LegalShield IDShield
check_circle VerifiedFounded in 2001, IDShield is a division of LegalShield that provides identity theft protection to millions of people. IDShield offers identity theft services to individuals and organizations across the country and is one of the nation's leading providers of legal safeguards.
IDShield identity theft protection services include security monitoring, privacy monitoring, social media monitoring, identity restoration, IDShield Vault Password Manager, and consultation services.
According to the IDShield website, the company covers over one million lives and provides coverage against identity thieves in 50 states and four provinces. The Oklahoma-based identity theft company also offers 24/7 emergency identity theft support to all customers.
Additionally, IDShield provides members easy access to their credit scores, fraud alerts, monitored information, and their licensed private investigators. The identity protection company acknowledges data breach threats on its website and offers advice and information regarding the importance of identity theft and identity protection.
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The Good
- Individual and Family Plans
- Monitoring Services
- Recovery Services
- Service Guarantee
Individual and Family Plans
LegalShield IDShield offers identity protection plans for both individuals and families. The Individual plan is priced at $9.95 per month and covers one person, while the Family plan is priced at $19.95 per month and covers one person, a spouse, and up to eight children.
The individual plan includes monitoring services, unlimited consultations with licensed private investigators, a $5 million service guarantee, comprehensive restoration, and the Vault Password Manager.
The family plan includes every service that is found in the individual plan but also includes child monitoring services. In regard to credit bureaus, ID Shield works with Experian for its credit monitoring services.
Monitoring Services
In order to best protect customers' identities, LegalShield provides the following services:
- Credit monitoring
- Dark web surveillance
- Social security number monitoring
- Email address monitoring
- Social media monitoring
- Phone number monitoring
- Payday loan monitoring
- Court record monitoring
- Medical ID number monitoring
- Date of birth monitoring
- Credit card and debit card number monitoring
- Bank account number monitoring
- Passport number monitoring
- Name monitoring
If any suspicious activity is detected, LegalShield IDShield will issue a fraud alert to the customer.
The company also has the ability to perform credit freezes. IDShield monitoring services allow the company and customer to keep an eye on everything from their personal bank accounts (checking account and savings account) to their credit score and much more.
Recovery Services
In addition to monitoring services, LegalShield IDShield also offers a number of identity restoration services to help customers in the event of theft. The company provides financial, medical, and criminal identity recovery, as well as limited power of attorney (pre-paid legal services) and lost wallet assistance.
Service Guarantee
LegalShield IDShield offers a $5 million service guarantee that acts as insurance by covering and reimbursing customers for expenses in the event of identity theft.
The company states on its website that it doesn't "give up until your identity is restored". IDShield gives full access to its customer service agents around-the-clock as well as access to private investigators.
The company also provides "industry-leading identity restoration experts" to help customers who have fallen victim to identity theft restore their identity.
As a part of ID Shield service, the company has a list on its website of frequently asked questions to help customers educate themselves on identity theft processes and what can put them at risk of identity theft (credit card usage, bank ATMs, documents, breaches, social networks, phishing schemes, websites, etc.).
The Bad
- Lack of Antivirus Software
Lack of Antivirus Software
Unfortunately, LegalShield IDShield does not seem to provide customers with antivirus software to protect the sensitive data on their personal computers from hackers and viruses.
The lack of antivirus software means that customers will have to pay out-of-pocket costs to obtain their own antivirus software. Without antivirus software, customers are exposed to a variety of identity theft threats via their personal computers and devices.
The Bottom Line
LegalShield IDShield offers both individual and family identity theft plans, several identity protection and recovery services, and a $5 million service guarantee. IDShield's also provides monitoring services including social media monitoring, court records monitoring, payday loan monitoring,credit card and debit card monitoring, and more.
Additionally, the company services customers nationwide, provides helpful and educational information on its website, and offers 24/7 emergency identity theft customer service as well as access to licensed private investigators.
Unfortunately, the company does not appear to provide customers with antivirus software which may leave customers exposed to additional identity theft threats unless they obtain their own antivirus software.
According to the IDShield website, "identity theft hits a new victim every few seconds." This threat is what motivates IDShield to provide identity theft education and protection to its customers.
Although IDShield does not seem to offer antivirus software, it continues to be a reliable and well-known company that will effectively protect your identity.
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User Reviews
Star Rating
227 Reviews
Review Breakdown
Sentiment Criteria
David Jordan
I've used LegalShield since 1998, over 100 times, update my wills, and used the Identity theft protection 2 times. My identity was stolen twice, and the service worked beautiful, restoring my good credit and name. I wouldn't be without this wonderful product.
Andrew Arkin
LegalShield's identity theft protection offers protection for the whole family for one low price. They are the only one to offer comprehensive restoration services by Kroll. Life Lock requires YOU to do all the leg work.
shawn
Always top notch service. Actually start abd Finish everything for you, not just tell you what to do, they do it for you, abd the legal service is even better
Eddie
The best of the best and the only Idt company that offers full restoration.
George
Great company
Mike Tyler
LegalShield with Kroll has buy FAR the BEST I.D. Theft Product on the market. we go father than any other company. $17-$36 a month.
