IdentityForce UltraSecure+Credit review
Our Verdict
IdentityForce UltraSecure + Credit remains our Editors' Pick considering it delivers thorough, comprehensive identity protection and credit monitoring for a reasonable price.
For
- Full-featured, comprehensive identity protection
- Thorough credit monitoring
- Inexpensive
- Offers two-factor authentication
- Credit-freeze button
Against
- Credit reports come merely quarterly
Tom'south Guide Verdict
IdentityForce UltraSecure + Credit remains our Editors' Choice because it delivers thorough, comprehensive identity protection and credit monitoring for a reasonable toll.
Pros
- +
Full-featured, comprehensive identity protection
- +
Thorough credit monitoring
- +
Inexpensive
- +
Offers two-gene hallmark
- +
Credit-freeze button
Cons
- -
Credit reports come only quarterly
IdentityForce UltraSecure + Credit: Specs
Frequency of credit reports: Quarterly
Frequency of credit scores: Quarterly
Credit-improvement simulator: Yes
Address-change monitoring: Yes
Data breach alerts: Yes
Investment account monitoring: Yes
Medical records monitoring: Yes
Payday loan monitoring: Yes
Sex offender warning: Yep
Security software: VPN; mobile-app protections; anti-keylogger, browser extensions for Windows, VPN
Championship-change alerts: Aye
Two-gene authentication: Yes
Ane of the near thorough, yet least expensive, identity-theft-protection services around, Identity Forcefulness UltraSecure+Credit is as well one of the few that protects your business relationship with two-factor authentication.
It can not simply continue an eye on your avails and protect your identity but provides credit scores and credit reports from all 3 credit bureaus, too equally $i meg in identity insurance. For those concerned nigh both identity theft and credit monitoring, IdentityForce tin can be a lifesaver.
In addition to comprehensive identity-protection and credit-monitoring features, helpful online articles and what-if credit and loan simulators, information technology also offers protection against malware and phishing, lets you lot showtime a credit freeze direct from its interface and provides $one million in identity-theft insurance coverage.
While IdentityForce limits your access to full credit reports to one time a quarter, the service will evangelize any credit report on need for a reasonable price. (In December 2021, IdentityForce and its parent company were acquired by TransUnion, one of the Big Three credit-reporting agencies. We'll continue on eye on whether IdentityForce's service plans change.)
It may not be perfect, merely IdentityForce remains our choice as the best identity theft protection service. Nosotros'd ideally like to see more than frequent full credit reports from IdentityForce, but its loftier-end services largely match LifeLock'due south more than expensive plans characteristic-for-feature.
For the moment, IdentityForce is offering Tom's Guide readers a discount on its plans.
Read on for the rest of our IdentityForce review.
IdentityForce: Costs and what'south covered
While other identity-theft-protection brands piece and die the market with several plans each, IdentityForce has but two options.
The IdentityForce UltraSecure programme has a thirty-day trial membership and costs $xviii per calendar month (or $180 per year) after that. It combines monitoring for online criminal activity with scans of public records and your financial accounts.
UltraSecure doesn't provide credit monitoring, but it has a nice set of security-minded utilities besides every bit $1 meg in insurance for lost funds, and it will help you get your identity back if information technology is stolen.
If yous want to see your credit reports from the big iii bureaus, the IdentityForce UltraSecure+Credit plan adds credit monitoring and costs $24 a month ($240 a year).
The credit reports are delivered quarterly, but subscribers can get additional reports instantly from whatever single credit agency for $10, or from all three for $xv. Information technology also analyzes your credit scores over time and has a credit-freeze button to initiate a lockdown of your files with all three bureaus.
For those with children at domicile or in college, IdentityForce's Family option offers the UltraSecure and UltraSecure+Credit plans for two adults and an unlimited number of children, upwards to historic period 26, using the service's ChildWatch service.
The plans cost $25 or $36 per month, respectively. Alternatively, families can add kids individually to existing subscriptions for $2.75 per month.
You'll have to call IdentityForce to sign up for the Family plans, merely the company plans to add website registration for them later in 2021.
IdentityForce is still one of the few major identity-theft protection services that uses 2-factor hallmark (2FA) to verify your identity with more than just a password when logging in.
The nonprofit Better Business concern Bureau gave IdentityForce an A+ grade, although there were several complaints nigh billing following cancellation and problems with customer service.
IdentityForce currently has a 3.ix out of 5 rating on the ConsumerAffairs website, down slightly from concluding year's iii.75/5. ConsumerAffairs.org has a business relationship with IdentityForce and several other identity-theft protection services.
