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Report: #286226

Complaint Review: Identity Guard - Chantilly Virginia

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  • Reported By: orlando Florida
  • Author Confirmed What's this?
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  • Identity Guard identityguard.com Chantilly, Virginia U.S.A.

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Identity Guard is a major RIP OFF!! The site states that they monitor your credit report and give you updated scores from 3 of the Credit Bureau Reporting Agencies.

I signed up with them $12.99/mo. Automatically taken out of my credit card. After being with them for 2 years, and continuously checking my report, I noticed there weren't any changes. The only thing that keeps updated is the inquiries. I recently purchased a car. When they pulled my credit at the dealer, I found out that my scores at the 3 credit reporting agencies were 12 points higher than what Identity Guard had shown. I called Identity Guard to cancel them. I was told that my account had problems and hadn't been updated since August. I immediately asked for a Manager. I requested a refund and was told that I wasn't going to get one because it clearly stated on their site that they use some expert reporting agency which gives you scores that are different than what the 3 credit reporting agencies give you.

When you purchase a car or a home, or whatever, and they pull your credit, they get the FICA scores. Identity Guard gives you something else. She said it points that out on their website. I asked her to go to the website and point out where it tells me that. She said she couldn't find it because the website has changed. She then said she can credit me back one month's worth to my card.

All I can say is, IDENTITY GUARD is MISLEADING. They are a MAJOR RIP OFF!!! DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS SERVICE.

I have reported them to http://www.ic3.gov/ which is an Internet Complaint Center - they partner with the Federbal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) for internet Fraud! Excellent site to use when you've been ripped off online.

Sabrina
Orlando, Florida
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 11/23/2007 08:33 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/identity-guard/chantilly-virginia/identity-guard-identity-guard-online-credit-monitoring-service-rip-off-chantilly-virgi-286226. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
0Author
7Consumer
1Employee/Owner

#8 Consumer Suggestion

Fico scores are only available from Fico

AUTHOR: Steve in San Diego - ()

POSTED: Tuesday, September 23, 2014

I had the same complaint until I did my homework and learned that FICO scores are only available from FICO and none of the credit monitoring services are able to use it. There are several websites that explain credit scoring that you might find helpful. Wikipedia has very detailed article on the subject.

What must be understood is that Fair, Isaac and Company (FICO) created the first broadly used algorithm for calculating credit worthiness back in the 1950s, so they set the gold standard. That algorithm produces a score. (actually, they now offer different algorithms that lenders can buy. Rather like Coka Cola offers umteen different versions of Coke.)

The various credit monitoring services do not have access to FICO scores, so they use other scoring methods, the most common of which is called Vantage. Vantage attempts to match FICO, but it's only an approximation, rather like Pepsi developed a cola recipe that is an approximation of Coka Cola's carefully guarded secret recipe.  It's not exact, but it is close and it can tell you in relative terms if your credit is getting better or worse, or if it is high or low.

If you want to purchase your actual FICO score, you can do so directly from FICO's website. But if you are a stickler for accuracy, just remember that when you apply for a loan, your lender might not buy the same FICO score that you are buying from FICO's website.  

In the end, I have come to terms with my Vantage score. I have stayed with my credit monitoring service. And on those occassions when I feel compelled to compare my Vantage score with my FICO score, I cough up the money and buy my score directly from the FICO website.

Hope this helps. 

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#7 REBUTTAL Owner of company

Sounds Like You Didn't Pay Attention

AUTHOR: sj - ()

POSTED: Friday, January 10, 2014

I've been using Identuty Guard for years and have never had a problem. It sounds like to me that yo simply didn't understand everything they were doing for you. You wanted something different, but didn't take the time to find out exactly what you were getting.

I, on the other hand, picked Identity Guard because of its more than 10 years of experience protecting people's identities. Everything they do is clearly available on their website and the information they actually send to you when you sign up. Don't beat up a good company just because you didn't take the time to read the information you were given.

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#6 General Comment

Best Identity Protection Available

AUTHOR: Emilie - ()

POSTED: Sunday, August 18, 2013

I've been a customer of Identity Guard for over 3 years and I've never been happier with the service I receive or the service they offer. I was previously a customer of another identity monitoring company and had several issues with accurate reporting of my information. This is not the case with Identity Guard; they have provided much needed resources for credit monitoring and identity protection.

Prior to becoming a Identity Guard I paid for identity protection with a company that did nothing but charge me for their service. I personally found several mistakes on my credit report that they missed. Due to inconsistencies with the service I received, I decided to join Identity Guard after being referred by a friend.

In the 3 years since joining Identity Guard I've received personalized support and state of the art identity protection. Constant credit report monitoring, personalized reporting and alerts and excellent customer service are what I constantly receive. I would highly recommend Identity Guard to anyone that wants identity protection and credit monitoring.

