Is identity theft protection worth it? What you get, and what you can do free

The big names in the US include Aura, LifeLock (sold by Gen Digital, the company behind Norton), Identity Guard and Zander. Banks, credit card issuers and the credit bureaus sell versions too. The features overlap heavily:

• Credit monitoring. Alerts when something changes on your credit report at one or all three bureaus, such as a new account or hard inquiry.
• Dark web and breach monitoring. Alerts when your email, SSN, card numbers or other details turn up in breach data or criminal marketplaces.
• Other alerts. Depending on the plan: changes of address, new bank accounts, payday loans, court and arrest records, home title changes, and transactions on linked accounts.
• Identity theft insurance. A policy that reimburses certain costs if you become a victim.
• Restoration help. Specialists who help you work through the recovery: calls to creditors, disputes, paperwork.
• Extras. Many bundle a VPN, antivirus, password manager or data broker removal into higher tiers.

Notice that almost everything on that list happens after the fact. Monitoring tells you that someone opened an account. It does not stop them opening it. Some services include a "credit lock" feature, but that is usually a bureau product with its own terms, and it is not the same thing as the legal freeze you can place yourself.

Most of the protective value of these services can be reproduced at no cost in an afternoon.

Many people also already have some monitoring free: through a breached company's settlement offer, a credit card perk, or a free credit score app. Check before you buy something you already own.

The insurance figure is often the biggest number in the advertising, and the least understood. Typical identity theft policies reimburse the costs of recovering: lost wages for time off work, legal fees, notary and mailing costs, and sometimes childcare or travel. Many do not cover money stolen directly from your accounts, or cover it only on higher tiers and with conditions.

In practice, the money you are most likely to lose is already protected by other rules. Federal law limits your liability for unauthorized credit card charges, and banks generally reimburse debit and account fraud when you report it promptly. Debts fraudulently opened in your name are not yours to pay once you dispute them with an identity theft report.

Before buying, look for answers to these questions in the policy documents, not the marketing page:

• Does it reimburse stolen funds, or only expenses?
• What has to happen first, such as reporting to your bank or filing a police report?
• Are there deductibles, limits per category, or exclusions for family members?
• Does coverage apply to theft that started before you signed up?

A paid service is a convenience purchase. It can be the right call for some people:

• People who will not do the free steps. If you know you will never freeze three bureaus and set up alerts, a service that does most of it for you beats nothing.
• Older relatives. Adult children sometimes buy a plan for a parent so there is a phone number to call and alerts on accounts the family cannot easily watch. A freeze is still the first thing to set up for them.
• Past victims. If your identity has been misused before, ongoing monitoring of addresses, court records and accounts beyond credit can catch a repeat early. Restoration help is most valuable here.
• Families. Family plans that cover children's SSNs, several adults and shared alerts in one dashboard save real time. Remember you can freeze children's credit free too.
• People with a lot of public exposure. Landlords, business owners and anyone whose details are widely published face more attempts.

Who should skip it: anyone who has frozen their credit, uses unique passwords with two-factor authentication, and checks their bank alerts. For them, a subscription mostly duplicates what they already have.

Plans change often, and features shift between tiers, so compare on the current plan pages rather than review sites. Things that make a real difference:

• Three-bureau credit monitoring versus one bureau.
• Whether restoration help is a real case manager who does the calls with you, or a help article.
• Whether family plans cover children and how many adults.
• Cancellation terms, and whether an introductory price jumps at renewal.
• What happens to your data when you leave.

Skip bundles if you already pay for antivirus or a VPN, or if the extras are weaker versions of tools you can get free. Built-in protection is often enough on modern devices; see is free antivirus enough.

Identity theft protection watches for misuse of your data. Data broker removal reduces how much of it is out there in the first place. People-search sites publish names, addresses, phone numbers, ages and relatives, which scammers use to impersonate you or answer security questions.

You can opt out of these sites yourself for free, one by one. Our guide to removing your info from data broker sites explains how, and data removal services compared looks at the paid options side by side.

Identity theft protection is a legitimate product, often sold as prevention when it mostly does detection. Do the free steps first. If, after that, you still want someone else watching more categories of records and a case manager to call when something goes wrong, a paid plan is a reasonable purchase. Buy it for the restoration help and convenience, not for the insurance headline.

If you have just been notified of a breach, start with what to do after a data breach. If fraud has already happened, go to what to do if your identity is stolen.