McAfee Identity Theft Protection Review 2025: Can McAfee Protect Your Identity?

McAfee Identity Theft Protection is an affordable cybersecurity suite, which includes features like an antivirus and VPN, but it may not be the best identity theft protection for the price. We liked the simple design and user-friendly dashboard but were surprised that it has limited family coverage and basic monitoring.

In our McAfee Identity Theft Protection review, we'll talk about its features, prices, and how it can help you and your family stay protected against identity theft and fraud. We compare McAfee to some of the best identity theft protection services and discuss its merits and what could be improved. 

At a glance

Price	$4.16-$20.83/mo
Identity theft insurance	Up to $2 million
Number of people covered	Up to 2 adults and 4 children
Types of identity monitoring	SSN, financial, credit, dark web, social media
Credit monitoring	Yes
Credit reports	Yes — Experian, TransUnion, Equifax
Credit score	Yes
Identity restoration services	Yes
Extras	Antivirus, VPN, password manager, ransomware reimbursement, 1:1 phone call with account management setup
24/7 customer support	Yes
Details	Get McAfee Identity Theft Protection

We last tested McAfee Identity Theft Protection on March 3, 2025.

Our experience

We tested McAfee Identity Theft Protection by signing up for a free trial of McAfee Total Protection. We did this by clicking on our free trial offer and creating an account with McAfee using an email address and password. It was a relatively easy and quick process to set up.

When we accessed the McAfee dashboard, we could add any information we wanted to monitor, view our Protection Score, and see alerts if any of our monitored information had been compromised or leaked online.

We ran into some issues with our ad blocker and using some of the features, including credit monitoring. No matter what we did, we couldn't get credit monitoring to work. 

We ended up switching from Safari to a Google Chrome browser without ad blockers to use the service. Once we opened McAfee in a browser without ad blockers, we had no issue setting up the service.

Ultimately, we thought that McAfee was a good product. It does lack some things like registered offender maps and home title monitoring, but this may be a good pick if those features aren't as important to you.

Who is it best for?

• We recommend McAfee Identity Theft Protection for individuals or families looking for identity theft protection bundled with award-winning security features. 
  

McAfee Identity Theft Protection is a low-maintenance option for individuals and families that also includes McAfee's award-winning antivirus, virtual private network (VPN), and password manager. While the individual and family features aren't as robust as competitors, you still get identity theft protection wrapped in a security bundle. 

Prices and subscriptions

McAfee Identity Theft Protection ranges from $4.16-$20.83/mo. It has three plan tiers and you can purchase coverage for an individual or for your family. Family plans cover two adults and four children. 

The Premium plan is perfect for basic identiy theft protection. You'll get identity monitoring and alerts, along with a Protection Score from McAfee with guidance on how to improve your protection. You'll also get the antivirus, VPN, password manager, and web protection.

If you're up for more comprehensive coverage, the Advanced plan, adds identity theft insurance and restoration services, financial transaction monitoring, one-bureau credit monitoring and score updates, and the security. 

Finally, the Ultimate plan is the most comprehensive coverage. Identity theft insurance increses from $1 million to $2 million, plus you'll get up to $25,000 in ransomware coverage. Extra features include bank account takeover and payday loan monitoring, investment transaction monitoring, and credit lock. 

Plan	Premium	Advanced	Ultimate
Individual price	$4.16/mo (billed annually) for the first year	$7.49/mo (billed annually) for the first year	$16.66/mo (billed annually) for the first year
Family price	$5.83/mo (billed annually) for the first year	$9.99/mo (billed annually) for the first year	$20.83/mo (billed annually) for the first year
SSN monitoring
Financial account monitoring
Credit monitoring
Credit reports
Credit score		Yes — VantageScore	Yes — VantageScore
Credit lock
Identity theft insurance	Up to $1 million	Up to $1 million	Up to $2 million
Identity restoration services
Dark web monitoring
Social media monitoring
Home title monitoring
USPS address change alerts
Details	View plan	View plan	View plan

McAfee Identity Theft Protection features

Credit monitoring is a crucial part of McAfee’s security package, but it’s available only in the Advanced and Ultimate plans. You can monitor your financial account changes, review your credit scores, and receive credit reports from all three bureaus. 