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#5 Consumer Suggestion

How I understand Identity Guard

AUTHOR: BasicTek - ()

POSTED: Tuesday, July 02, 2013

 I've been a customer of identity guard 2 times, and both times I left were due to the fact that they update only once a quarter. I tried several other pay services and they were all the same in that regard (chase, Bofa, etc). Currently I'm using a free service from (((competitor's name redacted))) instead. From what I can see (((redacted))) shows me 90% of the info identity Guard showed me, has similar tools, and even their way of generating revenue (by offering you credit alternatives) is kind of nice. I get offers to lower interest rates, payments, etc.

Identity Guard and other pay sites are misleading in that they charge you monthly (from my experience $11 -$18 per month) but they all update only once a quarter (so your real cost is $33 - $54). I've never had an issue canceling any pay service like this, nor been hasseled much to do so. There are plenty of rippoffs out there and I'd consider this a little misleading, not actually accurate (as other posters have said) but not a ripoff. If you want to save money try (((competitor's name redacted))), but you won't ever know what your real credit is to lenders until you actually apply for something. I think in general (((redacted))) and these pay sites are closer than 50 points, but doubtful you will ever be exact, and they all admit that...

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#4 Consumer Comment

Stop complaining!

AUTHOR: jlynlng77 - (United States of America)

POSTED: Tuesday, January 22, 2013

You have zero sense. FICO is derived from the Fair Isaac Company who developed the system of rating your credit information. It quantifies your probability of paying your debts based on a three digit number. FICA is what you pay into Social Security.

 Your 12 point increase FICO score was more than likely due to someone reporting with the month. Identity Guard obviously doesn't update each day. That would just be asking too much for a $13 a month service.

 Complaints such as this puts a strain on a perfectly good company for nothing. I mean really, you had an increase, not a decrease! You'll be fine. 

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#3 Consumer Comment

Wow...talk about incorrect Information

AUTHOR: El Jeffe - (United States of America)

POSTED: Saturday, July 07, 2012

As an Idenityguard member I have to say that the above poster is clearly incorrect in his statements about Idenityguard.  Idenityguard uses a 3rd party to determine the credit scores for all 3 bureaus.  Mortgage companies do use what is called a Beacon Score and none of the credit monitoring companies use a beacon score.

All credit monitoring companies use a regular credit score system.  If you were to pull your credit scores directly from the bureaus - you would get a regular credit score.  Also credit scores can go up and down several times during the month, so trying to compare credit scores from different companies is not a good idea as it depends on the day that the credit report is pulled. 

Think of your credit score as a snapshot of your credit on the day that your credit was pulled.  Credit Monitoring companies have a hard enough time with consumers that are ignorant when it comes to credit matters (as witnessed by the above comment) so before writing a review, please check your facts.

Idenityguard is an excellent company.  I have never had any problems and they do a great job of protecting me from fraud.  Difficult customers definitely give this service a bad name but please don't listen to the comment above, the consumer is clearly not well informed!

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#2 Consumer Comment

Identity Guard scores

AUTHOR: jincali - (United States of America)

POSTED: Friday, March 19, 2010

My husband and I just signed up for Identity Guard's Total Protection program, as we are trying to get a loan to buy our first home, and we know his credit needs some repairing (we have been working with a law firm to fix his credit for about 6 months now).  This program claims to give you reports and scores from all 3 credit reporting bureaus.  My husbands report from Identity Guard told us that his scores were 650, 653, and 655.  Each of these scores are supposed to be from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.  Seeing these scores, we went ahead and applied for a loan figuring his score was good enough that we would be approved.  However, we were denied, and the loan officer said my husbands score was actually 584.  This is a HUGE difference... enough to mean the difference between getting approved for a loan and being denied.  I have read other reviews, and read over the Identity Guard website, and cannot find any reason why there would be such a huge difference.  I have also contacted them asking how there could be such a huge difference between what they say his scores are and what his score actually is according to lenders.  The time between the date we got his scores from Identity Guard and the date we applied for the loan was only 2 days, so I know we weren't denied due to a sudden change in his score.  What is the point of purchasing a program such as Identity Guard if their information isn't even CLOSE to accurate?  We are very disappointed, and I do not understand how a business such as Identity Guard can make such claims of "protection" and "credit monitoring"... there is something seriously wrong there.

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#1 Consumer Comment

not fraud

AUTHOR: toddm22 - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, January 31, 2010

While I do not have any experience with this company myself what you are describing is hardly fraud. First off, its a FICO score not "FICA." FICO stands for Fair Isaac Corporation. None of the credit reporting agencies- Equifax, Trans Union, Experian, nor Identity Guard give you an actual FICO score. What you get is a close approximation. This is clearly worded on all their websites. Your score was 12 points different. What are you complaining about?

Your complaint about nothing changing on your report is a different matter. If they truly didn't update your reports then you should be due a refund but according to you there were inquiries. So it sounds like this was happening. Anyway, when you spoke with the manager you only mention the score being different as the issue.

Bottom line is nobody except FICO is going to give you an actual FICO score. This is not misleading and certainly not fraud. We all need to be somewhat educated consumers and not claim fraud just because we didn't understand what services were offered.

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