With headlines almost weekly about security breaches in cyberspace, Id Theft isn't just something that happens every now and again, or to somebody else. It's real, very real. So maybe you've been thinking about signing up for an Id Theft service.
Before you rush to do so, give a look-see to the Consumer Federation of America's just released, Best Practices for Id Theft Services: How Are Services Measuring Up? They looked at 20 Id Theft services and also looked at Internet complains about Id Theft services. The study is based on CFA's Best Practices for Id Theft Services, the voluntary guidelines the organization developed with the help of theft service providers and consumer advocates released last year.
What's the verdict? €We found that most of the services' websites did a fair job of complying with the best practices but there is need for improvement,€ said Susan Grant, CFA's director of consumer protection, who led the project, in a prepared statement.
What did CFA look at? They focused on how the services did in these categories: don't misrepresent protection; provide clear information about how they protect/help consumers; use statistics accurately; don't misrepresent risk or harm of Id Theft; provide basic company information, clearly disclose refund and cancellation policies, among others.
And as for what they found. It was a mixed bag. Here are a few highlights.
Hype,hype and more hype. Talk about hard sell. CFA found statements such as €stop fraud before it starts€, €prevent Id Theft€ imply that Id Theft services have special superhero powers and can do more than they really can. While these services alert consumers about possible Id Theft quicker than they would own their own, they can't prevent personal information from being stolen or detect Id Theft in all instances. Truth is, it's not always possible to stop Id Theft, particularly if a Social Security number has been compromised.

Funny numbers. CFA says they saw statistics about the number of Id Theft victims, the rate of Id Theft and the amount of time it takes to resolve problems used in marketing. However, in some cases the stats were old and complaint statistics were sometimes used to indicate the incidence of Id Theft, which is inappropriate since complaint data are not representative of the population as a whole. Then too, there was much bragging. Some id theft services claim to be #1 or top-ranked without providing the source or date. Self praise is no praise at all.
Features and services were mysterious. In some cases, CFA says it had to hunt through FAQs, terms of service and other less obvious places to find the details of features such as monitoring and alerts. Sometimes it was never found. Then too, some descriptions were unclear and key information was sometimes lacking too.
What customers are ticked about. The most frequent complaint about identity theft services was their free trial offers. While many identity theft services are offered for free for a limited trial period, from the complaints CFA found online, it appears that the terms aren't always clear. In addition, sometimes consumers can't get through the company to cancel. Some folks are charged even though they never agreed to try the service, usually because they gave their financial account information to that company or a partner of that company for something else.
What's the bottom line? You want to protect yourself but don't add insult to injury, take good care in picking your help.