McAfee also alerts you to suspicious activity, like when your personal information has been compromised in a data breach or leaked on the dark web.

We especially appreciated that it offers identity theft insurance with up to $1 million in coverage, which can help you and your family recover from any potential identity theft losses. Furthermore, it offers lost wallet protection as well as identity restoration experts, should your identity or your family’s identity become compromised.

What does McAfee Identity Theft Protection protect against?

McAfee Identity Theft Protection can help monitor and defend against the following common identity theft scenarios:

• Theft of personally identifiable information (PII)
• Child identity theft
• Credit card theft
• Email hijacking
• Tax refund fraud
• Healthcare insurance theft
• False utility accounts opened in your name

McAfee also provides monitoring for the following scenarios:

• Bank account takeover monitoring
• Payday loan monitoring
• 401(k), investment, and loan transaction monitoring

With McAfee Identity Theft Protection in your corner, these threats can be monitored and mitigated. 

Identity monitoring

In the McAfee dashboard, you can select Identity Monitoring and add the personal information you want to monitor. McAfee will keep track of any information you want to monitor, whether it is financial information like your credit cards, bank accounts, tax ID, or other identification methods. 

Moreover, McAfee also has an ID theft protection and security solution that is advertised as a separate service called Total Protection, which offers identical features to Identity Theft Protection’s Advanced plan.

Proactive monitoring is a standout feature of McAfee's identity protection services. After you add the information you wish to monitor, the service stays on guard and detects if your PII has been leaked or compromised online. If your PII has been leaked, you'll promptly receive alerts in your main Identity Protection dashboard. Alternatively, you can get notifications via email and SMS.

What's even better is that proactive monitoring doesn't just inform you about breaches. You're also provided with options to resolve these breaches so you can regain control of your PII.

Credit monitoring

You can activate credit monitoring through the main portal, but we recommend using a browser without an ad blocker as we ran into issues. When you set up credit monitoring, you'll be prompted to add a lot of personal information, including your social security number. This is necessary to monitor your credit and also normal practice for this type of protection.

Credit reports and scores

Keeping an eye on your credit reports and scores is essential to ensure your finances are in order and to keep an eye out for any signs of identity theft. 

McAfee+ Advanced provides one-bureau credit monitoring and monthly score updates from TransUnion. McAfee+ Ultimate upgrades your credit monitoring to three bureaus, with daily score updates from TransUnion and annual updates from Equifax and Experian. 

Alerts

McAfee’s Cyber Monitoring feature stays on guard and alerts you when your personal information has been compromised in a data breach, leaked on the dark web, or other unusual activity. 

For example, McAfee could send you an email with the subject line, “Your info was stolen,” or worse, “Your info was found on the dark web.”

Notification alerts can be sent to you via your McAfee dashboard, email, and/or SMS text whenever suspicious activity occurs, or new accounts are created without your knowledge. 

Here is the information that McAfee’s Cyber Monitoring feature monitors for:

• Social Security number (SSN)
• Email addresses
• Driver’s license number
• Passport number
• Medical ID numbers
• Credit or debit card numbers
• Bank account number
• International bank account number
• Store/membership card number

McAfee also comes with the SSN Trace service, which helps prevent child identity theft. SSN Trace can monitor and report fraudulent names, aliases, and addresses associated with a child’s monitored SSN. It checks all 50 states, as well as various records like property and recorder of deed registration, county assessor data, bankruptcies, liens, and more.

Identity restoration services

McAfee promises 24/7 identity monitoring to help avoid an identity theft situation. If you do end up becoming a victim of identity theft, McAfee also guarantees hands-on assistance in restoring it.

