Does LifeLock Charge Extra To Coerce Suspected Identity Thieves?
from the smooth-move dept
LifeLock, a company that sells some identity theft protection services that consumers could get for free, got some bad press last month. Not only did it come out that one of the company's founders had allegedly stolen personal information from customers of another business he owned, it was also disclosed that LifeLock's services failed to protect the company's CEO from identity theft. A man in the Dallas area used the CEO's social security number -- which is prominently displayed in LifeLock's marketing materials -- to obtain a $500 loan, and police were waiting to get some subpoenaed information when the CEO took things into his own hands. He showed up at the fraudster's house with a film crew, and apparently coerced a confession out of the guy, who police say is mentally disabled. The confession is legally worthless, and police and prosecutors say it's tainted the case, so they're not going to proceed with their investigation, and have no plans to arrest the suspect. So, it would appear, that not only do LifeLock's anti-identity theft measures not work, the company also manages to bungle the prosecution of identity thieves.
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Filed Under: identity theft
Companies: lifelock
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And that...
LOL!!!!
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Our $1 Million Guarantee
Our Guarantee is simple. If you are our client when someone steals your personal information and subsequently misuses it, we will reimburse any and all direct expenses that you incur and pay for professionals with the proper expertise. The maximum amount that we will pay is $1 million over the life of the incident.
Is this like 'Tamper Proof' Voting, or ID's?
I'm guessing it's still more secure!
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I guess it doesn't work
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Re: I guess it doesn't work
(now its spoiled.)
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Protection?
Good luck fellas.
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Who is Moore??
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Lifelock CEO is Todd Davis, not Moore
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Re: Lifelock CEO is Todd Davis, not Moore
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How nice to this jerk get screwed.
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better that I didnt
"L"
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Somewhere out there
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Anytime someones runs your SSN for a credit score, credit check, etc, etc.. The store will receive a red flag saying that you must call this # b4 proceeding with the application.
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Re:
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Re: Nice
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Re: Lifelock CEO is Todd Davis, not Moore
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Todd
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They are advertising like mad
This is such a sham. Taking advantage of those that know no better. As mentioned above, lifelocks services can be had for free with a coupld simple phone calls. If you lose a card, or see a suspicious charge ,etc. pick up the phone and call any one of the three reporting agencies. By law they have to notify the other two. To be extra safe, make two more phone calls and let all three know you suspect fraud.
You have a couple options, 1.) have them put a "fraud alert" on your account. This is free. Anytime someone checks your credit there will be a flag that shows there is an alert. THis normally looks suspicious to credit issuers. The risk here is that the issuers can ignore it and issue credit anyway. But most wont if they see it.
Option 2 is you ask the credit reporting agencies to put a "freeze" on your account. This means no one will be able to access your account and consequently wont be able to issue any new credit. Your account is locked. Most states now require that the agencies provide this service to consumers. Although, the fees vary state to state. Typically its around $10. A small fraction of what Lifelock costs. Not to mention you may never need to pay this.
Lifelock is a joke. They charge for what I've mentioned above. Oh yes, and the insurance. Yes they provide some insurance, but keep in mind credit card fraud (by law) has a $50 max out of pocket expense for the consumer. THis insurance is meant to cover costs of dealing with the fraud (time off work, etc) this is very hard to monitize. Imagine fighting this one out with the insurance company. Especially when it really doesnt take any time to put up the fraud alerts.
Ive spoke with a financial institution that offer these services to their consumers. Which many are starting to do. when I asked how many of their customers actually used the services due to an incident the response was incredibly low. Only 4 out of 60,000 customers of this bank needed to use the service over the past two years.
Lifelock also targets financial institutions trying to get them to pay for the service (at a discounted rate) and passing the service along to the customer as a benefit of opening an account at the financial institution. A competitive advantage. Its another way to suck money out of someone.
The only benefit any of these companies can provide is person to person hand holding. That may be worth something to not even have to make the phone calls. But to me its certainly not. I just went through it myself (someone was using my name on stolen checks). Lifelock would not have helped at all int his case.
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Idiots
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Lack of basic comprehension
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Life Lock, A Scam? Mnnnnnnah Could Be! :)
around, he balked, and laughed at the idiot who would do
such a thing! I didn't know any better about Life Lock, only
that it is a scam, and that I called the "customer service"
only to find they REFUSE TO ACCEPT money orders, checks, or
cashier's checks. It is a scam, they only want your credit
card number, or debit card. If any business refuses money
orders, cashier's checks, personal checks over the phone,
or provide a snail mail address is usually assumed a safe
bet that they ARE a scam, only to take your money! Trust me,
if a business don't provide a physical address, or some sort
of alternative payment option, usually is too good to be
true, a scam, and they had some old professional looking
guy's being filmed at lunch rush hour, nice office complex
to give the false professional sense that the guy being
"interviewed" is legitimate, and if you notice they don't
film average people, just people in makeup who brag about
Life Lock, and make you whip out your credit card, only to
be fooled in the long term.
