Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

PII includes but may not be limited to a consumer’s name, Social Security number, date of birth, address, driver’s license number, telephone number, passport information, birth certificate, student transcript, or medical record.

Most pre-existing identity theft events are not covered under the full restoration benefit. However, our plans can still provide valuable protection and support.

Benefits such as unlimited consultation with an identity theft expert to help you deal with pre-existing identity theft, help placing a fraud alert on your credit accounts and ongoing monitoring to track any new issues provide critical support when you need it most.

If you’ve already experienced identity theft, join immediately and contact our Licensed Private Investigators to prevent additional damage to your finances and reputation.

Your membership can be canceled at any time by sending written notice to IDShield. Please see your membership benefits for cancellation instructions specific to your plan, or you can call/email Member Services at (888) 494-8519 or email [email protected]. Important: Your membership and payment remain active until written notice is received.

“1B” and “3B” monitoring refers to the number of credit bureaus being monitored (the credit bureaus are TransUnion, Equifax, Experian).

Offering 1-bureau monitoring allows us to keep costs of the IDShield product low and still monitor important data. One-bureau monitoring is effective because it is rare that credit-related identity theft is limited to one event and that one event is reported to only one credit bureau. Most of the time all three credit reports will be affected to some extent allowing 1-bureau monitoring to be effective to alert the member to an issue.

With our 3 bureau monitoring plans, IDShield monitors credit reports across all three major credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.

Lenders, creditors and many businesses check and submit data that ends up on your credit reports. But not all report to the same credit bureau. By watching all three bureaus, IDShield provides comprehensive monitoring. If changes or inquiries are made, participants will receive an instant alert.

It is important to note that when identity theft is confirmed, the restoration process deals with ALL THREE national credit reporting agencies, so that all of the member’s reports are reviewed and any fraudulent information on the reports is disputed.

IDShield has Licensed Private Investigators to provide the best identity restoration possible and undo the damage done by identity thieves. Our IDShield Licensed Private Investigators will work for as long as it takes to restore a member’s identity to its pre-theft status to ensure that they are not held responsible for the debts created by the identity thief. By performing comprehensive restoration services, consumer reports are returned to their pre-theft status and other records are cleared of the activity created by the identity thief.

Credit report monitoring in itself does not prevent identity theft. However, it’s a tool that can alert you to activity that may indicate identity theft is being attempted or has taken place. If you learn someone used your data to apply for credit, you’ll take steps to prevent future misuse of your data.

The participant, their spouse/partner and all dependent children under the age of 18. Note that monitoring services are not available for dependent children ages 18-26 but dependent children of the member or members spouse ages 18-26 are eligible for consultation and restoration services only.

Remember, identity theft is not limited to credit fraud. In fact, credit-related identity theft accounts for only a small amount of the identity theft incidents reported to the FTC each year.

Someone can misuse your driver’s license number, make counterfeit checks using your personal information, use your identity to rent an apartment or apply for a payday loan, or give your name and other identifiers to the police if they’re arrested. These activities and others have nothing to do with your credit history.

Often confused with the “deep web” which is simply those parts of the internet not indexed by any search engine, the “dark web” includes those sites that take measures to hide their IP address to remain anonymous. The most notorious sites on the dark web are those with illegal activities such as the sale of stolen information (think credit/debit card data and personal identifiers that can be used to commit identity theft), drug sales, weapon sales and pornography. If you ever must visit the dark web, you should consider dark web monitoring first.

In contrast, “new account fraud” happens when the thief uses the victim’s personally identifiable information to establish an entirely new account of which the victim has no knowledge.

If someone has used your Social Security number, the best first step is to sign up for IDShield and let our systems and licensed investigators protect your identity from further abuse and develop a plan to secure your accounts.

A fraud alert is a statement on your credit report indicating that you’re vulnerable to becoming a victim or have been a victim of identity theft. It asks a credit reviewer to take reasonable extra steps to verify the identity of the applicant, reducing the chance a thief will succeed in opening new accounts.

While fraud alerts are a great tool, they should not be considered complete protection. There are many other ways thieves can use your personal identification information to steal money and commit fraud beyond credit cards, such as filing false tax returns or initiating fraudulent transfers from your bank accounts, which fraud alerts to do not protect against.