LifeLock is a service that aims to protect your personal information from ID theft for $120 a year and they back up their claim with a $1 million guarantee (discussed last week here).
What are some of the things they do to protect you? They order a copy of your credit report annually from the major credit bureaus. They opt you out of pre-screened offers of credit. And they put a fraud alert on your credit reports.
Of course, these are all things you could do yourself for free. And to their credit, after they mention each of these things on their website, they indicate you could do these things too for free but why bother with the hassle. (It frankly is so surprising to see this level of candor, that it makes MrConsumer suspicious that some Attorney General somewhere didn’t require this of them in the past for this company or a prior company.)
Now, as to their putting a fraud alert on your credit report, depending on the circumstances, this may or may not be kosher. Under federal law, only victims of ID theft or those who believe they are about to become a victim of fraud may place such an alert into their credit report:
“Upon the direct request of a consumer, or an individual acting on behalf of or as a personal representative of a consumer, who asserts in good faith a suspicion that the consumer has been or is about to become a victim of fraud or related crime, including identity theft, a consumer reporting agency described in section 1681a (p) of this title that maintains a file on the consumer and has received appropriate proof of the identity of the requester shall— (A) include a fraud alert in the file of that consumer …”
So how in the world can this company represent to the credit bureaus that you have been victim or are about to be?
*MOUSE PRINT: Buried in LifeLock’s terms and conditions is this provision:
“18. … You additionally agree that you have a good faith suspicion that you have been or are about to become a victim of fraud or related crime, including identity theft, that you want to obtain fraud alerts under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-1, and that you will notify LifeLock immediately if and when you no longer have such a good faith suspicion.”
Unless you read the fine print, you probably would not have known that you were being asked to attest to something that may not be true — that you are a current or imminent future victim of ID theft.
This bit of duplicity has not gone unnoticed. Just a few days ago, Experian, one of the big three credit reporting agencies filed suit against LifeLock for this very practice.
But if ID Theft is the fastest growing crime per the FTC for the 7th year as more comprehensive articles about this story report, I DO BELIEVE I COULD BE COME A VICTIM! There’s no LIE about that. Also, when I signed up for LifeLock I believe it asked me in the sign up process why I feel I will be come a victim of ID theft…and I can say NO REASON if I want to. And it forces me to answer…and thus brings it to my attention. So what’s the big deal?
I like LifeLock. I love their commercials, I love their growth, I love the fact that Experian’s lawsuit says “LifeLock is causing us too much work and money.” Boo freakin hoooo. Proud to be a LifeLock customer and fan of a hometown company.
EVERYONE is at immediate risk for Identity Theft! It’s the fastest growing crime in America and the credit bureaus are in NO HURRY to do anything to stop it. If they really cared, they would not charge for credit freezes as well as making it easier to correct THEIR mistakes and do…I don’t know…a MILLION things more to protect us! THANK GOODNESS for LifeLock!! More power to them!
As far as paying for something you can do yourself…I can mow my own yard, but I hire gardners. I pay to get my car washed. I pay for a lot of things that I could do myself – but I’ve decided my time is better spent elsewhere and I pay for someone else to do it. MY CHOICE.
Leave LifeLock alone – they are a great company doing a great service.
Marilyn…….committed LifeLock member.
Where is the elected official that notices Lifelock and wonders why citizens are paying for services that are (supposedly) designed to be straightforward and easy?
Perhaps because things are not as easy, straightforward and simple as they supposedly are.
Wake up Congress and State Legislators! You are allowing robbing of your voters!
The first two comments seem shockingly similar in grammar and tone.
No way of telling, just suspicions.
Lifelock is a fairly legit company, but I’ll stick with my credit freeze. It’s a lot safer.
Oh yah, the first two are definitely from someone with an interest in the company other than being just a consumer (employee directed by management perhaps?). I think the owner of this blog should check where the IP’s of those commenter’s come from.
Lifelock does seem to be engaging in some questionable practices by (a) prompting their customers to unknowingly engage in illegal behavior by making a false claim about suspicions related to their credit history, and (b) placing the fraud alert on the customer’s credit report when it doesn’t seem that enough of a “suspicion” has been proven. A general fear of your credit history being stolen just doesn’t rise to the level of an articulable suspicion that the U.S. Code requires. Paranoia just doesn’t cut it.