Good practical business sense and spidey senses would tell
you, No Physical Address, only a P.O. Box address, refusal
to accept snail mail payments (money order, cashier's check
or personal check over the phone also) and insist only your
credit card number, or check debit number with high pressure
or shock treatment info / commercials will tell you, they
are a fraud, and must be reported to the B.B.B. or your
lawyer on retainer (if you have one great!) to check or
research them out. Validate, Confirm, and Verify everything.
Chances are, if they only want your credit card and provide
only a website, and toll free number, it is a scam!
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this is not a good help
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Todd Davis
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Identity Theft Restoration
The problem is, your information is already out there. The IRS has had 490 laptops lost or stolen since 2003. (Google it) Is your ssn on one of them? Where do you think all these illegals are getting their ssn for employment? I can go to my local flea market and buy one for $50!
The only company that I am aware of that will monitor and RESTORE your identity is PrePaid Legal Service's Identity Theft Shield. http://www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/wbodie
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ID Theft is more than a credit issue
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My lifelock Expierance
I would just like to say what a piece of crap company your about to waste your money on! I joined lifelock for most likely the same reason you are, because I am concerned about identity theft, so I payed $100.00 for a year. I was assured that if anyone tried to use my credit to buy a new car or get credit cards that I would be notified. So I put Lifelock to the test. I applied for credit in a variety of stores and was never notified of anything! I then told lifelock about this, and a couple of days later they email me back saying that it wasn't thier responsibilty to call me!! I then cancelled my account, with NO APOLOGY from Lifelock. A couple of days later my email box is spammed with email from lifelock, with offers of thier new crap "walletlock" service. I then tried to call Lifelock to inform them to stop spamming me, and I was on hold for 20 minutes, and no one ever picked up! So I tried another department within Lifelock to see if they could help me, I was answered by a disinterested sounding woman who said the only thing she could do was transfer me back to customer service! So after waiting another 15 minutes with no answer I gave up. I strongly urge you NOT to waste your money with these frauds! I have already informed my entire workplace not to sign up with these guys, and I strongly urge you to spread the word!
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Re: My lifelock Expierance
Basically what I submitted to Jeff Critchley for clarification was as follows:
Lifelock makes the following statement on the "How Lifelock Works" section of their website,
"If your Identity is stolen while you are our client, we're going to do whatever it takes to recover your good name. If you need lawyers, we're going to hire the best we can find. If you need investigators, accountants, case managers, whatever, they're yours. If you lose money as a result of the theft, we're going to give it back to you.
We will do whatever it takes to help you recover your good name and we will spend up to $1,000,000 to do it."
Wow, I thought--they will "do whatever it takes to recover my good name". After reading this statement, I sure didn't expect that the most likely reason I would have credit fraudulently taken out in my name while a client of Lifelock, would not, in my opinion, be covered by Lifelock. Notice I said, "in my opinion". I say that because Lifelock has not responded with a clarification yet--and I suspect they haven't responded because I AM RIGHT! Follow my arguments below and you be the judge.
After reading their statement I included above, I then read their actual $1 Million Service Guarantee. In the guarantee, the first thing I noticed is that they nullified their entire statement that I included above by stating in their service guarantee,
"Other than our service guarantee, we make no representation or warranty about our service of any kind, and we disclaim any implied warranties outside of our service guarantee,..."
Hmmmmm, "we disclaim any implied warranties outside of our service guarantee". Well there goes out the window their "implied warranty" that they will "do whatever it takes to recover my good name" as stated on their website.
So, since I can only rely on statements within their service guarantee, I dug further into their service guarantee to look for any limitations that they probably wouldn't want me to find.
Oh, hmmm, well lookie here--check out this statement in their service guarantee,
"If you are our client when someone accesses your personal identifying information and subsequently uses it without your authorization to commit a fraud, due to a failure or defect in our Service,..."
Isn't that little qualifier interesting--"due to a failure or defect in our Service".
So let me put a perspective on that qualifier. What is the most likely reason that someone would have an account opened fraudulently in their name while a customer of Lifelock? The answer: Because the creditor who was supposed to call you to let you know that someone was trying to open an account in your name failed to call you and opened the account anyway. So would Lifelock pay money up to $1 Million to help straighten out that mess? In my opinion they would say that they are not responsible for the acts of creditors and the fact that the creditor failed to do his job is not considered a "defect or failure in our service". J. Meadows, who wrote of his experience with Lifelock above, has added evidence that Lifelock would respond to a creditor's failure to make the phone call just as I suspected, "It's not our responsibility to call you!".
So, is Lifelock's $1 Million Guarantee worth anything? In my opinion, NO!! To you, I highly suggest BUYER BEWARE!
I challenge Lifelock to relinquish their silence and respond to my allegations that they make implied warranties within statements on their website and then nullify the implied warranties in their service guarantee. Lifelock should make a concrete statement within their service guarantee that states whether they DO or DO NOT spend their guarantee money on clients who have had an account fraudulently opened due to the failure of a creditor to call the client. That way, potential clients could see the guarantee for what it actually is!
