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ReliaShield Identity Theft Protection Review 2023

8.6
very good
Top10.com Staff

In a Nutshell

ReliaShield provides identity theft protection for personal consumers, offering coverage over a very wide variety of sectors, including financial fraud, tax fraud, and identity theft. ReliaShield is a particularly good choice for families — it has 3 dedicated family plans which come with free coverage for kids (under 18 years old). It claims a 100% recovery success rate on assisting ID theft victims.

pros

  • Wide variety of fraud types monitored for
  • Great option for families
  • No charge for kids (under 18)

cons

  • Credit monitoring not included on lower tiers
  • Many users report difficulty getting hold of human support

Reliashield Reliashield Visit Site

A Brilliant Solution For 

Families that need identity theft protection for all members.

Groups such as companies and associations. ReliaShield can handle large-scale deployments and offers group discounts as well as a simplified enrollment process.

Those that want identity theft protection that covers a lot of bases.

How Does it Work?

ReliaShield is an identity theft and consumer crime protection service that offers monitoring designed to detect a number of identity theft threats. 

ReliaShield primarily works by issuing its customers with notifications in the event of a detected event that could affect their account. Members are also able to access an online dashboard area where they can see the status of their account. This information can also be retrieved via the mobile app, which is available for both iOS and Android. 

ReliaShield works through aggregating details about its customers, such as their name and place of residence, although it does not receive their Social Security Numbers (SSNs). These are then monitored against a variety of databases which are designed to help users detect fraudulent activity using these details, such as signing up for additional credit cards. 

What Does This Service Watch Out For?

ReliaShield offers a tiered subscription service for both individual consumers and groups — with the number of threats monitored for increasing at each level, although basic comprehensive identity theft protection is offered at each tier. 

The basic identity theft monitoring service covers:

  • Financial theft, including the unlawful replication of account details
  • Social security fraud, including Social Security Number (SSN) fraud
  • Child identity theft
  • Tax fraud including malicious fraudulent returns
  • Criminal activity
  • Employment fraud including the filing of employment, termination, and tax records associated with a place of work
  • Title fraud
  • Change of address monitoring, which reports on any requests received by the US Postal Service to redirect mail to another address
  • Court records monitoring, which taps into legal databases to alert in the case that the customer’s name has been attached to any legal proceedings, whether as plaintiff or defendant

Additionally, ReliaShield offers personally identifiable information (PII) monitoring on both the regular internet (also called the “clearnet”) and the dark web. 

Those that subscribe to ReliaShield Prime can also avail of:

  • Neighborhood predator monitoring, which lists all registered sexual offenders living within a defined radius of your zip code
  • Social media monitoring, which notifies users of any privacy risks associated with content that they are sharing.  
  • Single bureau credit monitoring, which reports back on any changes in users’ credit report with a single monitoring bureau

Prime and Elite users also receive:

  • Data breach updates, which report on data breaches from major organizations that may affect the users.
  • Non-credit loan monitoring (Elite only) which notifies users if a so-called “payday” loan has been offered on the back of any of their personal details.
  • Bank account takeover notification (Elite only), which notifies users in the event that there is an attempt to add a third party to any of their bank accounts.
  • Credit card application monitoring, which alerts users in the event that any of their personal details are used to apply for a credit card.
  • 3 bureau credit monitoring — which upgrades the personal credit bureau report monitoring from one bureau to three.
  • Bank account application monitoring (Elite only) which notifies of all attempts to open a new bank account using the customer’s name.

Recovery services: what can ReliaShield do if my identity is stolen?

In the event that customers receive a notification indicating that a potentially fraudulent event which may indicate an identity theft plot has been detected, they are immediately assigned to a ReliaShield recovery expert. The expert will walk them through the process of safeguarding their identity and prevent any further malicious action from being taken.

Specifically, the recovery specialist will ensures that:

The customer is not held responsible for any fraudulent transactions that may have resulted from bank account or payment card theft. 

The customer’s original credit rating is restored following the event. 

Additionally, all ReliaShield plans include a $1 million stolen funds and reimbursement guarantee. The guarantee covers all funds which customers cannot succeed in having reimbursed through alternative means, such as blocking credit cards and having any fraudulent transactions returned by their financial institution. 

How Easy is it to Use?

ReliaShield is a very intuitive product to use. In order to enroll, users complete an online contact form which provides their basic personal information. After that, they complete an online payment and can then access the online user area where they can see any notifications that have been issued regarding attempts to steal their identity.

