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LifeLock Spokesperson's Stolen ID Inspires Lawsuits

Posted by timothy on from the now-he-is-a-formless-protoplasmic-blob dept.

OrochimaruVoldemort writes "It seems as though LifeLock isn't as secure as Todd Davis makes it out. According to a LifeLock spokesman, his identity has been stolen. For two years, Davis has been daring hackers to steal his ID. Looks like he got what he wanted. CNN reports: 'Now, LifeLock customers in Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia are suing Davis, claiming his service didn't work as promised and he knew it wouldn't, because the service had failed even him.'"

8 of 217 comments (clear)

  1. Isn't this old news? by ngth82 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Isn't this old news? I thought I read about this months ago.

    1. Re:Isn't this old news? by Aranykai · · Score: 5, Informative

      http://weblog.infoworld.com/robertxcringely/archives/2007/07/dumb_dumber_and.html

      --
      If sharing a song makes you a pirate, what do I have to share to be a ninja?
  2. Um, actually... by RandoX · · Score: 4, Informative

    According to The Consumerist, "...the CEO's personal information is currently being misused by at least 20 different identity thieves"

  3. The news is... by dhj · · Score: 5, Informative

    The new news is that he is being sued. The old news is that identity thieves took his identity. The summary mentions the new part, but the title is poorly chosen. From TFA:

    - Atty David Paris is seeking class action lawsuit against founder Todd Davis in MD, NJ and WV for

    - Also being sued in AZ over the 1 million dollar "service guarantee" because it is being misrepresented and only covers "defects in lifelock's service" and not actual identity theft. which they are misrepresenting.

    - Experian is accusing LifeLock of deceiving customers about their breadth of service because all they do is put a fraud watch on your credit record every 90 days which is something anyone can do with the agencies for free themselves. The only thing this protects you from is credit fraud which where an initial credit check is performed -- and incidentally means if you actually want a change in credit, a cell phone, car, etc you have to contact the credit agency ahead of time so they will allow it.

    --David

    1. Re:The news is... by orclevegam · · Score: 5, Informative

      You need to go to the credit reporting agencies directly not through intermediaries. Since there are three major agencies you'd have to contact them separately and sign up for each of their credit protection plans. This shouldn't be confused with the "credit protection plan" that the credit card companies are always trying to shove down your throat, or similar services for other companies, as the former is really a form of insurance in case you become unemployed or otherwise unable to pay off your card for a time, and the later are just companies that are trying to make money by offering a centralized more "convenient" way to sign up for the free fraud reporting offered by the credit agencies (for a monthly fee naturally).

      --
      Curiosity was framed, Ignorance killed the cat.
  4. Re:TWO FREAKING YEARS by XorNand · · Score: 4, Informative

    This "service" is simply placing a fraud alert on your credit report. When a creditor pulls your report, they see this alert which means they ought to do a bit more manual verification of your ID before granting credit. Most creditors will go the extra mile to win the business, but some of them will just throw the credit app in the trash. The bureaus have been bitching left and right about Lifelock, because they're gaming the system. A FA is only supposed to be used if a credit report (CR) is suspected of containing fraudulent information. Anyhow... the point is, you can call a credit bureau (Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion) and place a FA on your file for free. You don't even have to call them all, a FA will in short time propagate to all three.

    (Note: a FA is different from "freezing" your CR, which prevents it from even being pulled at all by potential creditors. A freeze is a one-time fee ($10 I think) and is an even better protection against ID theft than a perpetual FA. The downside is you have to pay that $10 per bureau and it can be a pain in the ass if you ever to legitimately apply for credit.)

    --
    Entrepreneur : (noun), French for "unemployed"
  5. If you ever even considered using LifeLock... by DiscipleN2k · · Score: 5, Informative

    Step 1: Call Experian (1-888-397-3742) and have them put a fraud alert on your file. They'll pass it on to the other 2 credit bureaus (Equifax: 1-800-525-6285 & TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289).

    Step 2: Repeat step 1 every 90 days.

    Step 3: Save $120 a year by doing everything LifeLock does all by yourself.

    (I know, I missed the obvious, "Step 3: Profit!" joke)

  6. Re:Thanks. by nelsonal · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here's the info for all three. This is regulated by the states so it's possible that you might not be able to initiate this from your state. http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20030613c2.asp Experian has a handy online form for you to do it. https://www.experian.com/consumer/cac/InvalidateSession.do?code=FREEZE

    --
    Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.