Overview
A 125-year-old company with over 17k employees throughout 37 countries, Experian is the biggest competitor of Equifax. Experian developed ProtectMyID to counter Equifax’s ID Watchdog as both these credit reporting agencies need to balance the features with each other. Being a credit bureau organization, it has got full permission to huge data source. ProtectMyID service comprises with Credit Monitoring and Identity Theft Protection in a bundle package enabling you to take precautionary measures in case of any suspicious financial activity occurs or anyone attempts to change / edit your identity.
Features & Services
· Identity Protection
It keeps an eye on your identity to ensure no one redirects your mail, tracks your social security, changes your address or take advantage of your credit card numbers. Their fraud resolution experts can help you gain your prestige in the questionable event of identity theft.
· Children’s Safety
Children’s identity is more prone to be compromised than adults. ProtectMyID covers your children’s identity and closely monitors their activities on all portals ensuring they are safe and secured.
· Internet Scan
ProtectMyID scans thousands of websites including Dark Web networks to ensure that your personal information or identity is not for sale on any unethical portals and if detected, it shoots you Email and SMS alerts to guide you through precautionary measures.
· Identity Theft Insurance worth $1 Million
ProtectMyID provides up to $1 Million of insurance cover in case you become a target of Identity Theft. Any losses OR expenses associated to restoring your identity are costly and are covered under this insurance.
· Social Networking & Dark Web Surveillance
Most of the Identity Theft services doesn’t monitor social networking websites however you never know when someone uses your identity on such networks. ProtectMyID also tracks your identity on Dark Web as a lot of hackers buy and sell data on such portals for illegal activities. As your information matches in any search criteria, it alarms you and gives you extra protection to safeguard your information.
· Safeguard Bank Account and Credit Card Frauds
You never know when someone adds himself as a beneficiary or Co-applicant to your Bank or Credit Card account and wipe off your account balance. Its always secured to have such a safeguarding service before we are financially broken.
· Payday / Mortgage Loan Monitoring
Anyone can enjoy loan amount on your name and you end up paying their bills. ProtectMyID keeps a track of your details if they are misused and recovers the losses for you.
· CreditLock Feature
On receiving any security alert, if you want to take extra precautionary measure, you can lock or unlock your credit report through your phone.
· File Sharing Monitoring
This is the most vulnerable port of information leak. ProtectMyID keeps a tap on all your data on network sharing ensuring your personal information is not shared until you permit it.
· Experian Score Tracking & Simulation
ProtectMyID allows you to track your daily Experian score and look at the trend of scores of any given interval and a simulation on how your scores will look like if you pay off all your pending bills.
· User Friendly Application
ProtectMyID gives you a very user-friendly interface to receive alert, login to website or App to see additional details and take appropriate action to rectify a given notification. It’s easy and user-friendly, works in few clicks.
If you face any challenges, you have full access to reach 24/7 customer service support as cyber crooks are not going to wait for business hours.
Plan & Pricing
After trying free service for a month, you get option to opt for ProtectMyID Plus for $9.99 / month OR $19.99 / month for a Premium version which gives you 100% access to all credit and protection related services. Premium version cost equivalent to ID Watchdog Premium however ProtectMyID Plus plan is much cheaper that ID Watchdog Plus.
Final Verdict: ProtectMyID is a useful subscription, bit expensive though the packaging of this application is done by Experian – One of the top three credit reporting agencies. Though this service doesn’t comprise of extensive monitoring in comparison to other companies, it still does a decent job of shielding you and your family from identity theft and financial matters.
Summary
ProtectMyID is a comprehensive Identity Protection tool to provide identity protection by scanning your data in credit records and public websites. If your identity is compromised, it covers you with a $1 million insurance policy and their fraud resolution experts helps you retrieve your identity and losses to the core. It doesn’t cover as massive areas in comparison to other services, however it provides decent protection for your children’s identities which is a big concern.