NORWALK, Conn. — Affinion, a noted ID theft and marketing firmfor credit unions, has acquired CardCops, a Malibu, Calif.-based IDtheft protection, data monitoring and analysis technology solutionsleader. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“As a leader in credit monitoring and identity theft protection,we are excited to add CardCops and its advanced technologies to ouralready extensive fraud prevention and protection solutionsbusiness,” said Tom Rusin, chief revenue officer and generalmanager of Affinion Group. “CardCops is the premiere ID theftwatchdog on the Internet, and this innovative company–combined withour strong suite of ID theft prevention products–is ushering in anew era of identity fraud protection.”

Affinion Group and CardCops partnered last year to launch a newtool called ID Secure that uses public records, Social Securitynumber and credit card monitoring technology to fight identitytheft, Affinion said. CardCops' technology monitors the Internetand collects compromised personal information from foreign“underground” chat rooms where full sets of personal informationare bought and sold by identity thieves for $10 to $30, Affinionsaid.