Affinion Group Relaunches PrivacyGuard.com Website
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New logo, 'Don't be caught off-guard' tagline unveiled
NORWALK, Conn., Feb. 21 -- Affinion Group, a leading global affinity marketer, has relaunched its PrivacyGuard.com website, giving consumers for its preeminent ID theft protection service a much more robust, innovative and user-friendly experience as it battles the fastest growing crime in America.
As part of the refurbished new site, PrivacyGuard unveiled a sleeker logo and tagline. Under the banner "Don't be caught off-guard," visitors to www.PrivacyGuard.com, will soon see this as the ideal address at the intersection of personal data and ID protection on the web.
The new PrivacyGuard.com offers better site usability and easier navigation, as well as an edgier, more refreshed look and feel that inspires better awareness of PrivacyGuard's ID theft protection brand -- a diverse mix of ID theft prevention tools and credit score management technology.
Innovative new features of the website include:
o Benefits divided into three distinct categories: Your Credit, Your Identity and Your Life
o ID Theft Quiz to test individual vulnerability
o Leading fraud prevention expert Frank Abagnale, whose life story became a blockbuster Steven Spielberg movie called Catch Me If You Can, is highlighted as the PrivacyGuard product consultant
o ID Theft Tips and Did You Know? Facts to keep consumers informed and protected
o Quick links directly to core benefits -- credit report, credit score and credit monitoring, including one-click member access
o Full memberships with ongoing benefits or transactional reports for one-time purchases.
"The crime of ID theft is ever-changing and increasingly prevalent in our daily lives," said Tom Rusin, president of Affinion Group North America. "In order to stay one step ahead of these sophisticated thieves, it is now more important than ever to give consumers the protection they need -- and with this new site, security is only a click away."
PrivacyGuard ID theft protection service, a leading-edge national identity theft protection solution, offers daily credit monitoring, identity fraud resolution support and ID theft insurance, along with high-tech online financial tools. The service includes:
o Monthly access to credit reports and scores merged from the top three national credit reporting agencies -- Experian, Equifax or TransUnion.
o Daily credit monitoring that alerts customers to changes to credit record, credit file inquiries, derogatory items and new account
information from one of the major credit reporting agencies.
o Identity Fraud Resolution Service & Insurance -- victims who call the toll-free hotline will be assigned a caseworker and receive a personalized fraud resolution kit that includes educational information, government agency and financial institution contacts, and other useful tips. If a customer's identity is stolen, they also receive up to $10,000 in ID theft insurance, with no deductible, to cover certain out-of-pocket expenses, including eligible legal fees, incurred by the customer to restore their identity.
o Online financial tools, such as a Credit Score Simulator that allows consumers to see how certain actions affect credit scores. Tools include auto, mortgage and loan calculators, and other online tools that help customers balance and determine monthly payments.
"As identity theft escalates and more people become victims of this fraud, there's an even greater need in the marketplace for robust identity theft technologies that can offer security and peace of mind," said Abagnale, "This enhanced website connects consumers to one of the best ID theft prevention tools in the marketplace -- PrivacyGuard."
According to a study from Javelin Strategy & Research, there have been 27.3 million victims of identity theft in the past five years in the United States, and nearly 20 million in the past two years alone. This crime costs more than $56 billion or $6,383 per victim annually, becoming so prevalent that an identity thief strikes on average every 3.5 seconds. In fact, ID theft has now surpassed drug trafficking as the No. 1 crime in America, according to the Justice Department.
About Affinion Group, Inc.
As a global leader with nearly 35 years of experience, Affinion Group (www.affinion.com) enhances the value of its partners' customer relationships by developing and marketing valuable loyalty, membership, checking account, insurance and other compelling products and services. Leveraging its expertise in product development and targeted marketing, Affinion helps generate significant incremental revenue for more than 5,200 affinity partners worldwide, including many of the largest and most respected companies in financial services, retail, travel, and Internet commerce. Based in Norwalk, Conn., the company has approximately 3,000 employees throughout the United States and in 14 countries across Europe. Affinion holds the prestigious ISO 27001 certification for the highest information security practices, is PCI compliant and Cybertrust certified.
Affinion Group has established itself as a premiere security, credit monitoring and identity theft protection innovator. It launched HotLine, a leading ID theft, credit card, fraud protection and security service in 1969. PrivacyGuard, a comprehensive membership credit monitoring product which was created in 1992, remains one of the largest in the U.S. In 2006, ID Secure (www.idsecure.com), a sophisticated tool that uses leading-edge public records, Social Security number and credit monitoring technology to fight ID theft, was born. Other ID theft protection services in Affinion's growing security business include PC SafetyPlus, an identity theft software service that protects members with a personal firewall to thwart hackers and other online ID threats. PC SafetyPlus software features automatic updates and service upgrades for protection against prevailing computer viruses, spyware and worms.
Source: Affinion Group
CONTACT: Todd Smith, +1-615-764-2598 office, +1-615-202-7944 mobile, or Andrea Lindsley, +1-615-780-3315 office, +1-615-415-8886 mobile, both for Affinion Group
Web site: http://www.affinion.com/
http://www.privacyguard.com/
