Is LifeLock Identity Advisor Worth It? Review + Breakdown

What’s the Difference Between LifeLock Standard and Identity Advisor?

Norton LifeLock's new Identity Advisor plan may seem like a budget-friendly identity theft protection option; but in reality, it provides very minimal protection against threats including identity theft, fraud, and cybercriminals. 

Instead, LifeLock Identity Advisor offers an identity restoration service only. While this type of support is still valuable, it won't safeguard you from scammers, hackers, or ID theft. 

Ultimately, LifeLock Identity Advisor may create a false sense of security that could put you at risk. 

Here's how Identity Advisor compares to LifeLock's entry-level identity theft protection package, LifeLock Standard:

With over 50 products and services to choose from, Norton and LifeLock don't make it easy to find the right protection plan for your needs. Make sure you understand exactly what's in your plan so that you're fully covered.

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LifeLock Identity Advisor Review: What You Need To Know

LifeLock Identity Advisor takes a different approach from most identity protection services — including other LifeLock plans as well as competitors such as Aura and Identity Guard. 

The Identity Advisor service bundle provides alerts, guidance, and support for identity theft victims. It helps users find out what information has been leaked and how to recover from identity fraud. 

However, the service lacks critical features like digital security, credit monitoring, advanced identity theft alerts, and identity theft insurance — the very tools that can help prevent fraud and minimize its damage. You also won’t get access to features that come standard on other LifeLock plans, including Identity Lock, payday loan lock, social media monitoring, credit lock, and more.

Here's a detailed breakdown of the key features included in LifeLock’s Identity Advisor plan:

Dark Web monitoring

LifeLock scans Dark Web forums and marketplaces for any signs of its customers’ personal information. Identity Advisor starts by only looking for email addresses, but you can add more information to your profile for monitoring at any point. 

LifeLock’s Dark Web monitoring service can monitor your Social Security number (SSN), driver’s license, multiple bank account and credit card numbers — as well as contact information, including your physical address, email addresses, gamertags, and phone numbers.

LifeLock will notify you if any of the information that you provided is detected on the Dark Web.

Something to consider: Identity Advisor may let you know when your data shows up for sale on the Dark Web, but it won't tell you if or when fraudsters use your information.   

Data breach notifications

Identity Advisor also monitors data breaches to alert you if any include your information. The service will provide details about the breach, such as when and how it occurred and what information of yours may have been affected. 

While these notifications can give you a chance to lock down your accounts, you’ll only receive them after the breached organization confirms the attack. This means LifeLock may not hear about the breach until months after it takes place.

The notification details can also be extremely limited. Some customers have complained that LifeLock doesn’t report on what specific information has been leaked. 

Something to consider: Data breach notifications are only sent after the affected organization releases the details, which may be too late to stop identity thieves from using your information. 

U.S.-based personal restoration specialists

If you become the victim of identity theft, LifeLock assigns you a personal identity restoration specialist to walk you through the recovery process. These U.S.-based experts can talk to the merchants on your behalf, request information, and handle credit report disputes and fraudulent charge reversals. 

They may make the calls themselves or include you in three-way discussions. While specialists are available 24/7/365, the restoration process can take a long time to complete. LifeLock also offers a restoration guarantee that promises you'll get your identity back — if not, up to 12 months of your subscription fee will be refunded.

Something to consider: Identity Advisor helps restore your identity; but without identity theft insurance, any costs associated with recovering your identity fall on you.

24/7 live member support

LifeLock offers live member support around the clock to answer any questions that you have or help you with technical issues. Unfortunately, LifeLock's member support is not as well-received as its restoration specialists. 

Here are some of the customer service issues voiced by LifeLock users on third-party review site Trustpilot:

• No U.S.-based support line, which leads to language barriers and miscommunication
• Priority support is only given to top-paying members on comprehensive plans
• Long wait times, multiple transfers, and difficulty reaching a human support representative
• Unable or unwilling to help with customer issues 

Something to consider: Reliable customer support is crucial when dealing with identity theft protection. LifeLock's checkered customer service record suggests it may not give you what you need.

What Are the Downsides of Using LifeLock Identity Advisor? 

