In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received more than 1 million reports of identity theft, and more complaints were filed about identity theft in all its forms than any other type of complaint. More than a third of reported identity theft cases in 2023 involved an unauthorized new credit card account.
For those who are unsure how to secure their personal information, ID Watchdog can help. ID Watchdog is an identity theft protection service from credit industry titan Equifax. ID Watchdog can help you and your family protect sensitive information and restore your identity if it is compromised by offering preventive measures and expert-managed recovery services.
Business Insider's personal finance team compared ID Watchdog to the best identity protection services and found it to be a strong offering with standout features like excellent customer service and credit freeze assistance, but it falls short with a mobile app that is not easily accessible.
$14.95 monthly or $150 annually for individuals, $23.95 monthly or $240 annually for family
- Family plans available
- Refunds on unused months on annual plan
- 24/7 customer care
- Poor mobile app reviews
- Single-bureau monitoring
- Mostly monitoring services, little protection
- No court records monitoring
- Credit report monitoring (Equifax only)
- Monthly credit report and VantageScore (Equifax only)
- Credit score tracker (Equifax only)
- Subprime loan monitoring
- Dark web monitoring
- High-risk transactions monitoring
- Public records monitoring
- USPS change of address monitoring
- Registered sex offender reporting
- Equifax blocked inquiry alerts
- Customizable alert options
- Data Breach notifications
- Identity profile report
- Equifax child credit monitoring (with family plan)
- Fully managed identity resolution with online tracker
- Credit freeze assistance
- Up to $1 million of identity theft insurance
- Mobile app
- 24/7/365 customer care
Overview and company background
ID Watchdog was founded in 2005 in Denver, where it is still based. Since 2007, it has provided identity theft protection to private consumers and employees (through employee benefit programs). In 2017, it joined the Equifax family of companies, giving its services the extensive resources of one of the three major credit bureaus.
ID Watchdog offers comprehensive identity theft protection, including basic credit monitoring, dark web monitoring, and a fully managed recovery service. All ID Watchdog plans include 24/7 customer support and up to $1 million of identity theft insurance coverage. Costing $14.95 monthly or $150 annually for individuals, $23.95 monthly or $240 annually for family, ID Watchdog is priced competitively with some of the best identity theft protection services.
Reviews and ratings
ID Watchdog has few customer reviews. It's accredited with the Better Business Bureau and has an A+ rating, but it has no customer reviews or complaints. The ID Watchdog mobile app is rated 3.3 stars in the Google Play store across 99 reviews and two stars in the Apple store across 109 reviews. Reviewers often mention that they cannot access the app at all.
However, ID Watchdog Premium was awarded Best In Class in the 2024 Identity Protection Service Provider Scorecard from Javelin Strategy & Research.
Key features and services
ID Watchdog offers two different plans, both of which are available for individuals or families. The Select plan comes with a variety of monitoring and alert features (most of which are common among identity theft protection services), as well as identity theft insurance coverage and recovery services. The Premium plan adds more extensive monitoring and insurance, as well as security tools to reduce the risk of identity theft.
ID Watchdog Select
- Credit report monitoring (Equifax only)
- Monthly credit report and VantageScore (Equifax only)
- Credit score tracker (Equifax only)
- Subprime loan monitoring
- Dark web monitoring
- High-risk transactions monitoring
- Public records monitoring
- USPS change of address monitoring
- Registered sex offender reporting
- Equifax blocked inquiry alerts
- Customizable alert options
- Data Breach notifications
- Identity profile report
- Equifax child credit monitoring (with family plan)
- Fully managed identity resolution with online tracker
- Credit freeze assistance
- Up to $1 million of identity theft insurance
- Mobile app
- 24/7/365 customer care
The ID Watchdog Select plan includes a monthly Equifax credit report and credit score (based on the VantageScore 3.0 model), as well as ongoing monitoring of activity on your Equifax report. Such monitoring is useful but leaves room for fraud to go unnoticed. For more thorough protection, look for credit monitoring that tracks data from all three major credit bureaus. You can find options in our guide to the best credit monitoring services.
The Select plan provides dark web monitoring to detect whether your personal and financial information is being trafficked online. The service also monitors validations performed by financial institutions to detect when someone attempts to open a new account or access an existing account in your name. However, neither ID Watchdog plan offers court records monitoring, which notifies you when your name is linked to arrests or convictions. Missing this essential feature means you could be caught off guard if your personal information is used in association with criminal activity.
Most importantly, the Select plan provides fully managed identity resolution — in the event your identity is compromised, a certified specialist will be assigned to your case and guide you through each step of the recovery process. ID Watchdog also provides identity theft insurance comparable to other popular identity theft protection services.
ID Watchdog Premium
- All ID Watchdog Select features
- Credit report monitoring (three bureaus)
- Daily credit report and VantageScore (Equifax only)
- Annual 3-bureau credit report
- Credit report lock (Equifax and TransUnion)
- Integrated fraud alerts
- Financial accounts monitoring
- Social account monitoring and takeover alerts
- Personal VPN and safe browsing
- Password manager
- Subprime loan block
- National healthcare provider ID alerts
- Equifax child credit lock (with family plan)
- Up to $1 million of 401k / HSA stolen funds reimbursement
The Premium plan steps up ID Watchdog's coverage by monitoring your Equifax credit report and your TransUnion and Experian reports. You'll also get a full Equifax credit report updated daily instead of monthly and an annual credit report from the other two bureaus. The Premium plan also allows you to lock your Equifax and TransUnion credit reports to prevent unauthorized access to your credit file.