The language surrounding McAfee's identity restoration services isn't as robust as some competitors. Other services detail how they handle remediation, but McAfee's details are sparse, mentioning only that you'll receive assistance from a professional. 

McAfee does specify that it provides lost wallet protection. This means identity theft experts will help you cancel and replace your lost or stolen IDs, credit cards, and debit cards.

Bonus features

Here is a list of bonus features that are offered with McAfee’s Advanced and Ultimate plans:

• Online account cleanup: Scans and/or removes personal info from old online accounts.
• Personal data cleanup: This feature scans high-risk data broker sites for your personal info and requests for its removal.
• Virtual private network: McAfee's VPN can establish a secure connection between your device and the internet, encrypt your data, and hide your browsing activities.

Take a look at the additional security features that are included as well:

• File shredder: Helps you protect your privacy by permanently deleting files that contain sensitive information.
• Web protection: WebAdvisor is a browser extension that allows you to browse the internet while protecting you from phishing, scams, and cyberthreats.
• Firewall: Allows you to block malicious hackers from accessing your home network, and control what information your device sends and receives from a network.
• Password manager: Lets you securely store and manage your passwords in a single location.
• Protection Score: This feature lets you see how safe you are online and gives tips to strengthen your weak spots to boost your score.

The popular McAfee antivirus also comes with identity theft protection, providing security not just for your identity but also for your devices against viruses, malware, and other cyber threats.

Does McAfee Identity Theft Protection keep your data safe?

Based on McAfee’s Privacy Notice, here are some key takeaways related to McAfee Identity Theft Protection and data safety. Some of these mentioned are related to data collection, data sharing, data protection, and more:

• McAfee collects a variety of personal data, like data from the usage of its services, purchase information, device information, and data shared voluntarily by users. This information is primarily used to provide and improve services.
• McAfee may share personal data with its family of companies, service providers, and legal authorities during business transfers or when you give consent or direct it to do so. They could even share data in case of business transactions like mergers and acquisitions.
• McAfee protects personal data by implementing administrative, organizational, technical, and physical safeguards.
• Users have control over their data and can access, correct, and delete their personal data. They can also restrict McAfee’s processing of their personal data and object to it.
• McAfee retains personal data as long as necessary for its legitimate business purposes, to comply with legal obligations, and to provide the requested services.
• You can enable two-factor authentication (2FA) in your McAfee account to add an extra layer of security.

While McAfee implements security measures to protect personal data, it does share your data with a myriad of entities. Sharing this data can potentially expose your personal info to third parties, even though McAfee insists on its data protection measures being followed by the parties it shares information with. 

Always carefully review a privacy policy and make an informed decision based on your comfort with it. Keep in mind that all services have potential risks, and none can guarantee complete protection against all forms of security threats.

Compatibility

McAfee Identity Theft Protection services are available on popular platforms like Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and ChromeOS. 

There's no free download available, as it is available only for purchase under a Premium, Advanced, or Ultimate plan.

Customer support

McAfee offers 24/7 live chat support for all plans, a knowledge center with helpful videos and online guides, a blog, and a community support forum where consumers can ask questions and get answers.

Top alternatives

McAfee Identity Theft Protection works well as a security suite, but what if you want more credit coverage and unique monitoring? Our favorite identity theft protection programs fill those gaps:

FAQs

Bottom line: Is McAfee Identity Theft Protection good?

McAfee Identity Theft Protection is a solid option for identity theft protection. Its extensive coverage of up to $2 million in identity theft insurance is a significant safety net that complements its various features, such as credit monitoring and identity recovery support.

On the flip side, McAfee's service comes without a free trial, and its cost is a bit higher compared to some competitors. The absence of a FICO score, credit features across plans, and home title monitoring might also be a turn-off for some. 

But if you're okay with stretching your budget slightly for peace of mind, McAfee's reputation and extensive protections make it a worthwhile option for securing your personal and financial information in our digital age.

See how McAfee Identity Theft Protection compares to Aura, our favorite service.