On another customer-reviews website, TrustPilot, IdentityForce has a score of 4.5/5. Whatsoever visitor can be reviewed on TrustPilot and respond to reviews, but IdentityForce pays TrustPilot for analytics and other enhanced features, every bit practise a few other identity-theft protection services.
| IdentityForce UltraSecure | IdentityForce UltraSecure + Credit | |
| Monthly cost | $18 | $24 |
| Yearly cost | $180 | $240 |
| Family plan | $25/month, 2 adults & unlimited kids; per-kid rate also available | $36, 2 adults & unlimited kids; per-child rate also available |
| No. of bureaus' reports | None | Equifax, Experian, TransUnion |
| No. of bureaus monitored | Equifax, Experian, TransUnion | Equifax, Experian, TransUnion |
| Frequency of credit reports & scores | None | Quarterly |
| Type of credit score | None | VantageScore 3.0 |
| Credit-improvement simulator or advice | None | Yes |
| Credit-lock/freeze push button | No | Yes |
| Security software | Anti-keylogger, browser extensions for Windows | Anti-keylogger, browser extensions for Windows, VPN, mobile-app protections |
| Investment account monitoring | No | Yes |
| Max. ID-theft coverage | $i million | $1 million |
IdentityForce: How we tested
In the tardily summer of 2020, I subscribed to 5 of the biggest identity-theft-protection services, including IdentityForce's UltraSecure+Credit service programme. All subscriptions were paid for by me and so afterwards reimbursed by Tom's Guide.
I used the browser-based interface on my Lenovo ThinkPad T470 and the mobile app on my Samsung Milky way Note 20 every day over the course of three months. In improver to checking on IdentityForce alerts, notifications and changes to my credit and identity, I looked at my credit scores.
I used IdentityForce's credit simulators and utilities and checked in with the visitor'south back up staff and recorded how long it took them to respond and the resolution. At the end, I canceled IdentityForce and recorded how long it took to get a confirmation.
IdentityForce: Credit scores, reports and monitoring
The centerpieces of the IdentityForce UltraSecure+Credit service are the quarterly credit reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, the major U.South. credit bureaus. (All three bureaus besides operate in the U.K., but Experian has left Canada and TransUnion is not in Australia.)
Some identity-theft-protection services, such as IdentityIQ and MyFICO, offering credit reports monthly, while LifeLock and Identity Guard provide them annually. You can also get ane free credit report per yr from each agency at AnnualCreditReport.com, and through April 2021, you can get one from each bureau every week for free.
Getting a credit written report once every three months may be plenty for most people. The service continually monitors your credit files with all three bureaus and will notify you of any suspicious or alarming additions or changes.
IdentityForce also offers quarterly VantageScore 3.0 credit-score updates based on your files with all iii bureaus. These credit scores are not exactly the same as the FICO credit scores that lenders use to decide whether you're worth the risk. Another credit-monitoring service, MyFICO, does have FICO credit scores at its disposal.
IdentityForce's Score Tracker graphs your VantageScore 3.0 credit scores on its main Dashboard page, so I was able to encounter if my credit scores increased or decreased over fourth dimension.
There's also an excellent credit simulator to aid you make up one's mind when and whether to pay off credit cards, heighten your credit limits or get new cards. When I used information technology, it showed me if my machinations helped or hindered my credit scores.
IdentityForce kept an eye on my credit-card, investment and depository financial institution accounts for indications of overuse or unauthorized action. The service also monitors online payment services such as PayPal as well as payday loans and court records for early indications of fraud.
IdentityForce is i of just a few identity-theft protection services that lets you initiate a credit freeze with one or more credit bureaus to greatly reduce the likelihood of financial identity theft. After the freeze is completed, you'll get a Pin to use if and when you lot want to "unfreeze" your credit.
IdentityForce will before long include a Breach Clarity risk-intelligence score for each customer. This rating is a personalized composite score of a person'south likely adventure of identity theft from past and present data breaches. The service volition exist available in late 2021.
IdentityForce: Insurance and services
Like nearly of its competitors, IdentityForce provides upwards to $1 one thousand thousand of identity-theft insurance to help you restore your identity and recover lost funds.
The policy is underwritten by American International Grouping and covers not only the price of replacing regime documents, such as a driver'south license or a passport, only volition also pay y'all upwards to $2,000 per week for up to v weeks if you lose wages by spending time meeting with lawyers or in court. The plan besides volition reimburse you for up to $2,000 in travel expenses.
The IdentityForce interface lets you input your credit and debit-card numbers, which can assist speed card cancellations forth if your wallet or purse is lost or stolen. IdentityForce won't provide a cash advance to aid get you home if you lose your wallet while y'all're traveling, however.
IdentityForce: Notifications and alerts
The alerts that IdentityForce UltraSecure+Credit provide are many and varied and strike a prissy rest between also much and also niggling information. They can be sent to you via electronic mail, text or mobile app.
Alerts are triggered if your personal information, such as a Social Security number or an address, show upwards in court records, defalcation proceedings and belongings-title changes.
The alerts tin can exist limited in frequency if you lot gear up new thresholds for spending or account withdrawals. Beneath a certain amount, IdentityForce will get out you alone.
The service will also let you know if someone tries to open up a banking concern account or take out a loan using your personal information. Other alerts can stem from sexual activity offenders moving into your area, payday loans in your name, medical-record changes and queries by people-search firms.
Over the three-month test period, I received eight alerts from IdentityForce, including 1 for a sexual practice offender nearby and four for my mortgage application.
IdentityForce burrows into the "nighttime web" to discover any indications that your personal information might be available for sale. The company likewise makes information technology easy to opt out of junk-post lists.
