Why Pay LifeLock to Protect Your Identity?
June 20, 2008
There are some people who think the only thing LifeLock has to offer are the things you can do yourself for free. Things like:
- Fraud Alerts - call any one of the credit bureaus
- Free Credit Reports - www.annualcreditreport.com
- Opt-out of Pre-approved credit offers -www.optoutprescreen.com.
Yes, you can do those for free by yourself. And they’re really not hard to do at all. Life Lock even tells you on their site that you can and should do these initial steps to protect yourself.
These free things you can do are helpful, but they don’t guarantee that your identity can never be stolen.
Does LifeLock guarantee that your identity will never be stolen?
After all, they have that $1 million total service guarantee - right?
Unfortunately there isn’t anything, any company or any person who can 100% guarantee that you’ll never be a victim of identity theft. It’s just not possible. Identity thieves are too good at what they do and getting better all the time. There are thousands of ways to steal an identity.
LifeLock’s guarantee is designed to take care of you if your identity is stolen while being one of their customers.
No, you won’t get a check for a million bucks. That’s not how it works.
What you will get is all the help you need to have your name cleared after a thief has ruined your credit and your life. LifeLock will do the work for you. They don’t just send you a checklist with “things to do” on it. They do those “things” for you. They hire attorneys, investigators, case managers. They make the phone calls and write letters. In other words, they take care of clearing your name and credit for you. If they can’t recover all your money, they will reimburse you.
Do you think identity theft is an easy crime to recover from?
According to the FTC Identity Theft survey from 2006 (the most recent available):
- Ten percent of all victims reported out-of-pocket expenses of $1,200 or more. For the New Accounts & Other Frauds category, the top 10 percent of the victims incurred expenses of at least $3,000, and the top 5 percent incurred expenses of at least $5,000. One-quarter of victims in the New Accounts & Other Frauds category reported paying out-of-pocket expenses of at least $1,000.
- Victims of all types of ID theft spent hours of their time resolving the various problems that result from ID theft. The median value for the number of hours spent resolving problems by all victims was 4. However, 10 percent of all victims spent at least 55 hours resolving their problems. The top 5 percent of victims spent at least 130 hours.
Identity theft isn’t only a crime that takes your money. It’s also a crime that affects you emotionally. You’ll be automatically assumed guilty and a deadbeat until you prove yourself innocent. Your peace of mind is shattered. It’s a terrible feeling to be constantly accused of theft.
What else does LifeLock do for my money?
LifeLock offers the following features that help to stop identity thieves quickly:
- WalletLock - a service to help you if your wallet is lost or stolen.
- eRecon - scans the internet for misuse of your personal information.
- TrueAddress - monitors change of address databases to be sure your address hasn’t been hi-jacked. If you show up, LifeLock will contact you so you can verify it.
I heard that LifeLock’s CEO, Todd Davis, had his identity stolen.
Many news stories have been written trying to find an angle about how LifeLock doesn’t work because Todd Davis ‘had his identity stolen’. In fact, LifeLock worked exactly like it was supposed to work when people tried to pretend they were him. His credit wasn’t blemished, he didn’t have to do any of the work himself either. It was taken care of by LifeLock - and not because he’s the CEO. It’s worked that way for all the other customers who became victims.
Video of Todd Davis on CNN talking about LifeLock’s guarantee. (opens in new window)
What about the lawsuits I heard of?
There have been some lawsuits filed against LifeLock. One of them is from Experian - a credit bureau. Here’s an article about that LifeLock-Experian Lawsuit written from a different point of view than the mainstream media.
Other suits have been filed saying LifeLock’s guarantee doesn’t work and that they would never honor it. That’s just simply not true. LifeLock is a company in the business of identity theft protection. They would be out of business in no time if they didn’t honor their guarantee. You’ve probably never read a story about them not living up to their promises when one of their members had their identity stolen.
So here’s the deal…
- LifeLock won’t give you a million dollars if your identity is stolen.
- LifeLock doesn’t guarantee your identity won’t be stolen.
But they will..
- Restore your good name if your identity is stolen.
- Help you if your wallet is stolen.
- Scan the internet looking for your personal information being bought and traded.
- Monitor databases watching for any change of address in your name.
- Do those ‘free things’ for you so you don’t have to remember.
- Give you peace of mind knowing you’ll have all the help you need if you become an identity theft victim.
Is this worth only $9 a month? It is to me and that’s why I have LifeLock’s protection.
Identity Theft and Government Security Breaches
February 28, 2008
Our government will keep our personal information safe from identity theft.
If you believe that statement, I have a nice bridge for sale - cheap….
Unfortunately, our government isn’t doing a great job to protect us from identity thieves. It’s been almost two years since millions of our veteran’s names, SSN and birth dates were made available in a huge security breach. You’d think they’d have learned a lesson from that, but I guess there’s just too much red tape needed to actually get the ball rolling in Washington to implement tighter security.
