Equifax ID Patrol Vs Identity Guard Total Protection

Identity Guardís top level package is one of the most expensive identity protection services at $17.99 per month, and on paper provides more features that the cheaper Equifax ID Patrol is $14.99 per month. However consumers should be asking themselves is this additional cost actually worth it, and do the additional features actually provide any more protection?

Identity crimes are becoming more prevalent every year, and although identity protection services can help, in reality there is no 100% way to safeguard your personal data completely. In many cases you could be paying for services that you already have, or can actually carry out yourself for free. This is true of two features on Total Protection:
* Wallet Protection ñ this service assists you if you lose you wallet, guiding you through reporting any lost plastic cards or identity documents. However Identity Guard cannot do this for you, only give you advice on how to proceed, and this you can get for free from your card issuers directly.
* ZoneAlarm ñ this software can be installed onto your computer to protect it from spyware, but these days most computer owners all ready have full anti-virus and anti-spyware programs already installed on their computers.

When you consider that two features of the Total Protection package are not really necessary, it does make the lower cost of ID Patrol seem like the more sensible option, especially as it also has a feature missing from Total Protection, identity theft insurance, which can help you to cover the costs in the event you become a victim of identity crimes.

Identity Guard Services

Identity Guard provide a range of identity protection services, which can help to prevent your personal Information being used by fraudsters. It is important to protect even basic personal information such as your name, telephone number and address, as these can by used by criminals to carry out a number of unlawful activities such as fraudulently applying for goods, credit or services, or giving a false identity in the event of an arrest (in this case the crime would be recorded in another person's name and they would be legally liable for all fines and charges).

Identity Guard is a good choice as they offer a good range of identity protection packages to suit most budgets:

* Good Start - this is the lowest package at just $4.99 per month and provides a credit file monitoring service, which will scan your credit file and alert you if any changes have been made.

* Watchful Eye - this package is just $8.99 per month and as well as credit file monitoring it also offers a Web protection service, which monitors the Internet and alerts you if your personal data is being misused online.

* Extra Caution - this third level service is $12,99, as well as the features from the two previous packages it also includes access to your main credit files, so that you can check through your credit history for any potential errors or fraudulent activity.

* Total Protection - this is the most expensive package at $17.99 and has all of the features of the others, but also includes Zonealarm, a software protection package for your computer, and Wallet protection, to limit the damages in the event you lose your wallet.