IdentityWorks is one of the most trusted identity theft protection platforms from Experian. In addition to robust credit monitoring and credit score insights, it also offers several identity protection features, such as dark web and social media scanning, along with a handy privacy scan that removes your data from data broker websites.
But let's address the elephant in the room: Experian faced major criticism after a 2015 data breach that exposed more than 15 million customer records. So, as a potential buyer of its identity protection service, you'd be curious to know if the provider has tidied up? Well, we believe it has. Since the incident, Experian has spent significant time, money, and resources strengthening its data security.
In this article, we'll drill down into the various functions of Experian IdentityWorks, along with its pricing, interface, and customer support. We'll also compare it with other platforms to help you choose the best service for your needs.
Experian IdentityWorks: Plans and pricing
IdentityWorks is one of the few identity theft monitoring platforms that offers a free plan. You can view your Experian credit report and FICO score, along with a free dark web surveillance report and personal privacy scan. However, you cannot take any actions from the dashboard based on the report or scan to improve your online security.
Next, Experian offers two paid plans: Premium and Family. The Premium plan, priced at $24.99 per month, includes everything that IdentityWorks has to offer, with no features hidden behind additional paywalls. This means you get advanced identity theft monitoring, three-bureau credit monitoring and alerts, along with other identity theft features such as change-of-address alerts, SSN tracking, sex offender registry alerts, and lost wallet assistance.
You also get up to $1 million in identity theft insurance, which is what we've come to expect from the industry's top services. The Family plan costs $34.99 per month and includes the same features as the Premium plan but allows you to add up to two adults and 10 children.
Users will appreciate that IdentityWorks offers a 7-day free trial with both paid plans, although you'll need to provide your credit card information. If you don't like what you see within the first week, you can cancel your membership without incurring any additional charges.
Experian IdentityWorks: Features
One of the key features of the Premium plan is full access to credit monitoring. This service monitors your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion – and notifies you of any changes or suspicious activity.
You also get quarterly reports from all three credit bureaus, along with FICO scores. However, since IdentityWorks is owned directly by Experian, one of the leading credit bureaus, you can track your Experian FICO score on a daily basis. Additionally, if you wish to freeze your credit with Experian, you can do so directly from the IdentityWorks dashboard with the toggle of a button.
Not only does Experian allow you to view your credit score, but it also helps you plan your future finances. For instance, there's a FICO Score Planner, which lets you choose a target FICO score for the next 3 to 12 months. After that, it suggests actions you can take to achieve that score, such as lowering account balances or closing certain loans. There's also a score simulator, which lets you see how various financial decisions may impact your future credit score.
In the unfortunate event that your identity is stolen, you get dedicated fraud resolution support from IdentityWorks, where professionals work closely with you to help restore your identity, backed by up to $1 million in identity theft insurance.
There's also dark web monitoring, which combs the dark web to determine whether any of your personally identifiable information, such as your email address, phone number, home address, login credentials, or even your Social Security number, has been leaked.
Next, you get a handy privacy scan feature that looks for your personal information on people-finder sites. These are data broker websites that buy and sell personal information. IdentityWorks can submit removal requests to these sites on your behalf.
To enhance account security, the plan offers financial account takeover alerts. These alerts vigilantly monitor your financial accounts for any unauthorized transactions or changes, safeguarding your bank accounts, credit cards, and investment accounts against potential compromises.
In addition to its monitoring features, the Premium plan provides social network monitoring alerts. This service vigilantly scans social media platforms for any unauthorized use of your name, photos, or personal information.
Experian IdentityWorks: Interface
IdentityWorks' dashboard exemplifies minimalist design, featuring a sleek layout with intuitive tabs at the top that simplify navigation. Users can effortlessly find the information they need without unnecessary distractions. Although the interface might seem a bit old-fashioned, it gets the job done. The main dashboard is divided into six sections on the top bar: Credit, Finances, Protection, Credit Cards, Loans, and Auto. Each of these options opens a dedicated dashboard when clicked.
