LifeLock Adds New Features
May 9, 2008
LifeLock has done it again…
Just about the time you thought their identity theft protection was just right, they decided to make it even better.
…and, oh yeah - no extra cost either!
Here’s the new stuff:
eReconTM
- A huge amount of information being illegally traded or sold online and increases all the time. LifeLock’s eRecon technology patrols the Internet, monitoring over 10,000 websites, bulletin boards and chat rooms that are used by criminals to illegally sell and trade identities. If your information is found online, you’ll be notified immediately by phone.
TrueAddressTM
- The United States Postal Service reports that 45 million change-of-address forms are filed annually. These change-of-address forms are often used by identity thieves to obtain your personal information. With LifeLock’s new TrueAddress, you’re alerted if any new address information is associated with your name in address databases nationwide.
So now LifeLock is looking over the identity crook’s shoulders and watching what they do. You’ve automatically got this new protection whether you enroll now of if you’ve become a member in the past.
LifeLock Campaigns for Stronger Identity Theft Laws
March 11, 2008
LifeLock finished up a tour of the Southeastern states on March 6, 2008. They traveled throughout the South having rallies and informational meetings encouraging people to sign a petition to present to Congress urging them to strengthen identity theft laws.
The petition included:
- Establish stronger penalties for third party agencies that lose a consumer’s personal information
- Request stronger penalties for criminals that commit identity theft
- Assign more funding to law enforcement to fight this crime
- Enact laws to prevent agencies from selling personal information
- Demand that the Social Security Administration create a checks-and-balances system for the correct use of Social Security numbers
Since 2005, 80,000 people A DAY have gotten a notice that their personal information has gone missing. Everyone of every age, race and religion are affected by identity theft. Rich or poor - it doesn’t matter.
Congress recently took some steps in helping consumers safeguard the personal information to protect against identity theft, but more needs to be done.
You can still sign the petition here. Let’s Strike Back!
LifeLock or Credit Monitoring
February 26, 2008
Credit monitoring has been a traditional way to control identity theft. It’s generally offered by the three credit bureaus - Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. In the past, this was the best type of protection available. LifeLock has become the new force in identity theft protection by offering a more proactive solution for a lower cost.
How Credit Monitoring Works
When you go to sign up for credit monitoring, you’ll get some choices. You can choose credit monitoring just from one credit bureau [least expensive] or you can get a 3-in1 package that will monitor your files at all 3 credit bureaus [most expensive].
Whenever a new account is opened with your name and information, you’ll receive an alert letting you know about it. If it was you - no problem. If it wasn’t you - you’ll know someone has just stolen your identity. At this point, you need to contact the new account and let them know it wasn’t you who opened it. You’ll also have to dispute any charges made on it.
Credit bureaus normally have an ID Theft help line you can call and ask for advice on how to do this. They give advice only - no hands on help. Identity theft insurance comes with their plans - usually $20,000-$25,000 in coverage in case you can’t recover all your stolen money.
Prices range from:
- Equifax’s Credit Watch Gold - $9.95 monthly, Equifax monitoring only
- Equifax Credit Watch Gold 3-in-1 for $12.95 monthly - monitors all 3 bureaus
- TransUnion - $14.95 monthly - 3-in-1 monitoring, credit report and score included
- Experian - $14.95 monthly - Experian monitoring only from freecreditreport.com, credit report and score included
The biggest drawback with credit monitoring is that you have to wait until AFTER your identity is stolen before you can take any action. The good news is you’ll learn about the theft quickly, but you still have to fix it - by yourself.
How LifeLock Works
LifeLock works in a way that’s proactive - meaning it’s designed to stop identity theft BEFORE it happens. They do this by placing a fraud alert on your credit file and renewing it every 90 days.
A fraud alert places a note on your credit files requesting any new creditor call you before a new line of credit is opened. So if you or anyone else applies for credit, you’ll get a phone call at the number you specify confirming that it’s OK to open the account.