Edward
The Kroll ID Theft offered exclusively through LegalShield is much more than credit reports and a customer service center like most other id theft products. I'm empowered every time I call my licensed investigator, it's an awesome experience and valuable service I wouldn't be caught without!
Ron R
They cleaned up a medical identity theft for me. I was told it can take a person 2 or more years to do it on their own and they had it completely cleaned up in several weeks. I don't think any of the other companies do the restoration for you with licensed investigators. Thank you Legal Shield.
diana
I Love ID theft with Legal Sheid. It is definitly the most comprehensive product. They heped me with an ongoing problem. and did all the work for me, restoring my ID. I didnt see where lifelock would do that.
Cassandra Campbell
LegalShield provides the most comprehensive protection plan on the market! No one can compete with LegalShield
Wendy Terrado
LegalShield does offer monitoring from all 3 bureaus, but they have an exclusive partnership with Kroll Advisory Solutions -- a 42 year old company that deals exclusively with ID Theft. Kroll is a GLOBAL risk management company. Kroll was hired by the Philippine government & found where Marcos' millions were. Kroll is the one Target paid to clean up their recent ID theft. LegalShield puts it in writing that the ID theft restoration is not complete until the customer says it's complete. I dare you to find any other ID Theft product with that kind of written guarantee! I am a very pleased client who has used their investigative services.
Joe Campana
This is the only product that provides complete identity restoration meaning they (not you) will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to restore your identity. This company also has a premium protection plan that exceeds anything else available.
Michelle
They have complete restoration. Kroll is the best.
darell
like the notices even when nothing has happened and news alerts of potential problems to look out for
Wally Stagler
I love having Kroll Advisory Solutions, the Top Investigative Company in the World on "speed dial", offered exclusively through LegalShield. You call a toll-free number and a Licensed Fraud Investigator answers the phone! If anything ever happens, they fix it FOR YOU! Awesome service and it DOES monitor all THREE bureaus! Wouldn't be without it.
eldridge
i will admitt when i see other lower prices it make me look but then i read what other companies offer and i think i will stay with this company i like getting the alerts don't get any credit reports thats cool but i have used the law firm that is assigned to me and they are local i had a different incident and it was handled. if life lock can show me how they are better i will look into it
Jackie Carter
Great service
Michael Heeren
This is the only company I trust with my families ID. They are the only company that gives me a license investigator through out the whole process and they offer FULL restoration!
Leslie
LegalShield offers a good Identify Theft Premium Service that monitors all three credit reporting agencies.
Michael Ng
I've done intense research and the Kroll Advisory Solutions product offered through LegalShield is the best coverage AND the best value. Extremely satisfied customer, wouldn't be without it - gives me unlimited access to the top investigative company in the world and coverage for ALL 5 Major Types of id theft, not just credit-related!
Bad review sorry
ID theft protection and restoration with Kroll has a licensed investigator do the work on your behalf. Kroll is the number one risk mitigating firm in the world and is exclusive to LegalShield.
Brenda Loffredo
This is the only company that offers true restoration with forensic investigators through Kroll Advisory Solutions, a 40 year old company. And the only company that offers attorneys for criminal, medical, drivers license and social security legal questions related to fraud.
Dean Taber
Hands down the BEST EVER value! You're info needs to be updated as they have a plan which monitors all 3 credit bureaus besides help in all 5 areas of ID Theft. Great customer service.
Peter Catalano
Good site and information. To get an accurate, apples to apples comparison, look at LegalShield's premium plan. It's not the credit monitoring that concerns me, it's the monitoring of my health insurance card, ss number, name and address use - all on the web that has me using this service. Plus, I like that Kroll assigned a licensed investigator should my identity be compromised. It gets restored without question.
David Smith
I am a LegalShield Member and the information in this article is not entirely accurate. The Identity Theft Plan offers much more then is shown here, possibly because it was improved after this was written. With that, the price of their premium plan, while higher than the cost shown in this article, is comparable to other IDT plans. The cost benefit of LegalShield's plan is still that it covers an entire family instead of each individual like most other companies. To see the features of the updated IDT plan go to www.legalshield.com/legalshield-plans/identity-theft
Dave Norby
I had a $25 charge from a restaurant in Geneva, Switzerland on my business credit card. I immediately called LegalShield and they put me in touch with a licensed investigator from Kroll Advisory Services. He told me what to do to get a new card in a few days and he put a 90 day fraud alert on my other two credit cards. He said they deal with this on a daily basis and assured me he would check the monitoring and let me know if anything was happening. Two months later I was credited back the $25 and my identity across the board has been clean ever since. Fantastic!
George Andaluz
I received a letter in the mail from the State of Texas mentioning my address and social security number, but someone else's name. I contacted LegalShield to consult with an investigator who ran a scan on my social security number for any changes in my personal information. He verified that no changes has been made to my information and concluded that it was a data entry error. He recommeded that I contact the department in Texas of the discrepancy the correct the issue. Although I could have called the department directly first, but I felt much better that I was able to verify that there was no activity because of the issue.