitors your personal information and sends you alerts if we discover that it shows up online, which may indicate someone is misusing it. The best protection against identity theft is constant monitoring and alerts so you can take quick action to secure your sensitive information before someone uses it for fraud. It’s crucial to constantly keep a close eye on your social security number, bank account number, email, usernames, and passwords to keep identity thieves at bay. However, you can’t monitor the entire internet yourself looking for your exposed data. IDStrong’s identity monitoring does it for you. Identity theft protection combined with credit monitoring is some of the best protection you can put in place. Although there is no such thing as 100% protection against identity theft, identity theft protection goes a long way towards keeping your information safe and helping you avoid financial fraud. Additionally, we carry $1 million of identity theft insurance as part of our identity theft recovery plan to cover our customers.

Our service includes monitoring dark web forums and illegal marketplaces for your information, public records like court records (arrests, criminal records, bankruptcies, liens, and judgments, name and address changes, etc.), social media, and your credit reports. When we find your personal information is exposed as the result of a leak or breach, we will notify you.

What is Identity Theft

Identity theft is when someone uses your personal information without your permission to access your accounts, steal money, commit fraud, or impersonate you for other reasons. Strangers are not always the ones committing identity theft. Sometimes a family member, close friend, or caregiver will steal your personal information and use it for their own benefit. The threat of identity theft is very real and prevalent right now. Therefore, you must protect yourself with identity monitoring.

How Does Identity Theft Happen?

ID theft happens in many ways. A large portion of data is stolen through data breaches. Sometimes hackers steal mail or trash to find your information. Cybercriminals use skimmers to steal credit cards and PINs, and malware is used to swipe debit and credit card data from websites and payment terminals. Often someone’s identity is stolen just by losing their wallet or purse. Scammers may call to request information pretending to be from government agencies, and sometimes they send phishing emails to trick users into handing over usernames and passwords or financial information. Thieves use dozens of methods to get your data, but you can protect yourself by signing up for IDStrong’s identity monitoring service.

How Can Identity Theft Protection Help Me?

The best protection is preemptive monitoring, so you know about the threats before they happen. Our identity monitoring service alerts you when your information is exposed, often before any damage is done, so you can take steps to secure it. Our credit monitoring service alerts you when someone has added new accounts to your file, taken out loans, opened credit cards, or already committed some type of financial fraud. The two services combined give you the optimal protection you need to keep your identity safe.

Not only is it critical to monitor your financial data like bank accounts, credit cards, and tax returns, but you must also secure your personally identifiable information (PII) like your social security number (SSN), driver’s license number, passport number, and other IDs. In addition, you should also tightly secure your usernames and passwords. Once an identity thief has access to one of your accounts, they can more easily gain access to others and could even drain your bank accounts before you know it.

Some of the things a person can do with your stolen identity are:

  • Take out new loans
  • Apply for credit cards
  • Rent a house or apartment
  • Get medical services under your plan
  • Purchase vehicles
  • Run up debt that goes on your credit file
  • File for bankruptcy
  • File fraudulent tax returns for the refunds
  • Sign up for utilities (gas, electric, etc.)
  • Ruin your credit score
  • Give the police your information if they are arrested

How IDStrong Works

1. Monitor

We will continuously monitor your personal and financial information for any potential threats on the dark web and beyond

2. Alert

We will instantly notify you if we detect that your information is leaked, exposed, or breached

3. Resolve

Our identity protection experts are available 24/7 to help you take the necessary actions to restore your identity

Our Benefits

Identity Monitoring

We monitor billions of records on the dark web and alert you if we detect that your information is exposed or traded

Credit Monitoring

We monitor your credit profile for any suspicious inquiries, new loans, or any credit related changes

Privacy Monitoring

We scan data broker sites that list and sell your information and allow you to remove it with a click

$1M Identity Theft Insurance

If you fall victim to ID theft, we will provide you with up to $1 million in coverage with a no deductible for identity theft recovery expenses

Lost Wallet Assistance

If your wallet is lost or stolen, we will provide you with quick and reliable help in navigating the recovery process. We will walk you through the entire process every step of the way

Identity Restoration

If you experience identity theft, our fraud resolution team will deliver step-by-step support to investigate and restore your identity

Frequently Asked Questions About Identity Theft

How Does an Identity Thief Get My Information?

Identity thieves may obtain your information from data breaches, the dark web, stealing your mail or trash, through malware, infected websites or social media ads, social engineering tactics, phishing emails, scam calls, and other methods. That is why our identity theft protection service with dark web monitoring is one of the best forms of protection for you. It reaches places you can’t go yourself.

How to Prevent Identity Theft

Although there is no 100% guarantee against identity theft. The service keeps an eye out for all your personal information and alerts you when it is stolen, breached, exposed, or leaked online so you can take quick action. If we find new accounts in your credit file, you will get a notification and can check them out and take action to fix any problems. Other tips for identity theft prevention include:

  • Shred all sensitive documents before throwing them in the trash.
  • Keep your social security card in a locked box at home; never carry it in your wallet.
  • Be careful about putting mail with personal information on it, in your mailbox.
  • Never give out personal details over the phone to a stranger.
  • Get an annual free copy of your credit report (annualcreditreport.com).
  • Review your bank and credit card statements regularly, looking for fraudulent activity.
  • Always use long, strong passwords on all your accounts.
  • Use good antivirus software on all your devices.
  • Use a VPN whenever accessing public Wi-Fi and when accessing your financial accounts from work or home.
  • Sign up for identity theft protection service.

What are the Signs I Might Be a Victim of Identity Theft?

Some signs that you may be the victim of identity theft include:

  • Unexplained charges on your credit card or bank withdrawals.
  • Unfamiliar new accounts on your credit report.
  • Suspicious activity with any of your online accounts.
  • A criminal record that does not belong to you.
  • You stop receiving bills or other mail.
  • You start getting credit cards in the mail that you did not request.
  • You are denied a loan or credit.
  • You get a change of address card from the post office, but you didn’t initiate it.
  • You receive collection calls for unpaid debts from lenders you don’t know.
  • Your insurance statement shows medical charges for services you did not receive.

How to Report Identity Theft

You can report the fraud to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and the local police. The U.S. government has a specific site with resources to help (identitytheft.gov). You may also have to contact vendors to cancel accounts, re-issue credit cards, change your passwords, and the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian) for help cleaning up your credit file. You can also have the credit bureaus put a fraud alert on your account. Consider a credit freeze so no one can take out new accounts in your name.

Notice

By proceeding with this scan, you agree to let IDStrong run a Free Scan of supplied parameters of your personal information and provide free preliminary findings in compliance with our Terms of Use and Privacy Notice. You consent to us using your provided information to complete the Free Scan and compare it against our records and breach databases or sources to provide your Free preliminary findings report.

Rest assured: IDStrong will not share your information with third parties or store your information beyond what is required to perform your scan and share your results.