Identity theft encompasses the news on an almost daily basis. Should you be scared? Yes, absolutely. Identity theft can ruin your credit rating for years, which impacts your ability to purchase an automobile, a house or even get a credit card. LifeLock can provide you with the assurance you need against identity theft.

The LifeLock plan protects you against unsolicited credit offers, assures that credit requests were really requested by you and guarantees their services up to one million dollars!

LifeLock is a company based in Tempe, Arizona. The company was founded in 2005 by professionals with years of experience in the banking and credit industry. This was the first company of its kind to work with all three major credit bureaus and ChexSystems. ChexSystems is a corporation that regularly deals with misused savings and checking accounts. Although this company is privately held, it is aligned with the National Crime Prevention Council, the Better Business Bureau Reliability Program and Verisign, among others.

In 2006, LifeLock received venture capital from Bessemer Venture Partners, which has been in business since 1911 and has a history of extremely successful business ventures.

What does it do?

It does more than just monitor your credit applications. It takes a proactive stance to eliminate your names from junk mail lists and pre-approved credit offers. When someone does apply for credit in your name, you will get contacted to ensure that the credit request is valid.

Once you enroll in LifeLock, the three credit bureaus are contacted within the hour. Within 7 days you should receive a confirmation request from the credit bureaus about the lock on your account. Within a month, you should receive a copy of your credit report from all the three major credit agencies so you can know exactly what information is currently stored by them.

Although the lock must be renewed every 90 days, it will take care of the automated renewal for you.

How much does it cost?

There are two separate plans, one for the individual and one for a business. The individual plan costs $10 per month or a discounted fee of $110 per year. Each adult in the household will pay the same amount, but for families with children under the age of 16 who wish to ensure their child's identity is not stolen, the price is $25.00 per year with an adult purchase.

The business plan actually involves multiple plans. You can select plans that will protect your employers, your customers, web business interested in ensuring their customers are valid and companies that have already experienced identity theft. Prices are not published on their site, but can be retrieved by contacting the company.