So someone I know had someone attempt to take out a massive loan in their name, and they only found out when they went to buy a car and got denied because they were recently denied a loan for something insane like $50,000 in another state. They still can't buy a car because their credit was trashed and they're working on getting everything rectified.

Also lately I've been getting a lot of random voicemails from people calling me about cars I'm supposedly selling or also today I got a voicemail that was meant for some flooring business which I know nothing about.

I think I already did my annual credit report but I'm going to try soon just to find out.

I was just wondering is LifeLock's credit / identity theft monitoring worth $20 a month? I'm seeing some websites saying they're a scam, so now I'm confused.

It doesn't do anything one cannot easily do themselves.

Which is...?

Monitor your credit reports. You can freeze your credit if you think that you may be a victim, to minimize any damage. You can opt-out of pre-approved credits card and loans, and other junk mail.

The services isn't technically a scam. It just automates some of the processes and offers some help in fixing any damages. Either way, it does NOT eliminate all risk. If someone does use your personal information you can still be liable for some cost.

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To the OP: I don't believe it is worth the cost. The best way to protect yourself is to be proactive. Lifelock can give you a false sense of security. Some companies will offer some fraud monitoring for free.

Being denied a loan may affect your credit score, but only indirectly. If you credit report is pulled multiple times over a fairly short period it may affect your score. However it really shouldn't lower it by that much. Something else is affecting the score to prevent that person from getting a car loan.

Your credit report should tell you how your credit score was determined. You should be able to fix certain issues with it easily. For example your credit score may be low because you have too many (or too few) credit cards active in your name. Maybe you have too much debt on a certain account. Even canceling credit cards can negatively affect your score. There are special high interest, low balance credit cards... especially designed to rebuild credit more quickly.

Also sometimes one credit bureau has old or incorrect information. It is wise to check all three credit bureaus. You don't which report will be checked by the lender.