ID Watchdog Premium adds several other monitoring features including financial accounts monitoring, which can alert you of transactions and changing balances in your checking, savings, credit, and investment accounts. Social account monitoring notifies you when unauthorized or potentially damaging information appears on your social media accounts (or the accounts of your minor children covered by a family plan).
The Premium plan further includes two software tools to secure your online activity. The personal virtual private network (VPN) provides high-speed, encrypted internet access for up to six devices simultaneously, while the password manager helps you create and manage passwords to your online accounts across multiple devices.
ID Watchdog Premium provides the same fully managed identity theft resolution and insurance services as the Select plan. However, it adds up to $1 million of reimbursement for unrecoverable funds removed electronically without authorization from employer-sponsored retirement accounts, health savings accounts, and employee stock option plans.
Pricing and plans
ID Watchdog is available as either a monthly or annual subscription, with annual plans providing a discount that roughly equates to two free months. You can sign up for ID Watchdog as either an individual (with coverage for a single adult) or a family (with coverage for two adults and up to four children). Family plans cost about 60% more than individual plans for both monthly and annual billing options.
| Plan | Price |
| ID Watchdog Select | $14.95 monthly or $150 annually for individuals, $23.95 monthly or $240 annually for family |
| ID Watchdog Premium | $21.95 monthly or $220 annually for individuals, $34.95 monthly or $350 annually for family |
ID Watchdog may also offer different plans and pricing as a company benefit available through your employer. If you enroll in an ID Watchdog plan through an employer benefits program, you can continue your plan at the same price even if your employment status changes.
ID Watchdog does not offer free trials or discount codes, so you should expect to pay the advertised price for your membership. You can cancel your ID Watchdog subscription at any time by calling the 24/7 customer care team at 1-800-970-5182. There is no prorated refund for canceling a monthly subscription, but you will receive a refund for any fully unused months when you cancel an annual subscription.
ID Watchdog signup process
You can enroll in ID Watchdog through the company's consumer plan landing page. You'll be prompted immediately for payment information, including a valid credit card and billing address. Once payment is confirmed, you'll need to verify your identity by providing personal information such as your Social Security number, date of birth, and address. Once your identity is verified and you've completed the registration process, the ID Watchdog website will confirm your enrollment by displaying "Activation Complete."
You can use ID Watchdog through a browser or its mobile app, but the mobile app has mixed reviews on both the Google Play store and Apple app store.
Benefits of ID Watchdog
ID Watchdog comes with most of the features Business Insider prioritizes when rating identity theft protection services, including dedicated fraud resolution service from a recovery expert who can manage your case on your behalf and insurance coverage to mitigate costs associated with recovering your identity.
Dark web monitoring
ID Watchdog also provides essential dark web monitoring but doesn't provide court records monitoring, which could leave you vulnerable if your identity is used for illicit purposes. Finally, ID Watchdog Select only offers credit monitoring from a single credit bureau, whereas ID Watchdog Premium matches many competing services by including credit monitoring from all three major credit bureaus.
ID Watchdog customer service
One feature of ID Watchdog that stands out is its round-the-clock customer support line. In addition to service by email, you can reach a live, in-house agent by phone anytime at 1-800-970-5182, with support offered in over 100 languages. That degree of accessibility is a great advantage over competitors that offer limited customer support hours or operate exclusively online.
ID Watchdog compared to other services
ID Watchdog is moderately priced compared to other companies among the best identity theft protection services, with some competitors priced higher and others priced lower. However, each service provides a unique assortment of tools and features, so a strictly price-based comparison doesn't tell the whole story.
ID Watchdog vs. Norton 36o with LifeLock
Norton 360 with LifeLock Select is a cybersecurity and identity protection combo plan from Norton, one of the leading brands in cybersecurity. It's also listed in our guide on the best identity theft protection services. While ID Watchdog and Norton 360 with LifeLock offer identity theft protection and cybersecurity features, Norton's list of features eclipses ID Watchdog's with antivirus software, court records monitoring, and parental controls for children's devices.
Both ID Watchdog and Norton 360 with LifeLock offer annual discounts and family plans. In fact, Norton 360 with LifeLock's first-year discount on Select, its base plan, makes it cheaper than ID Watchdog Select. Norton 360 with LifeLock also offers a free trial and a refund if it fails to remove a virus from a covered device called the Virus Protection Promise.
Read our LifeLock review.
ID Watchdog vs. IdentityForce
IdentityForce UltraSecure is another top identity protection service, with comprehensive identity monitoring and cybersecurity protection. IdentityForce also offers a credit score simulator that roughly predicts how certain actions may affect your credit score, helping you make decisions when improving your credit score.
Both ID Watchdog and IdentityForce offer annual discounts and family plans, though IdentityForce is significantly more expensive than ID Watchdog. However, IdentityForce offers a 30-day free trial and a pro-rated refund for unused services, which ID Watchdog does not.
Read our IdentityForce review.
Frequently asked questions about ID Watchdog
ID Watchdog protects against identity theft and fraud by using advanced monitoring tools, alerts, and fraud resolution services.
ID Watchdog offers two subscription plans — ID Watchdog Select and ID Watchdog Premium — which have different levels of protection and features that cover credit monitoring, dark web monitoring, data breach notifications, password manager, and social media monitoring.
Yes, ID Watchdog allows users to cancel their subscriptions at any time without penalties or fees.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Evaluated ID Watchdog
To rate and review identity theft protection services like ID Watchdog, we focus first on must-have features — fraud resolution, dark web monitoring, and credit monitoring — the product's value for price, and the available customer service. We then look at additional features, the Better Business Bureau rating, and any type of free trial.
Business Insider's personal finance team is editorially independent, and we rate products according to our experts' opinions.
Read our full explanation of how we rate identity theft protection services.
