IDShield

We've had this service for years. We enrolled when ID theft became an issue with the growing use of the internet for financial transactions.

Late last year, we got with ID Theft, and in listed their help. The first thing, that was a bit dismaying is, they never "saw" the fraud. Because the fraud occurred through a credit card, they're not set up to "see" those transactions. Instead, they monitor your credit status, so until those fraudulent transactions get posted to your account, they won't "see" them, and won't be able to notify you of the fraudulent activity.

That was our misunderstanding. We were initially disappointed they hadn't notified us of the unusual activities - to the tune of over $80K in new charges from Chicago to Florida!

OK, so there's that. They monitor your "Identify" not credit cards activities.

However, once we were aware of the fraud, they could help us. They advertise they will spend "X" number of hours helping clear up any problems Well, the help we received - which, in fact was helpful, was a list of things we could do to mitigate the problem. Which amounted to contacting the repositories to notify them of the fraud, and to place fraud alerts on the affected accounts.

Fast forward to today, and we received notice of activities. I went on-line to check them out. There they listed they activities and ask, "Do you recognize this?"

They give you two choices, "Yes or No". If you respond yes, then you're done. If you respond no, then you're instructed to call in.

So, I called in I was told they would send me an introductory package - wait, what?

"I've been a member for years, why send me an Introductory package?"

"Because, that will tell you the steps you should take."

"But wait, I just want to notify you these inquiries are fraudulent."

"You'll have to contact Transunion, and let them know about these items, but we can transfer you"

"OK, so what is the service you provide? Are you like an answering service for Transunion? Where I call you, so that you can transfer me to them?"

"Uh, well, we can't speak to them about your account You have to speak to them directly, but I can transfer you."

"OK, this doesn't make sense to me. I'm not sure why we're paying you a monthly fee, to simply act as a answering services?"

"Um, sir, we can transfer you, so you can let them know"

"OK, I can do that myself - thanks."

So, it appears any fraudulent financial activities are covered through Transunion. If your drivers license or something like that occurs, apparently you can enlist their help.

Keep in mind, I believe ID Shield used to contract through Kroll Identify Protection. They severed ties, and it appears took thing in-house, and now rely on Transunion, and other such services for their data, and use a staff who is lightly trained, and gets easily confused if they have to go off script.

Is their service worth the monthly fee - I'll be doing some research, but as of now, I don't think so.