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On May 18, 2009, ID Analytics announced MyIDScore.com, a free consumer website intended to estimate a person’s risk of identity fraud. The service was described as an identity-fraud risk assessment—not a credit score, credit report, or guarantee that fraud would be prevented.
The announcement, reproduced by Dark Reading on May 21, 2009, explains what ID Analytics said the service did at launch. It does not establish that MyIDScore.com still operates or that its historical scoring method remains in use.
What MyIDScore.com was supposed to do
ID Analytics presented MyIDScore.com as a public extension of the company’s identity-scoring technology. Consumers were told to follow the website’s instructions to receive a personal identity score and recommendations indicating whether their identifying information might be used fraudulently to obtain assets, goods, or services.
The announcement named information such as a person’s name, Social Security number, address, and telephone number. Those details describe the company’s 2009 launch claims; they are not an independent assessment of the score’s accuracy or a current description of the site’s data practices.
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Identity-fraud risk is different from creditworthiness
ID Analytics compared the idea to monitoring creditworthiness with a credit score, but the subjects are different. A credit score helps lenders evaluate borrowing risk. MyIDScore.com was described as estimating the risk that identity information could be misused. The announcement does not say that the result was a credit-bureau score, a credit report, or proof that someone had committed fraud.
How the announced scoring system was described
ID Analytics said the score was a statistical calculation produced with patented analytics applied to its “ID Network.” The company characterized that network as a real-time, cross-industry compilation of identity information developed with organizations working to combat fraud.
According to the announcement, the network had been built over seven years and contained:
- More than 360 billion basic identity elements
- Two million reported frauds
- One billion consumer transactions
These figures and the descriptions of the analytics were company statements in 2009. The announcement supplies no independent validation study, current technical documentation, or methodology detailed enough to reproduce the calculation.
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What consumers were told to do
The launch announcement said a consumer could check MyIDScore.com twice every 14 days. It also described recommendations that would appear with the assessment.
If the result indicated higher risk
ID Analytics advised consumers receiving a high-risk result to investigate. The examples listed in the announcement were:
- Review monthly bank-account and credit-card statements for unfamiliar activity.
- Request a free annual credit report.
- Consider asking a credit bureau for a fraud alert or a security freeze.
Those were general suggestions in the historical announcement, not individualized legal or financial advice and not evidence that the service could confirm identity theft.
Why the announcement cited delayed discovery
To explain the need for earlier risk awareness, the announcement attributed two figures to the Federal Trade Commission’s latest identity-fraud survey available to it at the time:
| Claim in the 2009 announcement | Qualification |
|---|---|
| Nearly 25% of new-account-fraud victims did not learn of the misuse until at least six months after it began. | The survey year and original report are not identified in the announcement. |
| Median discovery time was between one and two months. | Also attributed to the FTC, with no survey year or linked underlying report provided. |
These figures should be read as historical context for the launch, not as current identity-theft statistics.
What the launch statements did—and did not—promise
What was presented
- A free, consumer-facing online assessment.
- An immediate indication of possible identity-fraud risk.
- A score accompanied by recommendations.
- The ability to check twice during each 14-day period.
What was not established
- That a high score confirmed fraud or that a low score meant an identity was safe.
- That the service monitored accounts continuously or generated verified fraud alerts.
- That the score was accepted by lenders, insurers, government agencies, or credit bureaus.
- That the scoring model had been independently tested for accuracy.
- That the website remains available today.
Company and expert comments
Fred H. Cate, identified in the announcement as an Indiana University professor and national privacy expert, said consumers often feel helpless against identity theft and described the service as a way to monitor identity risk actively.
ID Analytics chief marketing officer Larry McIntosh compared the proposed service with monitoring creditworthiness through a credit score and said consumers could assess their identity-fraud risk. That statement was a vendor executive’s promotional description, not independent evidence that the service was the “most accurate” option or that its results were reliable for every consumer.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is MyIDScore.com still available?
The available launch coverage does not answer that question. It documents an announcement dated May 18, 2009 and a Dark Reading reproduction dated May 21, 2009, but it provides no current operating status, replacement service, active sign-up route, or present privacy policy. Therefore, the historical announcement cannot support a claim that MyIDScore.com is available now.
The same announcement invited businesses to contact ID Analytics about branded versions, enhanced identity monitoring, and alerts. That was a 2009 business-development invitation, not evidence of a current consumer or enterprise offering.
How to interpret the service in its historical context
MyIDScore.com was an early attempt to give consumers a simple indicator of identity-fraud exposure rather than waiting for a suspicious bill or account notice. Its practical value, as described, was prompting people to inspect financial statements and use established credit-bureau protections.
It should not be treated as a substitute for reviewing accounts, obtaining credit reports, placing a fraud alert, or freezing a credit file. Nor should the launch claims be read as proof that ID Analytics’ network data or statistical model could detect every misuse of personal information.
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