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5.3

Overall Score

Author: Kaitlyn Short

LAST UPDATED: July 10th, 2023

ID Watchdog was founded in 2005 by a group of credit professionals who recognized the growing issue of identity theft and sought to create a product that would protect individuals, families, and businesses from fraudulent activity and identity thieves.

Today, the company does just that by providing identity theft protection services to consumers.

ID Watchdog identity theft services include basic identity monitoring, advanced identity monitoring, internet black market surveillance, email and SMS notifications, identity restoration, credit monitoring, and National Provider Identifier (NPI) alerts for healthcare professionals.

ID Watchdog also provides customers with the following and more: 

  • Multiple identity theft protection plans
  • Up to $1 million in identity theft insurance
  • Access to identity theft resolution specialists
  • 24/7 U.S.-based customer service
  • Lost wallet vault and lost wallet assistance
  • Fraud alert assistance 

Read on to learn more about ID Watchdog's identity theft protection services and to view verified ID Watchdog reviews from real customers. 

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The Good

  • Monitoring Services
  • Full-Service Identity Restoration
  • Plan Options 
  • Online Education

Monitoring Services

ID Watchdog offers a number of monitoring services, including credit report monitoring from all three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion), internet monitoring, and social security number monitoring.

These monitoring services are designed to protect customers from identity theft incidents like a data breach or various individual threats.

ID Watchdog’s comprehensive identity theft monitoring services track public records and address changes, hacker forums, and internet black market, high-risk transactions including account password resets and new loan applications, enhanced non-credit loans like subprime mortgage, and payday loan markets.

Full-Service Identity Restoration

The company’s identity protection services include full-service identity theft restoration for any customer who becomes a victim of identity theft while under ID Watchdog’s protective care.

In the event that identity theft does occur, ID Watchdog will have Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialists (CITRMS) work on the customer’s behalf to restore their identity and clean up any fraudulent activity records that may have accompanied the theft.

The identity protection services company promises a 100 percent identity theft resolution guarantee to all customers that experience identity theft while using their services.

Plan Options 

ID Watchdog offers two protection service plans for customers to choose from: the ID Watchdog Plus plan and the ID Watchdog Platinum plan.

The Plus plan is cheaper than the Platinum plan and includes secure access to a personal, online account where customers can check their credit report monitoring status and review fraud alerts, obtain a 100 percent guarantee for identity theft resolution, receive advanced identity theft monitoring, and access 24/7 live customer service and support in case they run into any identity theft problems.

The Platinum plan is slightly more expensive than the Plus plan, but it includes all components of the Plus plan and also offers customers credit monitoring and access to view their credit report and credit score from all three major credit reporting agencies. ID Watchdog ensures customer security as stated in its privacy policy.

Both ID Watchdog Plus and Platinum customers can obtain up to $1 million in identity theft insurance, 24/7 customer support care, lost wallet assistance, customized alert options, access to a mobile app, and more.

ID Watchdog Platinum customers can also receive up to $500,000 for 401K and HSA stolen funds reimbursement. 

Online Education

ID Watchdog has an online education resource page that helps customers learn more about personal identity protection, suspicious activity, data privacy, identity theft detection, identity theft and identity fraud, and more.

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The Bad

  • Lack of Family Plan Information
  • Service Limitations

Lack of Family Plan Information

ID Watchdog does offer an identity protection package for families.

It covers two adults and all children living in the home; however, customers interested in ID Watchdog's family plan will need to call the company for more information regarding this protection plan since there is limited information about this plan on the company's corporate website.

Customers may dislike this lack of information on the company’s site as many other identity theft protection companies offer this information upfront.

Service Limitations

Although ID Watchdog offers credit score and credit report monitoring services along with internet and social security monitoring, there are still a number of identity theft protection plan services that ID Watchdog does not offer.

The company seems to lack services including financial statements and bank account/card monitoring, limited power of attorney, anti-virus software, anti-keylogging software, and criminal and tax identity recovery.

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The Bottom Line

ID Watchdog offers a number of monitoring services including credit score and credit report monitoring, public records monitoring, high-risk transactions monitoring, subprime loan monitoring, USPS change of address monitoring, and dark web monitoring. 

The company also provides a detailed data privacy policy, assistance with identity theft, identity fraud alerts, up to $1 million in identity theft insurance, registered sex offender registry reporting, social network alerts, national provider alerts, 24/7 live customer service, solid identity theft protection plan options to choose from, an online educational resource page that customers can use to learn more about personal identity and data protection, and more. 

The ID Watchdog Platinum plan also provides customers with up to $500,000 in terms of 401K and HSA stolen funds reimbursement. 

Unfortunately, the company does not disclose information regarding family plans and has limited services in comparison to other identity protection companies.

Additionally, there are several other limitations to ID Watchdog's identity theft protection services that customers may dislike including the lack of financial statements, bank account/credit card monitoring, and criminal as well as tax identity recovery.

We suggest that you view and compare top-rated companies in this industry and read ID Watchdog reviews before choosing a company to protect your identity.

View Best Identity Theft Companies

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Star Rating

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3.6

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25 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

52%

4 grade

12%

3 grade

4%

2 grade

8%

1 grade

24%

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Bill Weaver Tempe, AZ

I have been using LifeLock and I D Watchdog for over a year and prefer ID Watchdog. A. I get regular updates from ID Watch dog on loss of data reports about places that have been hacked. This has allowed me to correct for potential ID and password disclosures well ahead of any network news of these incursions. Lifelock has never notified me of a threat. B. I get regular updates from ID Watchdog on addresses and accounts that might connect to me. When my daughter sold her house I got a warning because she is shown as being a potential connection who has HIPAA information about me. C. ID Watch dog has notified me on out of normal transactions that Lifelock has never even registered. My wife made a purchase at a craft fair from a Canadian company and I got a notice from ID Watchdog as soon as the Canadian transaction hit my credit card. I called LifeLock who could not locate that transaction. E. When I call ID Watchdog I can speak to the president if I wish to. Every person I have dealt with was well spoken, knowledgeable and ready to be of assistance. When I call Lifelock I was actually told that I might get better service if I bought an upgraded plan. F. I had an American Express card ID stolen by a Chinese location and ID Watch dog notified me immediately. I called LifeLock and was told they do not get concerned about these because it is the responsibility of the credit card company. If however it became an issue they would be happy to help if I called them and it involved an actual identity theft. And again they might be more interested if I upgraded my membership. Lifelock is much bigger and has lots more reviews but IDWatchdog does a better job for me.

7 years ago

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Noel T B IL

I've been with "ID" for 4 years and NO complaints. I get warnings when accounts are opened, I get my credit scores, they monitor many different sites , and ANYTHING that comes up you are able to review it .... and as for complaints of other people with ID not offering 'virus protection' ... my question to them is why don't you have virus protection on your computer to begin with? heck it comes free with windows! A good product that so far delivers what I pay for.

7 years ago

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John Idaho Falls, ID

I get IDWatchdog as a benefit through work. I haven’t had any issues with them. They provide a good service and keep me updated through email.

5 years ago