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Why Pay LifeLock to Protect Your Identity?

 

There are some people who think the only thing LifeLock has to offer are the things you can do yourself for free. Things like:

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.

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