Is Wells Fargo Identity Theft Protection Enough To Keep You Safe?
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 1.4 million Americans experienced identity theft last year alone [*] — making identity theft the fastest growing crime in the country.
Identity thieves are almost always financially motivated. If you’re a Wells Fargo customer, one option you have to protect your identity and finances is to add the company’s Enhanced Identity Theft Protection (EITP) service to your account.
But is Wells Fargo’s identity theft protection enough to keep you safe? And if you’re a current customer, are you getting the best value for your money?
In this guide, we’ll cover what features are included with Wells Fargo’s identity theft protection and how they compare to other (more affordable) services. We’ll also look at four of the top identity theft protection companies to consider as alternatives, starting with a deep dive into our solution, Aura.
What Is Wells Fargo Identity Theft Protection (EITP)?
Wells Fargo bank offers very little in terms of basic identity theft protection. Along with standard fraud alerts, the only free service offered to Wells Fargo account holders is an identity theft repair kit (which contains a checklist to follow if you become a victim of identity theft).
For additional security, they also offer Wells Fargo customers Enhanced Identity Theft Protection (EITP) for $15.99/month (at the time of this writing).
While this rate is comparable to many identity theft protection companies, most services provide more features than Wells Fargo EITP.
With Wells Fargo EITP, you get:
- Three-bureau credit monitoring. EITP connects with the three major credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — to alert you of changes in your score or personal information (such as your billing address) as well as new hard inquiries, accounts, and credit applications made in your name.
- $10,000 in identity theft insurance. Wells Fargo includes insurance coverage to help you cover the costs associated with identity theft — such as legal fees.
- Toll-free number for assistance in understanding your credit reports. While an active member, you get access to a support team to help you deal with fraud or look into suspicious activity on your account.
How Does Wells Fargo Compare to Other Identity Theft Protection Services?
Wells Fargo might seem like a good option — especially if you’re already a customer. But unfortunately, it comes up short against modern identity theft protection services.
Most comprehensive identity theft protection services include additional features, such as:
- Online security tools to keep your personal information safe from criminals and hackers.
- Personal information monitoring to track your Social Security number (SSN) and other sensitive information, and detect signs of identity theft.
- Three-bureau credit and bank account monitoring to detect signs of financial fraud.
- $1 million in identity theft insurance to reimburse you for stolen funds, legal fees, and more.
- Identity restorations services to help you through the process of resolving fraud.
For example, here’s how Wells Fargo compares to Aura’s all-in-one digital security solution:
Wells Fargo Identity Theft Protection Alternatives: 4 Options To Consider
Identity theft protection has come a long way in the last few years. If you’re looking for a more comprehensive protection plan than what Wells Fargo offers, here are four alternatives to consider:
1. Aura: All-in-One Identity Theft Protection for the Whole Family
Aura offers comprehensive identity theft protection — including online security features and 24/7 U.S.-based fraud remediation — for individuals, couples, and families. It only takes a few minutes to set up Aura’s suite of easy-to-use tools, with apps for nearly any device.
Note: Every Aura plan comes with a free and fully-featured 14-day trial. This means you can try everything included with Aura — including Dark Web monitoring, automatic data broker removal, and credit protection features — with no obligation.
Here’s what you get with Aura:
Online security features to proactively protect your information
The first line of defense against all types of identity theft is to keep your private information away from scammers. Fraudsters use your personal information — where you live, what you like to buy, etc. — to craft personalized scams that trick you into sending them money or giving them access to your accounts.
But, how do scammers get your personal information in the first place?
Most rely on some form of cyberattack — such as hacking your accounts and devices, using phishing emails and fake websites, or buying your leaked data on the Dark Web.
Aura helps you proactively protect against cyber attacks with:
- A virtual private network (VPN). Hackers can easily intercept your online data even when you're connected to a secure network at home. Using military-grade encryption, Aura’s VPN hides your online activities from hackers.
- A secure password manager. This tool creates, stores, and auto-fills randomly generated, unique passwords for all your regularly-used sites. Aura’s password manager will also warn you if your passwords have been compromised in a data breach. On select sites, Aura will also log in and update the password for you.