Now, a fraud alert is free. You can do it yourself and LifeLock tells you that on their website. So exactly, what’s the point of using their services?
Identity thieves are becoming more and more clever and inventive. Occasionally a fraud alert doesn’t work properly in every case - nothing is ever 100% perfect. This is where LifeLock offers a service that’s almost priceless - if your identity is stolen, they’ll fix it for you. All you have to do is call and let them know.
And if your wallet is stolen - they’ll fix that for you, too. They call that ‘WalletLock’.
Whatever lost money they can’t recover for you, they’ll replace - up to a million dollars. Seriously, you’ll probably never lose a million dollars in identity theft, but you can lose hundreds of hours of time, worry and frustration fixing it yourself.
You get this for only $9 a month or $99 a year [$8.25 a month] with a 30 day free trial if you use the promo code - 9 - when you sign-up.
Credit monitoring absolutely plays a valuable role in many financial situations. But it’s not designed to prevent identity theft from happening. Credit bureaus prefer not to talk too much about fraud alerts because they don’t make any money with them.
To prevent identity theft, use a company like LifeLock who specializes in prevention and will be there for you every step of the way if your identity should be stolen.
LifeLock Protects from all Types of Identity Theft
February 19, 2008
LifeLock identity theft protection can keep you safe from any type of identity theft.
Online identity theft is becoming more and more common as thieves find out how easy it is to steal identities in large quantities instead of one at a time. One way they accomplish this by hacking into data streams from stores who don’t use up-to-date data encryption. Other times, companies and even top universities make mistakes and release personal information on customers and students.
Then there’s the good old stand-by of dumpster diving. It’s truly amazing how much sensitive information is thrown away without being shredded - by individuals and businesses. Thieves quickly learn where to look and go diving often.
Theft of laptops and computers has turned into a lucrative business for thieves. Security breaches caused by these thefts can affect hundreds of thousands of people at once. Even government info is vulnerable as shown with the theft of laptops from the Elections Building in Nashville, TN just after Christmas 2007. Over 300,000 registered voter’s information was stolen. That’s a huge payday for an identity thief.
Telephone scams are still popular and work well. A scammer has a well-written script designed to frighten you and get you off balance. You suddenly become alarmed and blurt out the small bit of information the thief needs to steal your complete identity.
The same is true of email phishing schemes. You’ll get an email telling you there’s a problem with your account and that you need to go login. If you click the link in the email, it will take you to a site that looks just like the real one. As soon as you login, an identity thief has your info and can wipe out your money in a matter of minutes. Whenever I get an email from my bank, it ALWAYS says not to click on any links but to go to my account the way I normally would and check for new messages there.
Identity theft can happen in many ways and LifeLock is designed to protect you from all of them. But just because nothing is ever perfect, they give you a million dollar service guarantee if your identity gets stolen while being one of their clients.
Every three seconds another identity is stolen. Don’t wait around thinking it can’t happen to you. Either find out what you need to do to protect yourself or just do it the easy way and get LifeLock. You’ll rest easier knowing you’re protected.
LifeLock Promo Code
February 19, 2008
Use the LifeLock promo code ‘9‘ to get a great discount on your LifeLock membership. You’ll also get a 30 day FREE trial so that you can give Life Lock a test drive and see if it’s the right fit for you.
Your monthly cost will be only $9. You’ll continue to get this savings year after year - there’s no expiration on it and you’re totally locked into that price. It can never be taken away. Nine bucks a month can fit into just about any budget and give you the peace of mind knowing your identity is protected and you have a company like LifeLock standing behind you watching your back.
This screen shot shows that you also have the option to choose an annual payment plan of $99. That makes your monthly cost work out to be only $8.25.
Life Lock has been endorsed by radio personalities like Paul Harvey, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Dr. Laura. They understand the dangers of identity theft and want to give their listeners a head’s up on a good plan to turn to for protection.