Here is my disclaimer in case you are wondering: I do not work for or have any financial interest in any of Lifelock's competitors. I have no personal grudges with anyone at Lifelock. I simply am a person who was intrigued by Lifelock, thought it was too good to be true, and suspect that I was right.
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So yes, this is a scam, but so are the cops and credit card companies.
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Re: Life Lock, A Scam? Mnnnnnnah Could Be! :)
LifeLock
60 E. Rio Salado Parkway
Suite 400
Tempe, AZ 85281
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lazy people
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Re: My lifelock Expierance
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Lifelock
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Re: They are advertising like mad
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Re: Re: They are advertising like mad
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Lifelock is now being sued!
Identity Theft doesn't just affect your credit report. What about your other forms of Identity? These are all at risk:
Credit
DMV
SSN
Medical Records
Justice Records
Lifelock in no way addresses all of these areas of identity theft. If someone uses your identity at a hospital, your health insurance could be charged and your medical records tainted with another persons medical history. You may not be able to get medical insurance after that. Plus you'll receive the bills.
What if someone used your name after getting picked up drunk driving? Wanna think about that one?
Identity theft is no joke and we are very much at risk. All of us. It is sad when you have untrustworthy people starting a company that claims it will protect you, and then uses less then honorable practices in its business dealings.
No wonder Experian labelled Lifelock a fraud and filed suit on February 13th, 2008
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Lifelock isn't Enough to Prevent Identity Theft
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Re: Lack of basic comprehension
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LifeLock a Joke
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LifeLock
LifeLock gotcha, buddy.
Suite 400 is a P.O. Box.
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The guy before me said "lifelock should be sued and shut down...." For what, exactly? Maybe their claims are over the top, but what companies aren't? You could sue just about everyone.
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Life Lock is a Fraud
Call this number if you all want more info. on Pre-Paid Legals ID Theft Shield. 334-498-0771 PPL Associate
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Best service is ID Theft Shield
ID Theft Shield is the ONLY service that provides RESTORATION (as opposed to resolution assistance) services so you don't have to take time off work, etc. to restore your good name. ID Theft Shield by Kroll is offered through Pre-Paid Legal (NYSE: PPD, current price $46.87), a legitimate company that has stood the test of time. I am a customer and associate because I like the services and have benefitted from both the legal services and ID Theft Shield.
For more information on both services, see my web page at www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/kraineri.
If you run a business, check out www.veritechglobal.com for information on the FACTA law and how you need to be aware of the prudent steps you need to take to minimize your exposure to liability under that law if ID theft occurs in your business.
I work for a company that makes a new generation of credit cards called Powered Smart Cards. They have a built-in display on the front of the card and when you press a button, it displays a 6-digit one-time use password for logging into websites and purchasing things on the web. That one-time password along with your PIN makes a two-factor authentication that cannot be hacked. Watch this technology as it makes its way to the banks and becomes the new standard card to protect your identity when logging in or buying things online. See www.identita.com for more info.
There are a lot of precautions you can take to minimize your exposure, detect when ID theft may be happening to you and getting help and services to protect or defend against legal issues and the time lost if you have to restore your good name. Just be diligent in your research before you choose a service.
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Recent Experian Lawsuit against Lifelock
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Recent Experian Lawsuit against Lifelock
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Re: better that I didnt
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Re: Idiots
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Re: Life Lock, A Scam? Mnnnnnnah Could Be! :)
1) I don't have home deliver here so I must have a P.O. Box
2) Doing things by USPS takes time and 3 times the personnel that an Internet Business requires
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Re: Identity Theft Restoration
Granted, it only took me a few hours to call everyone I needed to call and resport the theft but as I get older and stupider, I'm easily swayed by unscrupulous people.
Thanks for being there!
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Re: My lifelock Expierance
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Re: Best service is ID Theft Shield
The website you have entered does not exist.
Who is guilty of fraud? You or Life Lock?
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Re: Recent Experian Lawsuit against Lifelock
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Don't buy it
What do you say about that Todd????????? You expect people to believe you can't protect there identity when you can't even verify the owner/identity on the credit card used to purchase your service!!!! WHAT A JOKE...YOUR COMPANY IS GOING TO BE SOOOO SCREWED!
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Re: Don't buy it
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Thank you all for saving my money!!!!
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ID THEFT another option
safesecureclub.com
It is an insured plan with many benefits; coverage incldues ID Theft, Restoration and Resolution services.
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Re: My lifelock Expierance
My law firm has filed two lawsuits against LifeLock and I would like to speak with you about your experiences with the company. Please email me if you are available to discuss.
David
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LifeLock Class Action Lawsuits
Anyone who is interested in learning more about the lawsuits please visit www.lifelockclassaction.com
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Don't be fooled!
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Re: Lack of basic comprehension
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ID theft
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The Competition
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Todd Davis
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Identity Guard
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Re:
How is that a scam?
If I get a free sack of potatoes, who says I'm scamming people by selling them and making a profit?
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FTC and Lifelock
The FTC and 35 state attorneys general have fined Lifelock $35 million for deceptive advertising and poor information security.
Read the FTC consent decree for yourself and see what Todd Davis has admitted to when he added his signature to the document.
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