Pricing

ReliaShield offers plans for both individuals and groups.

Essential includes (among others) all basic types of identity theft as well as SSN monitoring, data breach updates, and wallet protection, which automatically reorders cards in customers’ wallets if they are stolen. Prime adds neighborhood predator monitoring, social media monitoring, and one bureau credit monitoring. On the Elite tier, customers enjoy all Essential and Prime features, upgrade credit bureau monitoring to three bureaux, and also receive credit card application notifications, new bank account application notifications, and a monthly credit score tracker.

Pricing: Individual Plans

Tier
Essential
Prime
Elite
Price
$7.19 monthly or $79.99 yearly
$13.49 monthly or $148.49 yearly
$21.59 monthly or $237.59 yearly

Pricing: Family Plans

Tier
Essential
Prime
Elite
Price
$14.39 monthly or $161.99 yearly
$26.99 monthly or $296.99 yearly
$43.19 monthly or $475.19 yearly

Reliashield Reliashield Visit Site

Help and Support

ReliaShield’s US based team of identify theft recovery experts, located in Nashville, TN, can be contacted toll-free during American office hours. Additionally, there is an email form for customers to open a ticket to get support.

While this should be enough to help most customers who need assistance with the recovery process, it would also have been helpful to see:

  • International local phone numbers for those located abroad when an identity theft event occurs.
  • An easily accessible online knowledgebase containing troubleshooting steps and explaining the various components of the online dashboard.

Bottom Line

ReliaShield is a very comprehensive identity theft monitoring service that offers a large variety of fraud detection services on all its tiers. For families, corporates, and other large organizations it is a very cost-effective provider. We would have liked to see better support resources, but otherwise strongly recommend this provider for identity theft prevention and monitoring.

Top10.com's editorial staff is a professional team of editors and writers with dozens of years of experience covering consumer, financial and business products and services.

Reliashield customer reviews

Based on 24 reviews

Ease of use

Brand satisfaction

Value for money

Service quality

Top Reviews

Ease of use

Brand satisfaction

Value for money

Service quality

3 years ago

Easy to use service that protects my identity information on an as needed basis.

3 years ago

It was hard to set up, but customer service was excellent. They were quick and patient with an outdated person like me!

3 years ago

In all honesty, this software was a bit hard to get acclimated with at first, but it really helped out our company in the longrun.

3 years ago

Customers receive the benefit of free coverage for their children, too, regardless of the plan they select. The perk applies to any members of a two-parent household that are under the age of 18. As a point of reference, many competitors charge for this service.

3 years ago

They seem to be one of the most secure identity theft protections on the market. The pricing is also very appealing.

3 years ago

This program is overall easy to use, however, we had problems in the beginning setting up the software.

3 years ago

Great customer service and response time. I liked the website and feel my identity is in good hands

3 years ago

Customer service was outstanding and I bought it. They did a great job of attending to my immediate needs of protecting my likeness

3 years ago

I really love to use this tool with very interesting tools to improve my protections and security

3 years ago

It was easy to use their service and I had good discount offer which made the price better for me.

3 years ago

I like that it protects my identity and covers fraud. I also like that it monitors and notifies me if there is a problem.

3 years ago

I gave it this rating because its proved itself to be a brand that I completely trust with my security and wellbeing. I would be glad to use it again in the future.

3 years ago

Reliashield is in the name you can rely on it, you keep your identity safe, so it's hard to complain

3 years ago

They offer a great detailed service and a cost effective price. They've kept us safe so far!

3 years ago

Great ID protection service makes things easier for me. Great value for the overall cost and good customer service

3 years ago

ReliaShield provides affordable identity theft protection, and the company seems to be really successful. We use it for nephews because being on social media today can be dangerous.

3 years ago

I think it is a decent brand that is important to have for the protection of you and your family. If you are not satisfied they offer a reimbursement which is very nice. Although I've personally never had any issues nor have I heard of anyone I know having issues.

3 years ago

It's a great brand and I trust it. It has a good review and reputation. It keeps me feeling safe with my information

3 years ago

i honestly believe that they have done a really good job so far of keeping my identity secure. After having it stolen once, it's been safe since I signed up.

3 years ago

I like reliashield because of the ease of use and the value of what it cost to use it's nothing that I dislike about this product (unless I get my identity stolen)

24 reviews
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