The CEO of LifeLock, company that swears they can prevent (or at least respond) to identity theft for consumers, had his identity stolen. If you recall, this is the same company that drove around in a large truck with Todd Davis’ social security number on it.
Todd Davis, flaunting his social security card on his Web site.
Apparently a number of people have taken him up on his challenge, to compromise his identity. A line of credit ($500) was issued to a thief in his name among driver licenses in other states. While these are small compromises, they are compromises nonetheless.
Todd was notified via a collector seeking payment on the then-default loan in Texas. Lifelock’s service failed to detect it and notify him. He told the AP that ‘flimsy mechanisms’ allowed that to happen. Mind you, those mechanisms are exactly what the company claims will protect their consumers.
Personally, I believe LifeLock is an unnecessary and deceitful service since it gives consumers a false sense of security (as evident above) and they are charging money for ID Theft alerts that consumers can already place on their credit file for free with the credit bureaus.
Consumers looking for a service to protect their identity should simply be aware of how they manage their personal information and acknowledge the risks when using legacy technology. For instance, I never use Checks, ever. The fraud protection Visa and many other cards offer are superb. Additionally, I shred my old statements and have even migrated to electronic statements due to the possibility of US Mail theft. The Federal Trade Commission has put together a pretty strong campaign to educate consumers about how to prevent ID theft, too.