IdentityForce makes an extra effort to exist transparent with its Privacy and Trust Center. It encrypts all of your data, both in transmission and in storage, using the AES-256 protocol. If y'all cancel your IdentityForce subscription, the visitor says information technology volition wipe all your data subsequently 30 days.
IdentityForce: Setup
Getting started with IdentityForce was quick and easy. I began at the visitor's website, where I chose the UltraSecure+Credit program. I typed in my name, email address and date of birth, followed by my payment data. The website showed me a summary page with a confirmation number.
I then provided a long list of personal data the service wanted for the account, including my Social Security, driver's-license, passport and medical-insurance numbers. I created a password for the account and prepare a verification question and answer. I likewise set upwards two-gene authentication and tested it with a verification code.
Finally, I checked off on the agreement box to start using the business relationship. Offset to finish, the entire procedure took all of 9 minutes.
IdentityForce has client-support representatives available on the phone 24/seven. Support reps can aid investigate and beginning the identity-restoration process. The company website has lots of items to help educate customers, including a rundown of current popular scams, FAQs and a primer on identity theft.
IdentityForce's two-cistron authentication stopped working for me at one point. I called customer support and afterward a few minutes of troubleshooting, we realized that the problem was with my phone carrier. The problem fixed itself later about x minutes.
IdentityForce: Interface and utilities
With a desktop browser interface too as apps for Android and iOS, IdentityForce can securely deliver data nigh your creditworthiness and any alerts.
Users of IdentityForce'due south browser interface tin get a quick condition update by going to the Dashboard, but my advice is to zoom out the page to roughly 67% to have a chance of getting information technology all on one screen. If y'all don't, you'll need to do a lot of scrolling up and down.
At the elevation of the Dashboard page are the number of alerts you've received in the past month besides as how many of your security elements (similar your Social Security number, street address or telephone number) the firm has scanned for. The tabs on the left provide access to the nitty-gritty details with sections for Alerts, Information, Manage Account, Transaction History and Support.
The first time you lot endeavor to see your credit scores, you'll demand to authenticate yourself with your Social Security number and respond a few personal financial questions. After that, you lot tin add your credit cards one at a time.
IdentityForce's Resources section is amid the best, with calculators for picking the best term and rate for a loan and simulators for refinancing a mortgage and consolidating debt. The most powerful simulator shows the advantages and disadvantages of ownership a car versus leasing 1.
IdentityForce provides excellent educational manufactures, accessible from the Dashboard'south right side under the Stay Informed championship. In addition to security headlines and tips on avoiding holiday scams, I constitute an invitation to attend a xv-infinitesimal webinar on how to avoid the latest hacker tricks.
Proceed any eye on the Protection status in the lower right because it hits 100% only after you lot've entered all your pertinent information. The Global Identity Threat News was out of date during part of our testing period but was later on updated with interesting articles nearly the dark web and the latest constructed-ID-theft techniques.
IdentityForce's Android and iOS apps accept a new look and feel. The company recently added an extra layer of security with Mobile Attack Control, which tin can block rogue apps and spyware and avoid unsecured Wi-Fi networks.
The apps' Alerts folio is front and heart. It shows recent alerts and has 4 chief categories: Identity, Financial, Credit and Social. Information technology comes set for 2-factor hallmark, although you can designate a phone or tablet equally a Trusted Device.
Ii other tools come with Identity Forcefulness accounts. The PC Protection Tools augments your antivirus software to protect PCs against phishing attacks. Information technology can block screengrabs and encrypt keystrokes. On the downside, the PC Protection Tools license is for a single Windows computer, and IdentityForce has no security software for Macs.
The telephone and tablet apps have Mobile Attack Control, which keeps an eye on threats as varied equally spyware, open Wi-Fi hotspots and rogue apps.
Identity Force recently added an unlimited virtual private network (VPN) service to its iPhone, iPad and Android apps. It took an average of five seconds to connect to the VPN, which reduced network throughput past a small and very respectable 16%.
IdentityForce: Counterfoil
When the reporting menstruum ended, I canceled the IdentityForce subscription in a few minutes. All it took was going to the interface's Manage Business relationship section and opening the Protection Program area.
After I clicked on Abolish Membership, I got an offer to stay on as a member at a discounted rate. I ended the human relationship anyway and Identity Force speedily sent me an email confirmation, but the cancellation didn't take effect until the next monthly neb was due.
IdentityForce review: Bottom line
IdentityForce UltraSecure+Credit offers an excellent rest of identity-protection features, credit monitoring and price. It remains the best selection for anyone equally concerned about their credit rating and the threat of identity theft.
MyFICO Premier uses actual FICO credit scores, offers monthly credit reports and may exist ameliorate for persons more worried near their credit ratings. On the other extreme, LifeLock Ultimate Plus bundles splendid identity protection with a pinnacle-notch security and privacy suite. Withal both are much more expensive than IdentityForce UltraSecure+Credit, which is non only a good fashion to keep your identity yours but an exceptional value.
Updated to add news of TransUnion acquisition. This review was originally posted in April 2021.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/identityforce
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