Location-Based Search? Patented! Owner Plans To Sue Everyone

Allegations Of Identity Theft Dog Founder Of Anti-Identity Theft Company

from the handing-the-keys-to-the-inmates dept

Mon, Jun 11th 2007 10:52pm — Carlo Longino

As the problem of identity theft continues to grow, cottage industries will continue to sprout up around it, seeking to capitalize on people's fear, but also on the money companies throw around to make it look like they're doing something about their data leaks. This money isn't typically spent on actual solutions, but rather pointless and unhelpful gestures like paying for a year of credit monitoring for those affected. With so much money on the proverbial table, plenty of companies are coming up with things that supposedly either prevent identity theft, or mitigate it effects -- even though many may have the opposite effect. One company, LifeLock, charges users $10 per month for a bunch of services they could do on their own for free, and promises that if their identity gets stolen, it will spend up to $1 million to "make it right". In addition to the $10 per month, users have to hand over a boatload of personal information -- so you'd imagine that discovering one of the company's founders has a pretty questionable past, including allegations that he stole this sort of information from customers of another company he owned, might not be so good for business.

As if that black mark wasn't enough, the company's CEO was also recently a victim of identity theft, despite the use of the company's services. The CEO supposedly has enough confidence in LifeLock's services that he pastes his Social Security number on its web site and advertising, but some fraudster used it to obtain a $500 loan from a check-cashing joint a few weeks ago. A company spokesman calls the incident a "loophole" because the check-cashing company didn't run a credit check on the SSN before issuing the loan, so the fraud alerts LifeLock put in place weren't tripped. The spokesman says the company tells people that "you can't stop every form of identity theft," but given this apparent shortcoming of LifeLock, as well as the shady past of one of it's founders, it's hard to put much faith in it at all.

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14 Comments

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bt garner, 12 Jun 2007 @ 3:07am

so, does this mean that those annoying ads where he gives out his SS number on air will stop?
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jun 2007 @ 3:32am

Re: annoying ads
Of course not. It just means you can compensate yourself $500 by using his SSN to get a loan at a check cashing joint. Win-Win!
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Ajax 4Hire, 12 Jun 2007 @ 5:04am

Security is everyone's concern,
blah, blah, blah...

You are responsible for yourself;
You are responsible for your life;
You are responsible for your health;
You are responsible for your security, saftey and happiness.

You are responsible for yourself.
If you won't take care of yourself, then someone else will.
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GoblinJuice, 13 Jun 2007 @ 3:12pm

Sweet feathery jesus!
I was going to signup for this service! >_
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Unlock the Truth, 14 Jun 2007 @ 10:15pm

Lifelock
You cant stop identity theft. Anyone who says they can is just using marketing spin to sell their idea. As it has been all through history, anytime there is a new problem there are legitimate solutions and there are snake-oil salesmen who are just looking for a fast buck at the expense of the public. But don't give up. There ARE legitimate companies out there that are helping thousands of people recover from identity theft. (notice I didnt say 'prevent'). Even Lifelock President Todd Davis needed help to bail him out of identity theft. Now that's a vote of confidence in his own company!!
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Grandpa, 8 Oct 2007 @ 6:17pm

Why are we surprised?
We have been building up to this for years. The 3 big gossip bureaus (because that's all they are - they sell unsubstantiated information, which is gossip) have grown so large because everyone wants to make it easy to get credit.

I can still remember filling out credit applications in which I had to give references - 3 people who have extended me credit. And the potential creditor would contact those references. (What a novel idea - someone doing their own legwork!)

Now the gossip bureaus collect all types of information about you and they expect you to pay them to see what they have about you. And heaven forbid when anything is found to be incorrect. You'll never get it removed.

Just remember. Ease leads to abuse.
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Tim Wallis, 23 Oct 2007 @ 12:35pm

Can't stop it, but you can fix it
As noted earlier, you can't stop Identity Theft. Your information has probably already compromised by some company that lost it. The odds are that bad guys will use your ID to commit a crime, or get a job in your name without paying taxes, or get medical treatment and charge it to your insurance, or get a DUI and show a fake ID in your name, or get a loan or something else some time in the future.
Nearly every service only deals with informing you of the last one, whereas there is one that can literally restore your accurate ID for you if you have it at the time you are violated.
Check it out at www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/tjwallis
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Not My Identity, 7 Jan 2008 @ 3:24pm

Not even stolen!!
Wait a second! They didn't even find a loophole, according to this article. A lender loaned someone money without doing a background check. I am a lender. If we loaned someone money without doing anything to verify who they are... who's system failed? Is it identity theft if you say you are Bozo the Clown and I loan you money? Is Santa Claus held responsible for every toy purchased in his name? This is hardly a failure of LifeLock. I would be very suprised if that lender were able to recover $500 from anyone, and if they are able to recover money because of their total lack of diligence that garauntour should be allowed to go under and not insured. I can't see why you guys would defame LifeLock on this. Sure they overcharge for a service that people could do themselves but so do restaurants for food people could cook for themselves. That is hardly a reason to slander them.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2008 @ 9:27pm

Re: Not even stolen!!
The point of the article, IMO, is to point out that paying LifeLock anything in the long run is futile. You still have change have your info stolen.

Secondly to the person who poseted about prepaidlegal. Talk about a scam! (and irony). PPL is awful.
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ZenOfJazz, 17 Mar 2008 @ 11:16am

LifeLock - Identity Theft... They're dirty nasty S
I've been being spammed by them, 2-3 times a day, now, for over a week. Claims to be an opt-in thing, but I've unsubscribed, and still receiving them. Spam is a great way to enable identity theft, on the Internet. Don't deal with these Spamming losers.
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PRMan, 2 May 2008 @ 7:47am

Re: Not even stolen!!
"In print it's libel." -- J. Jonah Jameson
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Anonymous Coward, 2 May 2008 @ 8:10am

Just make sure your credit is shit and if someone steals your identity they aren't getting any new loans. If you're really lucky they may get tracked down as you and have to pay some of your debt off. That's my anti-identity theft strategy ;)
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samiullah, 8 Aug 2008 @ 1:00am

Identity Theft Protection
I review this site and getting good idea and view that written here, life lock is good industry taking good steps keep monitoring identity thieves and it always protect from wrong hands’ and taken full service . No one stop identity theft, but we almost completely cover it and its life lock guarantee. So we suggest visit this site hope you getting more knowledge. http://www.identitytheftprotectionlock.com/
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stanley kania, 20 Aug 2009 @ 2:37pm

Identity theft services
There is only one service that can help you before, during and after the crime occurs. PrePaid Legal and the Identity Theft Shield!

Call me
724-840-1876
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