As for Experian, talk about someone with an agenda. They are obviously in competition with Lifelock and this is a move to put the ki-bosh on their success. I thought this quote from Experian was ironic: “There is inadequate disclosure to consumers that these services [provided by Lifelock] are free.” Really Experian? You mean to say you don’t engage in similar practices such as your website FreeCreditReport.com which is seeking to sell a profit (not to mention piggy-backs off of the governments website: AnnualCreditReport.com).
Here’s another glaring example of Experian and the other two reporting agencies practice of confusing customers. Two weeks ago I went through AnnualCreditReport.com to obtain my free credit reports. Unfortunately you have to go through the interface provided by credit reporting agencies. And wouldn’t you know it you’re offered services and other garbage, not to mention have to click through 3 or 4 pages before you can even get to your credit report.
Besides the above, I’m curious as to how Experian expects to bring a consumer fraud claim against Lifelock when it doesn’t have standing.
Nice blog entry by the way (and for letting me vent).
This is a great pickup. I feel lucky to have “credit freeze” brought to my attention by Xavier. If you’re kind of settled (no loans in the near future, enough credit cards, etc.), sounds like a credit freeze is a much better option. And, this too should cut down completely on the pre-approved credit junkmail.
I’m not associated with LifeLock or the two people above, but I would have to say I agree with them both.
I decided to engage the services of LifeLock after two friends had their accounts broken into, one for the
second time! The first person had done a stupid thing by replying to a SPAM e-mail. The second person hasn’t
done anything but twice now someone has gotten into his information. He’s got a very easy, common name so that
may make him a target. The first people are still trying to get their lives together. It’s been a year. The
second person had help from [name omitted] legal services and the thieves were caught in the act of trying to make
bogus charges, but they themselves are still out there.
After watching these two, even though I’ve pulled my own government allowed credit reports once a year, I decided
it was better to be safe than sorry. I do a lot of online transactions and even though I run a firewall, two
anti-virus programs, delete any unknown e-mail, and try to avoid unknown sites, I’ve gotten viruses! Do I feel
at risk? As long as I’m on the internet; there are people who are trying to hack their way into my life; my
mailbox doesn’t have a lock and someone could steal my mail; my name, address, and phone number are available for all
to find, I definitely feel at risk!
Another happy customer of LifeLock!
Why are some of you so suspicious of HAPPY customers? I too am a LifeLock customer and happily pay for someone else to do the grunt work and give me peace of mind. IF our legislators actually do something about ID theft, then I’ll re-evaluate the costs and services LifeLock provides. But until then, I’ll gladly do business with this company that’s perfectly honest about its consumer services.
If you live in Calif. you can max your sense of security by paying $10 to each of the three top credit bureaus and they will place a freeze on your credit reports. Collectors can still access your credit reports. What it prevents is someone applying for a Target credit card, for example, because your credit cannot be accessed by them unless you first notify the credit bureau and put a temporary 30-day thaw on it so a business can get the needed report.
Unfortunately, not all states have made this available to their residents.
I was a happy Lifelock customer until I needed to change my email address. Guess what? They don’t allow that, at all! They quoted all kinds of security reasons as an excuse for their site’s lack of flexibility. I’ve changed the email address at all my banks without any problem, you’d think they’d be aware of a security problem if one existed. Now I get to test out one of Lifelock’s claims; a refund when I cancel service.
Lifelock, …just say NO.
Russ, when you cancel service keep an eye on your account you used to pay for the service. I closed my account with them, then when the renewal date came up, they charged my credit card with the annual fee. Even though I did not want their services and closed the account, they said they must have contacted me to get authorization for the credit card. Was all BS. Took multiple phone calls and a couple of months to get the full amount back. (Of course, they said in the meantime that they were protecting my accounts, so they should not have to refund that amount.)
If you are interested in learning about two class action lawsuits that have been filed against LifeLock, on behalf of subscribers (not the Experian case) – check out http://www.lifelockclassaction.com
Any time you close an account from a company that bills you on a regular basis for a product or service,you should safe guard yourself by contacting your credit card co. and have your account number changed.If you don’t change your account number, you can expect to be billed FOREVER!!
DO IT NOW!
This comment is from: Jack S.
Quoting the comment above “Any time you close an account from a company that bills you on a regular basis for a product or service,you should safe guard yourself by contacting your credit card co. and have your account number changed.If you don’t change your account number, you can expect to be billed FOREVER!!”
Most credit card companies allow a company to charge your NEW card number at least once. Sounds really crazy but it is true. And if you call them they will tell you that. The credit card companies I have had that problem with simply say it is not their problem and to contact the offending company instead. So be aware of this before hand. Get a reference number if you cancel something by phone or online and that will help if you have to do it again.