If you are considering LifeLock Identity Advisor, it's important to know the service's drawbacks:

Limited identity theft monitoring 

Identity Advisor scans the Dark Web for your personal information, but it doesn't monitor for misuse. Many top identity theft protection services check for fraudulent credit applications, public records fraud, and unauthorized use of SSNs. This gives you a better chance to stop identity theft before it causes serious damage.  

With Identity Advisor, you also miss out on account takeover, financial account, and auto and home title monitoring. Unless your information is exposed in a data breach or posted on the Dark Web, Identity Advisor may never inform you that you're at risk. 

No credit monitoring

Monitoring your credit for new and unauthorized accounts is one of the most effective ways to catch identity theft early on. The top identity theft protection providers monitor your credit file with each of the three major credit bureaus (TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax) and send near real-time alerts about suspicious activity, along with regular credit reports and credit score updates. 

You get none of these services with Identity Advisor. This means the only way you'll find out if someone has abused your credit is if you spot it yourself.

No digital security 

Identity Advisor doesn't include any tools to proactively protect you from identity theft — such as key digital security tools including antivirus software, virtual private networks (VPNs), and password managers, which help block malware, phishing attacks, and hackers.

While you can add the Norton 360 package to your account (to include these services), doing so doubles the cost and eliminates any price advantage that you would have gotten with LifeLock.  

📚 Related: How Much Does LifeLock Really Cost? (Read Before You Buy) →

No family plans

Identity theft can affect your entire family, but protecting everyone can become costly. That's why so many providers offer family plans that cover spouses, children, and even elderly parents — at a discounted group rate. The best plans include family-focused features like parental controls and child identity monitoring.

Since Identity Advisor offers no family plan, you need to buy individual plans to protect each member of your family.  

No insurance

Recovering from identity theft can entail a great deal of time and money. Because of this, it's common for providers to include insurance coverage in their packages. For example, LifeLock Ultimate Plus offers up to $3 million to cover eligible expenses for members. With no insurance from Identity Advisor, you carry the financial burden of all personal expenses related to identity theft. 

Privacy issues 

LifeLock Identity Advisor claims to protect its users' personal information, but the company doesn't have the best track record when it comes to privacy. 

In 2010, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ordered LifeLock to refund nearly one million customers for falsely advertising the extent of its identity theft protection and data security. In 2015, the FTC claimed that LifeLock violated that order by failing to follow through on its promise to protect user data. 

More recently, Norton LifeLock suffered a data security incident. In late 2022, thousands of LifeLock customers had their account passwords compromised. While Gen Digital, Norton's parent company, insists that their own systems were not compromised, users weren't notified until more than a month after the leaks were first detected.

LifeLock Identity Advisor vs. Aura Privacy Protection

Identity Advisor isn't the only budget-friendly option on the market. In fact, there are plans that offer more peace of mind for even less money. 

Aura’s Privacy and Online Safety plan provides similar Dark Web monitoring, data breach alerts, and 24/7 U.S.-based support, plus antivirus software, data broker opt-outs, and scam and spam protection — all for about half the price of Identity Advisor.

In the past year alone, Aura's identity theft protection has been rated #1 by TechRadar, Forbes Advisor, Money.com, and more.

Here are some of the main differences between Aura Privacy Protection and LifeLock Identity Advisor plans:

If you're looking for even more robust security, consider one of Aura's all-in-one individual and family plans. For a slightly higher monthly rate, you’ll receive extensive monitoring, the industry's fastest fraud alerts³, bank, credit card, and investment account monitoring, digital security, and more. 

Aura’s all-in-one plans include a 60-day money back guarantee when you choose to pay annually, so you can try Aura risk-free to make sure it’s right for you.

📚 Related: Aura vs. LifeLock — What You Need To Know Before You Choose →

The Bottom Line: You Don’t Need To Break the Bank To Stay Safe Online

LifeLock Identity Advisor offers affordable Dark Web monitoring, data breach alerts, and restoration support for victims of identity theft, but it might not be the best option for everyone.

At a minimum, customer complaints about LifeLock's poor customer service and slow response time are red flags, especially for a provider focused on identity restoration and support.

For a more reliable and well-rounded service, Aura stands out as the better option. Whether you need budget-friendly protection or a robust safety solution for you and your family, Aura has you covered.