That said, IdentityWorks is, unfortunately, not among the easiest platforms to use. You may need a bit of time to get the hang of navigating the various options on its dashboard. On the bright side, however, the browsing experience is seamless, with no unusual lags, buffering, or screen freezes, which is always a big positive.
The provider has recently revamped its user interface and now logs you out automatically after 15 to 20 minutes of inactivity, which is an impressive security-focused addition. There's also an iOS and Android mobile app with millions of downloads. Although you don't get a ton of features with these apps, the design is simple and straightforward, allowing you to keep tabs on your identity and credit details on the go.
Experian IdentityWorks: Support
Experian doesn't provide a specific phone number or email address for direct contact regarding issues. Instead, clicking on "Contact us" directs users to a help center with various articles. For immediate assistance, Experian recommends obtaining an Experian credit report and calling the phone number provided on the report.
To enhance user satisfaction, we would suggest more streamlined and accessible communication channels for users to reach out to Experian.
Experian IdentityWorks: The competition
Although IdentityWorks is a pretty complete identity theft protection platform, it’s a bit on the expensive side, which is why you might consider alternatives such as IdentityForce. IdentityForce is offered by TransUnion, another prominent credit bureau, with plans starting at $19.90 per month or $199.90 per year.
This entry-level plan offers several identity monitoring features, such as dark web monitoring, fraud monitoring, risk scores, and personalized action plans to improve your credit standing, but it does not provide detailed credit monitoring. For that, you'll need to upgrade to the next tier, which costs $34.90 per month and is even more expensive than Experian IdentityWorks. That said, you do get up to $2 million in identity theft insurance, along with a VPN and online PC protection.
There's also MyFICO, offered by the Fair Isaac Corporation, the organization behind FICO credit scores. Plans start at $29.95 per month and include three-bureau credit coverage, along with credit reports and quarterly updated FICO scores. Much like IdentityWorks, there's also a FICO score simulator, which allows you to see how your financial decisions may impact your credit scores. That said, MyFICO focuses more heavily on credit monitoring and lacks several advanced identity monitoring features.
If credit monitoring isn't what you're primarily looking for, you could consider alternatives such as Norton LifeLock, with plans starting at $10.42 per month, or McAfee+, starting at $29.99 for the first year. These providers focus more on identity protection features such as dark web monitoring, social media monitoring, and real-time identity breach alerts.
Experian IdentityWorks: Final verdict
Since IdentityWorks is offered directly by Experian, it provides some of the best credit monitoring features we've seen. You can view your Experian FICO score daily and access credit reports from all three bureaus on a quarterly basis. Besides helping you view your scores, IdentityWorks also allows you to lock your Experian credit directly from its dashboard with the toggle of a button. Additionally, it lets you set a target FICO score and suggests actions you should take to achieve it in the near future.
Moreover, IdentityWorks offers several useful identity protection features, such as Social Security number monitoring, dark web surveillance that scans up to 600,000 web pages, sex offender registry alerts, social network monitoring, and dedicated fraud resolution support.
All in all, IdentityWorks is one of the best identity theft protection platforms you can opt for. That said, it's a bit on the expensive side, with paid plans starting at $24.99 per month and no option for an annual subscription. This could easily burn a hole in your pocket, which is why you may want to consider more affordable alternatives such as Norton LifeLock or Aura.
FAQs
Why is identity theft protection important?
Safeguarding your personal identity stands as an absolute necessity in the current digitally connected world. Our personal information exists in the digital atmosphere to a greater extent than ever because of online transactions and social media posts, along with connected devices. The defense mechanisms provided by credit protection cover only a limited segment of identity theft risks that continue to evolve.
Identity theft is a broad and damaging criminal activity that encompasses multiple types of fraudulent actions, resulting in severe harm to victims. A person who steals your personal details can perform multiple illegal actions, such as establishing unauthorized credit accounts using your name while taking loans you will need to pay, filing false tax returns, and committing crimes, which will appear on your criminal record.
The consequences of identity theft go beyond financial damage because they cause severe credit score deterioration along with damaged reputation and both emotional suffering and time-consuming identity recovery procedures.
We've also highlighted the best identity theft protection
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