Should You Use an Identity Theft Protection Service? 3 Things to Consider

Neal O'Farrell is considered one of the world's longest serving cybersecurity and fraud experts, more than 40 years and counting. As head of the Identity Theft Council, he worked with law enforcement agencies across the country and around the world, counseled thousands of victims of fraud, and interviewed professional identity thieves and scammers. He served as a member of the Federal Communications Commission's cybersecurity roundtable, and as security and privacy advisor to President Barack Obama's STOCK Act panel, an effort to prevent insider trading by members of Congress and senior Federal employees.

Despite serving as an advisor to multiple identity theft protection companies and using more than a dozen services, I have a complicated relationship with them.

As a cybersecurity expert, I'm often asked the same two-part question during my identity theft and fraud presentations: Are ID theft services any good, and ...