- Antivirus software. Aura’s antivirus software automatically detects and isolates spyware, malware, ransomware, adware, and other online threats so that your devices won’t become infected with malicious software.
- Safe browsing tools. Aura warns you if you’re entering potentially dangerous sites that are trying to steal your personal information. Oftentimes these sites look legitimate, so it can be difficult to detect them on your own.
- Anti-track software. Anti-track prevents websites from tracking your online activity, so scammers can’t use your online footprint to create targeted scams.
- Email aliases. Keep your personal email address safe and let Aura randomly generate email addresses for you to use when signing up for new accounts. All emails sent to your alias will be forwarded to your main email address — but your main inbox and email address will stay safe.
Aura will also remove your personal information from data broker lists. Data brokers scan public platforms and gather your information to create a profile on you. Then, they sell that information to anyone who wants it — even identity thieves.
Personal information fraud alerts in near real-time
While online security features can help proactively protect your information, it’s impossible to stop every instance of fraud.
That’s why Aura monitors billions of online data points for signs of suspicious activity, and sends you fraud alerts in near real-time.
Aura’s identity monitoring can be divided into two categories:
- Dark Web monitoring checks for information stolen during a data breach that is typically sold on the Dark Web. Aura constantly monitors billions of data points on the Dark Web for signs of your Social Security number (SSN), email addresses, passwords, and more.
- Public records monitoring. If someone is using your identity, your name could appear on any number of public records including court records, criminal records, property tax records, etc. Aura constantly scans public records — including criminal and court records — and alerts you if your name or other personal information was used by someone other than you.
Three-bureau credit report and financial account fraud alerts 4x faster than competitors
The best way to detect financial fraud is to monitor your credit reports and financial accounts. But, it’s impossible to monitor your credit reports and financial accounts 24/7 on your own.
You can also set transaction thresholds for your credit cards and bank accounts. If a transaction is made that surpasses that limit (such as a purchase or withdrawal), you’ll receive an alert and our team will help you secure your account.
Note: There are three major credit bureaus — Experian, TransUnion and Equifax — that each provide you with a credit file. These reports are not always the same, so it’s important to monitor all three instead of just one. Aura provides three-bureau credit monitoring.
💡Related: 11 Best Credit Monitoring Services (Free and Paid Options) →
Bonus: Credit lock and credit score monitoring
A credit lock prevents thieves from opening new loans or credit cards in your name (by stopping creditors from running credit checks for any new applications). Aura lets you lock and unlock your credit with just one tap.
You can also monitor your credit score (which gets updated monthly) from your Aura dashboard.
💡Related: 7 Best Credit Monitoring Apps (with Recommendations) →
$1 million in identity theft insurance for every adult member
Every adult on an Aura plan is covered for up to $1 million in identity theft insurance. Aura’s identity theft insurance covers eligible fees and expenses which may include reimbursement for:
- Lost wages
- Notary fees
- Mailing costs
- Phone bills
- Child and elderly care
- Legal fees (i.e., transcript costs, appeal bonds, court filing fees, expert witnesses, courier fees, and any fees brought against you by a creditor or collection agency)
- Public records searches
- Private investigator fees
- Loan reapplication fees
- Replacement of identification documents
U.S.-based 24/7 identity restorations services
Being the victim of identity theft can feel violating and unsettling. For many people, having the support and knowledge of a dedicated expert to help you through the process of recovering from identity theft is one of the best reasons to invest in an identity theft protection service.
However, Wells Fargo identity theft protection only offers assistance with understanding your credit report. You’ll be on your own when it comes to actually resolving fraud.
Aura provides 24/7 U.S.-based White Glove fraud remediation — which means we will help you:
- Navigate each step of the fraud recovery process, including filling out forms and filing a report with the federal trade commission (FTC).
- Contact financial institutions, credit bureaus, and any other entities that are necessary to resolve the fraudulent activity.
- Understand every line of your annual credit report (and help you spot errors or fraudulent activity).
