Your FICO credit score gives you access to loans, lower interest rates, and other perks. It’s one of the most important numbers for your finances. Unfortunately, some hackers and other malicious actors steal people’s identities and tank their credit scores. Experian IdentityWorks can help protect you from identity theft.
What Is Experian IdentityWorks?
Experian IdentityWorks monitors the web to detect signs of identity theft and monitors your credit reports from Experian or across the three major credit bureaus, depending on your membership level. As a result, Experian IdentityWorks keeps you and the entire family safe and restricts who can access your credit.
Experian IdentityWorks comes with CreditLock. This feature lets you do the following:
- Lock and unlock your Experian credit file
- Block unauthorized access
- Provide real-time alerts if someone applies for credit using your details
Experian IdentityWorks users can easily lock and unlock their credit files. You can unlock your files when you need them and keep them locked at other times.
Can Credit Monitoring Really Prevent Fraud?
Getting early notifications about identity theft helps you address theft quickly. Credit monitoring doesn’t prevent someone from using your personal information, but you can freeze your credit account to protect against fraud. Freezing your credit account prevents you and anyone else from opening new credit with your details. In addition, you can take precautions by changing passwords to bank accounts, contacting your bank, and reporting fraud.
Becoming an identity theft victim doesn’t grant future immunity. Malicious actors frequently target prior victims. According to the 2021 Consumer Aftermath Report, 29% of identity theft victims will become victims again in the future.
Without credit monitoring and proactively reviewing your accounts, a malicious actor can open up lines of credit under your name and go undetected for years. Your credit score will take a hit, possibly knocking you out of the minimum loan requirements and increasing your interest rates.
How Does Experian IdentityWorks Work?
Experian IdentityWorks sends you notifications if your account is at risk. However, Experian Identity Works does more than send messages to you about fraudulent activity.
CreditLock blocks people from accessing your credit reports to open new accounts. You can toggle it on and off at any time. It offers significant protection and comes with less commitment than a credit freeze.
Experian IdentityWorks offers multiple plans. You can start with their free credit monitoring services and get a 30-day free trial for one of their paid plans. You can create an account with your personal information to add an extra layer of protection to your credit.
How Much Does Experian IdentityWorks Cost?
Experian IdentityWorks offers a few plans. The Credit Monitoring Service is free and provides real-time notifications. This service helps detect identity fraud before it compounds. The service also lets you submit online disputes with ease.
Experian’s IdentityWorks Plus membership offers additional protections starting at $9.99 per month. This membership conducts dark web surveillance on your behalf to catch people using your information. You’ll get identity theft insurance of up to $500,000. Experian IdentityWorks Plus accounts also get access to CreditLock.
An Experian IdentityWorks Premium account provides additional benefits and starts at $19.99 per month. The identity theft insurance goes up to $1 million, and you’ll get more identity theft monitoring and alerts.
Plus and Premium accounts both provide the following identity theft and monitoring alerts:
- Social security number monitoring
- Address change verification
Although these perks offer some protection, a premium account offers additional protections. You’ll also receive notifications about these events:
- Financial account activity
- Identity validation alerts
- Payday loan monitoring
- Court records
- Sex offender registry
- File-sharing network monitoring
- Social network monitoring
An Experian IdentityWorks Premium membership covers more ground so you can discover a wider range of identity theft attempts and stop fraudsters early. Both Plus and Premium accounts come with credit monitoring and alerts.
You can also add multiple adults and children to your plan. You can also select from these plans based on your family:
1 adult and up to 10 children
- IdentityWorks Plus: $14.99/mo
- IdentityWorks Premium: $24.99/mo
2 adults and up to 10 children
- IdentityWorks Plus: $19.99/mo
- IdentityWorks Premium: $29.99/mo
All plans come with annual billing options that let you save 17% each year. You’ll only get billed once per year instead of monthly.
How is Experian IdentityWorks Different?
Experian IdentityWorks offers controls at your fingertips along with 360° monitoring and alerts. This monitoring and alert system covers many verticals to help you detect fraud. Experian CreditLock gives you more control over who can access your credit reports. Experian offers robust protection to keep you safe, and their support team can quickly answer any questions.
Experian IdentityWorks: Pros and Cons
Experian IdentityWorks comes with many advantages and a few cons. We’ll discuss them below.
Benefits of Experian IdentityWorks
- Affordable Plans — you can get started for as little as $9.99/mo.
- Free Trial Periods — you can try out Experian IdentityWorks before committing to monthly payments. Cancel anytime within the first 30 days to avoid paying. If you enjoy the free trial, you can keep your account and pay every month.
- Enhanced Login Security — CreditLock gives you more control over who can and can’t access your credit file.
- Identity Theft Insurance — identity theft can get expensive. Experian IdentityWorks provides you with up to $1 million in identity theft.
Experian IdentityWorks Cons
- Another Cost — you will have to account for the small monthly expense into your budget.
- Protection Is Not Guaranteed — people can still use your information. Experian IdentityWorks provides early notifications so you can limit the damage. You can also tap into Experian’s identity theft insurance to cover losses.
How to Get Started with Experian IdentityWorks
Experian IdentityWorks notifies you about fraudulent activity and offers protection. Browse through the plans to determine what will work best for your needs. Some people create individual accounts, while others create Experian IdentityWorks accounts that cover the entire family.
You can start a free trial and enter your information. You can try out Experian IdentityWorks and cancel within 30 days to avoid getting charged. If you enjoy Experian IdentityWorks, you don’t have to do anything else after setting up your account. The next payment will automatically occur, and you’ll continue having access to Experian IdentityWork’s features. Get started with an Experian IdentityWorks free trial today.
