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About LifeLock
Heard this one? "I'm Todd
Davis and my Social Security Number is
457-55-5462!" LifeLock is best known for its national
advertising campaigns which feature its CEO shouting his own Social
Security number to prove the efficacy of the firm's identity theft
programs.
Founded in 2005, LifeLock is an industry leader in
proactive indentity theft protection. LifeLock has a strong
focus on educating consumers and working with law enforcement and
elected officials to better understand the increasing threats of
identity theft. A multiple award-winning organization,
LifeLock has most recently been recognized as a Best Place to Work by
the Phoenix Business Journal. LifeLock (www.lifelock.com) is
a private company backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Goldman Sachs
and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.
Wiki Says
For a fee, the
company once every 90 days asks for a fraud alert on your file by
calling Experian, Equifax or TransUnion (the three major credit
bureaus) who communicate this information to each other. LifeLock
will also contact opt-out mass-mailing organizations on your behalf in
order to reduce unwanted mail which can potentially expose your
information in the first place.
Filing a fraud alert and
signing-up with opt-out services for mass-mailings are both free
processes if the customer calls any one of these three credit agencies
every 90 days to renew the fraud alert. Or if the customer signs up
with such mailing opt-out services by their own effort.
LifeLock Says
Many people mistakenly think that the company’s well-touted $1 million
Total Service Guarantee is insurance, which it is not. Most ID theft
plans are what’s known as “restorative” service contracts, which are
different from insurance in one special way: with identity theft plans,
there is never any direct payment to the consumer. What identity theft
companies promise is help and assistance up to a certain dollar amount
in the event of a covered and defined ID theft.
LifeLock’s $1 million
“Total Service Guarantee” promises to spend up to $1 million to cover
the costs of “lawyers, investigators and case managers, but not any
direct loss as a result of theft ”if you become a victim of identity
theft while a member of LifeLock “due to a failure in our service.” The
$1 Million Total Service Guarantee, then, does not cover lost wages or
business profits, loss of business or lost opportunities or direct
out-of-pocket expenses like gas or mileage to go to local authorities.
And under the LifeLock terms and conditions, no money ever passes from
LifeLock to a LifeLock member.
The firm charges $10 per
month or $110 annual prepaid to become a member.
Javelin Strategy
& Research on Identity Theft
According to Javelin
Strategy & Research, identity theft is up 22% to a five-year high.
Moreover, identity theft has topped the Federal Trade Commission’s list
of consumer complaints for the past eight years 9.9 million Americans
were victims of identity theft in 2008, which is up 22% from 2007. And,
according to The Wall Street Journal, the average information breach to
U.S. companies in 2008 was a staggering $6.65 million. Javelin also
reports that women are 26% more likely to be victims than men.
Households with combined income of $75,000 or more are at higher risk.
More than one in ten ID theft victims knew the person who stole their
identity and Latinos are the most likely demographic group to become
victims. New account theft, which is difficult to detect, occurs when
the thief opens new accounts and lines of credit using stolen
identities.
Sources: LifeLock ads,
May 2009; Javelin 2009 Identity Fraud Survey Report; M.P. McQueen,
“Data Breaches Cost Businesses More”, The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 2,
2009.
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