Privacy Guard is geared toward the tech-savvy user with extra online features

10-second breakdown:

Built for the digital age, Privacy Guard has powerful credit monitoring capable of detecting early signs of identity theft like no other. With included antivirus software, Privacy Guard is a clear choice for internet heavy users and easily makes our top recommendations list.

The good:

The price is very reasonable and lower than many of the industry. There is also a trial period (for $1) to give you peek at how things operate before you commit to the full monthly fee. It’s two weeks which isn’t that long, but long enough to get the gist of their services.

Customers get access to a free antiviral software to keep your computers as safe as your identity. It’s a pretty decent means to keep your computer and files safe, but it’s not as robust as a paid alternative.

There is a $1 million dollar insurance policy to help you in the event that your identity is stolen while using their services.

The bad:

Privacy Guard doesn’t offer to watch your bank accounts and can’t alert you to odd transactions as a result.

There is not child or medical monitoring available.

How it works:

No single identity theft protection service is going to be perfect, no matter who you pick you’ll find complaints here and there. That’s why you’ll find each and every company offers pretty extensive services to help you put your life back together if the worst happens.

What if you don’t want to play clean up though, if you don’t want to play defense and hold your breath hoping nothing bad happens? What sets Privacy Guard apart from the rest of the competition is their especially strong credit monitoring. Stolen credit cards or new ones fraudulently opened up under your name are one of the most popular forms of identity theft – Privacy Guard gets that.

Instead of waiting to clean up a mess, they hand you the tools to go on the offensive. Privacy Guard includes reports from all three credit bureaus, credit scores and they monitor it all daily. If they notice any suspicious changes, Privacy Guard will alert you immediately. If you’re not sure of a charge on your report and can’t decide if it’s fraud or not, feel free to give Privacy Guard a call, they maintain a ‘Credit Information Hotline’ that helps you comb through the reports and make sense of it all.

Done properly, all of these powerful reports can help you catch identity fraud before it becomes an issue. You could shut down the credit card before the thief gets to use it and put a lock on your credit bureau so if they get any second thoughts that’ll get shut down too. Instead of cleaning up after the theft, you can hit thieves where it hurts – their bottom line.

Identity theft may still happen, it’s an unfortunate fact of the world we live in. If it does, Privacy Guard will stay by your side to make it right. They have on-call experts ready to take you step by step how to cancel all of your cards or file notices with the credit bureaus. They provide detailed documentation on how to put your identity back together and will stay on the line while you work it out.

In addition to traditional identity theft protection, Privacy Guard has a lot of extra services. They reimburse you if you file for a copy of your driving record and warn you that it could affect your insurance eligibility. If you plan on moving soon, give Privacy Guard a call, they can supply you with a report that details the neighborhood’s home values, crime rates, demographic and more. Although there’s no live chat available, customer service is available through both phone and email for both emergencies and casual questions.

One extra perk Privacy Guard includes that you won’t find anywhere else is the inclusion of a free antivirus software. Every purchase of Privacy Guard includes Norton Internet Security Online completely free, no strings attached. While not as common as stealing your mail or trying to open up a credit card in your name, a lot of identity theft does still come from hackers and malware. A common one is to pose as a legitimate login for your bank or email, and when you put in your credentials the hacker runs off and steals your data, or worse. Norton can help keep you protected online in ways traditional identity protection services can’t.

The one downside to the plan is that Privacy Guard doesn’t offer the ability to add children or seniors to your plan. A few competitors will give the ability to add-on children for an additional small fee, but if you want to include your family with Privacy Guard’s plans each person will need their own account.

Privacy guard keeps pricing simple – there is only one plan. It’s $1 for the first 14 days and then $19.99 a month from there. The ‘Identity Protection Plan’ includes everything Privacy Guard has to offer. They included the triple bureau credit monitoring, identity monitoring, credit card monitoring and more.

Although it won’t be of much use if you have an extended family, the one plan Privacy Guard offers is a great deal compared to the competition. A lot of competitors will have similarly priced packages but strip down features, and then upsell you to higher plans if you want all of the little extras. Privacy Guard cuts all of the nonsense out and just offers everything for one low monthly rate.

With an intuitive early detection system and very powerful identity theft monitoring tools, Privacy Guard offers quite a lot of bang for your buck that is a clear choice for tech-savvy users who are on the internet all day.

For complete rankings of all identity theft protection services, go here.

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