According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), there are as many as 9 million identities stolen each year, and a bulk of that number is children and teenagers. Thousands of people each day are turning to identity theft protection services to monitor their credit and prevent credit fraud, and you may wish to do the same. Identity thieves are getting smarter, and they are stealing thousands of credit card numbers and personal identities each and every day. Identity protection will prevent this from happening to you.

Identity protection services allow you to get free credit reports, and with this you can check to see if there are any red marks that aren’t related to what you have done. A bad credit can result in employment loss and rejection for loans and new accounts. Often, victims of identity theft will have lowered credit, and it’s important to catch this quickly so damages done would be reduced. Identity protection companies help monitor your credit and check for suspicious acitivity 24/7, which is much better and simpler than doing all of this manually. Also, identity theft services offer many more features, from wallet watch to database monitoring and junk mail removal. As identity thieves develop new techniques, identity theft protection companies also develop new systems to fight back.

Most of the identity theft protection services we’ve reviewed offer a $1,000,000 guarantee, which basically means that if identity theft happens to you, the company will put in its resources to help repair any damages that may have taken place. Each service varies for the terms for this guarantee, but the idea for it is simple. The protection companies are there to help you when identity theft occurs. Typically, damages cost thousands of dollars to repair, so the small monthly fee easily makes the service worth the price.

The services that we recommend offer a countless number of services and features, however most of them do the following for you:

1) Database monitoring (many of these databases you cannot monitor yourself)
2) Blackmarket scanning (searches the blackmarket and Internet for your social security number, credit card number)
3) Files Fraud Alerts
4) Full Recovery Guarantee

5) Lost Wallet Protection
6) Credit Monitoring, Credit Card Monitoring

So, now you must be wondering what the list above does for you. Here is what identity protection services prevent:

1) New bank accounts and loans being opened under your name
2) Negative marks on your credit
3) Address Changes
4) The sale and distribution of your personal information
5) Public Record Changes

Each service has its strengths, and you need to decide for yourself which one you like best. We offer comprehensive reviews for each service, so you can decide for yourself which service is the best. Some services offer better family plans, some offer better individual plans. Also, each service offers different features; some offer better database monitoring, and others do a better job at credit monitoring. Check what you need and go with that service.

Click here for our comparisons and reviews of different identity protection services.