The Government Accountability Office, Congress’ investigative branch, has found that most of the federal agencies haven’t put federal recommendations about protecting our identities into play. One of those recommendations was just better file encryption. The wheels just keep turning very slowly if at all.
In an effort to make the public more aware of identity theft, the post office did a mass mailing in February 2008 to all households. Everyone got a little FTC brochure titled “Deter - Detect - Defend - Avoid ID Theft”. That was probably easier to mail that out than to tighten up their security measures. On the back page of the brochure are listed common ways ID Theft happens. They left out security breaches.
Besides the Feds, our local governments need to tighten up on security measures, too. The Davidson County Election Commission Building in Nashville, TN lost 370,000 registered voter’s info in a break-in on 12/28/07. On the same day, the US Air Force lost a laptop with info affecting 10,501 active and retired Air Force members and the Minnesota Dept. of Commerce lost a laptop with info on 219 identities.
Actually, there’s so many security breaches happening all the time, keeping up with them is a full-time job. The best website to track security breaches is PrivacyRights.org.
So if you’re thinking you’re safe from identity theft because you shred, protect and have totally secure passwords, you’re mistaken. Doing all these things is great and helps a lot to protect yourself from identity theft. We aren’t the only ones with access to our info. It’s out there and like Pandora’s Box, we can never get it contained again.
Take proactive steps to protect yourself from identity theft. Any victim of this devastating crime can tell you horror stories of what they went through to repair their credit and get back their good name.
LifeLock Promotion
February 17, 2008
LifeLock has a promotion with a free 30 day trial. This special offer also includes a discount on your monthly membership.
You can get LifeLock for $9 a month or $99 a year by using the promotion code - 9.
This discount is an annual savings of $21 off of the regular price. You can keep it for as long as you want - no expiration date. Take advantage of this promotion now and see for yourself how secure you feel knowing your identity is protected.
LifeLock vs TrustedID
February 17, 2008
LifeLock and Trusted ID are both very good companies. They do however have a couple of differences.
Things they both do:
- Place fraud alert on your credit files and renew it every 90 days
- Stop pre-approved credit offers - eliminates a lot of junk mail
- Order your credit reports from all three credit bureaus yearly
- Offer a $1,000,000 guarantee
How are LifeLock and Trusted ID different?
- TrustedID will put a credit freeze on your credit files for an additional fee
- Trusted ID will do daily monitoring of your credit reports and send you email alerts of new activity
- LifeLock offers WalletLock protection for lost or stolen wallets
- LifeLock offers Child Identity Protection
- LifeLock’s million dollar service guarantee includes hiring lawyers, accountants, investigators and case managers for you if your identity is stolen
Who endorses LifeLock and Trusted ID?
- LifeLock is endorsed by Rush Limbaugh, Paul Harvey, Sean Hannity and Dr. Laura
- TrustedID is endorsed by Suze Orman
How much does LifeLock and Trusted ID cost?
- LifeLock is $9 a month or $99 a year w/ a 30 Day FREE Trial
- TrustedID is $12.95 a month or $109.95 a year.
Read more in-depth reviews of LifeLock and TrustedID.
Compare Identity Theft Protection Plans
WalletLock
February 17, 2008
Imagine the panic of losing your wallet or purse. I’ve done it.. you probably have, too. Your first thought is that you just misplaced it and you go on a tear trying to find it. Your heart starts racing and your hands begin to shake.
According to a recent Javelin Strategy & Research survey, 38% of all identity crimes stemmed from a lost or stolen wallet, checkbook or credit card. After all, your driver’s license was in you wallet. That’s got your name, address and date of birth. Too many people carry their social security card in their wallet along with the SSN’s of their spouse and children.
The time and aggravation you spend on canceling your credit card account numbers and getting new one, getting a new driver’s license, new health insurance card, social security card…. on and on. That can take hours.
LifeLock identity theft protection knows your frustration. That’s why they offer a service called WalletLock when you enroll as a member of their identity theft protection service.
Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock says, “If you have ever had your wallet stolen or lost, you understand the panic and anger you feel, not to mention, how much time it takes to cancel and replace the important items. It’s frustrating and completely unnecessary.”
He goes on to say, “By adding “WalletLock” to our service we have found another way to help lift the burden that surrounds identity theft. If a wallet is lost or stolen, “WalletLock” will provide the complete recovery services necessary to allow our client to go on with their lives and not spend hours on the phone.”
One call to a WalletLock specialist at 1-800-LIFELOCK will assist you with replacing all the document items in your wallet with the exception of the cash, monies or pictures in the wallet. Replacement documents include:
- Credit/debit cards
- ATM Cards
- Driver’s License
- Social Security
- Insurance Cards (Health, Auto, etc)
- Professional License
- Passport
- VISA
- Immigration documents
- Diplomas or Certificates
- Owner’s Checkbook
- Traveler’s check
With LifeLock, you’re protected from Identity Theft no matter how it happens.