Lifelock Credit Monitoring

While I do not know of any free credit monitoring services, you should keep in mind that many of the services provided by credit monitoring firms can be successfully performed by consumers without professional assistance.

If you enroll with a credit monitoring service, the company will track your credit report, and notify you of any changes or inquiries. The primary purpose of the service is to alert you to the presence of unauthorized accounts and inquiries, which may indicate that someone is attempting to steal your identity. You can do this yourself by pulling copies of your credit reports periodically and reviewing them to verify that no unusual or unrecognized activity has occurred. Many services, such as Lifelock, also place fraud alerts on your credit reports, which tell creditors that before opening any new accounts in your name, that they should contact you and receive verbal authorization to open the account. A fraud alert will also remove your name from all pre-approved credit offer lists for two years, meaning that you should stop receiving credit card solicitations in the mail. Keep in mind that you do not have to enroll in a credit monitoring program to place a fraud alert on your report.

You can get this "credit monitoring service" by placing a fraud alert on your own credit report. You can do this yourself simply by contacting the three major credit bureaus and requesting that a fraud alert be placed on your report. Find the credit reporting agencies' contact information to learn more.

Some credit monitoring services also offer insurance in case your identity is stolen while you are enrolled in their program. This aspect of credit monitoring services cannot be replicated on your own, but you must decide whether the cost of the service is worth the protection it provides you.

Like many professional services, some consumers are willing to pay a fee for the convenience of having the work of monitoring their credit done for them. Monitoring services are not particularly expensive ($10-$14 per month), so if you prefer to have a professional do the work for you, I certainly do not discourage you from hiring a credit monitoring firm. If you do decide to hire a professional, you should shop around, as the services offered vary from company to company. Bills.com has a page devoted a page to credit monitoring.

I also encourage you to read up on identity theft in general, starting with the Federal Trade Commission’s Identity Theft page.

I hope this information helps you Find. Learn & Save.

Best,

Bill

Bills.com