- Initiate a credit freeze.
- Figure out what to do if your wallet has been stolen.
- Resolve any technical issues with the Aura app and answer questions about tools and features included in your plan.
Affordable plans for individuals and families
While many other identity theft protection services limit the features you get with lower-priced plans, all Aura plans come with the same features.
The only difference is the number of people protected under your plan: Individual, Couple, or Family.
Aura offers monthly or yearly subscriptions; annual plans include a 60-day money-back guarantee. Every plan includes a 14-day free trial, so you can try Aura for yourself and see if it’s right for you.
2. Identity Guard: Budget-friendly family protection
Identity Guard is an award-winning identity theft protection service that has helped shield over 38 million people against fraud and identity theft.
Overview of Identity Guard’s features:
- Safe browsing features including ad blocker, malicious site blocking, and anti-tracker
- Password manager to store all of your account passwords in a secure place
- Dark Web and Social Security number (SSN) monitoring
- Three-bureau credit monitoring
- Bank account monitoring
- $1 million in identity theft insurance
- 24/7 fraud remediation
Pricing: Identity Guard offers three plans: Value, Total, and Ultra — starting at $7.50/month.
Key takeaways: Identity Guard is a popular identity theft protection service provider for millions of Americans, although it doesn’t offer as many proactive protection features as Aura.
3. LifeLock: Popular protection with high renewal rates
LifeLock is one of the most well-known names in identity theft protection. However, the company has come under scrutiny in recent years over issues with renewal pricing, a $100 million class action settlement with the FTC over failing to secure user data [*], and the inclusion of crypto mining software in its Norton antivirus software [*].
Even worse, the company recently disclosed that sensitive information from thousands of LifeLock customers — including passwords — was compromised in a December, 2022 data breach [*]. If you're looking for a secure LifeLock alternative, consider trying Aura free for 14 days.
Overview of LifeLock’s features:
- Device security and VPN (when bundled with Norton 360)
- Identity and SSN alerts
- Credit report monitoring
- Bank account and home title monitoring
- Social media monitoring
- Identity theft insurance (amounts and coverage vary by plan)
- 24/7 live member support
Pricing: LifeLock offers three main pricing plans: Standard, Advantage, and UltimatePlus. Each one adds on features to the previous one. You can also bundle any LifeLock plan with Norton 360 if you want device and online security features. LifeLock is known for increasing the price after the first year, so be sure to read the fine print.
Key takeaways: LifeLock only offers comprehensive ID theft protection if you add on Norton 360 and choose their most expensive plan — otherwise, you won’t be fully protected. Additionally, their sky-high renewal rates and complicated pricing plans make it difficult to know what you’ll be paying in the long-term.
💡 Related: LifeLock vs. Experian vs. Aura: A Detailed Comparison →
4. IdentityForce: Premium credit protection
IdentityForce is a popular option for credit monitoring although their pricing plans are more expensive than other similar providers.
Overview of IdentityForce’s features:
- PC protection tools
- Dark Web and identity theft monitoring
- Bank account activity monitoring
- Three-bureau credit monitoring
- $1 million in identity theft insurance to reimburse stolen funds as well as some legal fees and lost wages
- 24/7 fraud remediation
Pricing: IdentityForce offers two protection plans — UltraSecure and UltraSecure+Credit — starting at $17.95/month. The UltraSecure plan only includes identity theft protection, and the second plan adds credit protection. Both options are pricier than other comparable services.
Key takeaways: IdentityForce offers good credit monitoring services; however, they lack key proactive protection features.
💡 Related: Beware of These 7 Wells Fargo Scam Texts →
The Final Verdict: Secure Your Identity With More Comprehensive ID Theft Protection
Identity theft protection and credit monitoring are essential to keeping your digital life secure and your finances safe from scammers. But when compared to other options, Wells Fargo’s identity theft protection plan doesn’t provide the same peace of mind.
You and your family will be better protected with one of the alternatives described above. They are generally more affordable — and offer both proactive protection and reactive support to help you if your identity is stolen.
