ADA, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LegalShield, one of North America’s leading providers of affordable legal plans and the IDShield identity theft solution for individuals, families and small businesses, announced today that since the news of the data breach at credit reporting agency Equifax last week, its IDShield website traffic has jumped 10-fold, and new customers enrolling in its identity theft solution has soared 40 times higher than normal. LegalShield and IDShield combined protect over 1,662,000 members, which is 4.2 million people.
“IDShield has become the best choice because when consumers learn that LifeLock uses Equifax as their credit source, the very company responsible for the huge data breach, they know it’s not the way to go,” explained Jennifer Stueckler, Senior IDShield Product Manager, LegalShield. “Not only does IDShield monitor a greater number of personal elements in the dark web than the competition, for the basic plan at $9.95 per month only IDShield offers important features such as a password vault, social-media monitoring, and a full-service mobile app with push-of-a-button access to a dedicated, U.S.-based, licensed private investigator.”
The day after the breach was revealed, Morgan Wright, U.S. State Department senior antiterrorism advisor, called into CNBC offering tips on what consumers can immediately do to protect themselves from consequences of the Equifax data breach. Wright revealed that he uses IDShield to protect his identity, in large part because IDShield uses professional investigators to help its members in restoring their identity.
“Consumers are smart and are acting fast,” said LegalShield CEO Jeff Bell. “With nearly one-third of the U.S. population, or approximately 118 million households, caught up in the Equifax breach, people now understand just how catastrophic this is.”
Stueckler went on, “IDShield offers white-glove service in all areas of identity management, while others only give members a do-it-yourself approach. IDShield helps consumers navigate through the complexities of a multitude of areas of exposure, often finding signs of identity theft lurking beneath the surface of a standard monitoring alert. IDShield’s team of investigators have unique access to proprietary government and agency databases that can speed up recovery from personal data and ID theft.”
“The badly handled Equifax breach won’t be the last,” continued Bell. “While it’s been yet another case study of how a company shouldn’t respond, we don’t delight in this problem—though we would be remiss if we did not encourage everyone to sign up for ID protection. LegalShield’s IDShield is a leader among these products because it includes not only monitoring and rapid response but expert help in recovering from theft of your identity.”
“Because IDShield covers more than just credit information, members can feel confident knowing that they’re already one step ahead, having the best defense during events like the Equifax data breach,” concluded Stuecker.
IDShield starts at $9.95 per month for two adults, with family plans starting at $19.95 monthly to protect the parents and up to eight children. The plans include security monitoring of everything from Social Security numbers and credit card numbers to court records and new-address requests. IDShield also includes privacy monitoring for things such as phone numbers and social media accounts and includes a free password manager, to help secure personal information.
IDShield members have immediate access to the IDShield app, where they can access credit scores and receive alerts via push notifications. When members receive an alert, they can act directly from the app or get in touch with licensed private investigators. IDShield provides members access to licensed private investigators 24/7. The company’s investigators have an average of seven years of experience and come from a variety of backgrounds, including banking, collection and law enforcement.
About LegalShield
A pioneer in the democratization of affordable access to legal protection, LegalShield is one of North America’s leading providers of legal safeguards and protection against identity theft solutions for individuals, families and small businesses. The 45-year-old company protects more than 1,662,000 individuals, families and businesses through its legal plans. In addition, LegalShield and IDShield serve more than 141,000 businesses. Both legal and identity theft plans start as low as $20 per month.
LegalShield’s legal plans provide access to attorneys with an average of 19 years of experience in areas such as family matters, estate planning, financial and business issues, consumer protection, tax, real estate, benefits disputes and auto/driving issues. Unlike other legal plans or do-it-yourself websites, LegalShield has dedicated law firms in 50 states and four provinces in Canada that members can call for help without having to worry about high hourly rates.
IDShield provides identity monitoring and restoration services and is the only identity theft protection company armed with a team of licensed private investigators on call to restore a member’s identity. For more information, call press and corporate relations at 580-436-1234.
