Lifelock

[crokett]

Anybody use this service? Basically identity-theft insurance for 120 bucks a year.

I am awfully tempted, if only because the aggravation of dealing with id theft if it happens is worth it.

[sscherin]

All these guys are doing is putting a credit fraud flag on your file with the credit bureaus.

It's something you can do yourself for free.
With the fraud flag they can't issue credit reports without calling the phone number you give them first.

Funny thing.. one of the local stations did a test with 3 of the credit protection services trying to get credit in other reporters names (with their permission)

The one with Lifelock was the only one who got a credit card issued in his name.

[bigstick509]

I listen to a lot of IT podcast and at the moment Lifelock is advertising very heavily. It sounds a little to good and easy to be true, along with there claim to cover one million in loss recovery. I hope someone has first hand info on this service.

[JSUPreston]

http://lifelockreviews.com/

I can't find the news article, but I distinctly remember Todd Davis' ID getting stolen after he started the company. This review mentions it as well.

I'm just sayin'...

[MilDoc]

All these guys are doing is putting a credit fraud flag on your file with the credit bureaus.

I agree. Do it yourself. You can specify that NO credit bureau issues a credit report without you permission. I did this 5 years ago. No credit report = no credit given.

This DOES NOT prevent someone from using your credit card etc. It does prevent someone who knows your name, SS#, etc. from applying for any new credit of any kind.

AFAIK, this is all Credit Lock does.

[jonmulzer]

Not entirely true. It helps to keep people from getting credit in your name. Only about 20-30% of all credit cards applications have any sort of review process done over them. So in theory you could put a lock on your credit report and then file for 10 credit cards and get 7 of them accepted.

If you want real identity theft protection go to Zander Insurance and get theirs. It is 1/4 the price and they fix the problem if your identity is stolen. Lifelock offers no such guarantee. It is snake oil.

I find it amusing that the credit reporting agencies make a system where people can do things like this to us because of their own careless nature and then sell us crappy protection plans like Lifelock to keep it from happening. Get rid of the credit bureaus and the easy credit that is causing the downfall of our economy and then we don't need any of it. Ridiculous.

[tedkitch]

Here is the Wikipedia info on this.

[williwatt]

Namesafe

The identity theft protection company that is supposed to be the best is NAMESAFE. They not only notify you of a fraud attempt, but they also provide a $1 Million Dollar Service Guarantee should the fraud alert fail for any reason (including the failure or refusal of a bank or creditor to properly adhere to the fraud alert). They also provide legal assistance to prosecute the attempted offender. They charge $9.95/mo or $99/year.

www.namesafe.com

[Hellrazor]

David,

I figured you might want to read this..


http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200805172662

[parnelli]

David,

I figured you might want to read this..


http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200805172662

Ha! I came here to post the same thing. I suppose he doesn't care that his identity has been stolen if he's bringing in 110 million a year!

[mclear6]

Service Backfired........

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080522/...ity_fraud_flap


It seemed everything people said in the previous postings was pretty dead on, especially the part about being able to do what lifelock does for free.

[Joe DeFazio]

Hi Crockett,

I think you have the information you need at this point, but here's an article from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/24/bu...y/24money.html

Joe