Jerry

Thanks for your comments. The reason I said credit monitoring service is better than an ID theft insurance is that with the former you can at least prevent some (definitely not all of them) fraud from happening. But with an insurance, what you get will be some compensations of already being a victim. And with credit monitoring service, what you get is not just a credit report but activities that about to happen under your identity.

As for the free credit reports, I have been getting a report every four months long before the credit report became available to everybody for free because as a NJ resident, I am eligible for a free report every 12 months from all three agencies. That definitely helps me on top of my credit.

I’m with you 100% that identity theft insurance is a not worth paying for. And we are in good company- Consumer Reports and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, among others, agree.

However, I must disagree with your closing remark about credit monitoring: This too is also not worth paying for.

You can monitor your own credit for free by pulling your credit report once every four months from http://www.annualcreditreport.com. Also PayPal, in partnership with Equifax, are offering a free, basic credit monitoring service.

But there is a deeper reason to oppose credit monitoring: You should not be forced to pay to see your own credit report.

Credit reports frequently contain errors, even evidence of identity theft that can devastate your financial standing. The credit bureaus implicitly threaten to turn this information over to your business partners and employers unless you pay for access to your credit report to spot and correct these errors. In other contexts, such behavior might be considered extortion.

You can read my full indictment of the credit monitoring business in my article, Credit Monitoring Services are a Rip Off!

Again, great site and I’m glad to make your acquaintance. Keep up the good work.

Jeff