Identity Theft Protection

Posts Tagged ‘lifelock scam’

The great Lifelock com scam finally comes to an end with the identity theft protection company paying out $11 Million to the FTC and £1 Million to a group of 35 state attorneys general in a settlement to charges that they used false claims to advertise their product.

As part of the settlement Lifelock, CEO Todd Davis and co founder Robert J. Maynard, Jr. are barred from ever making deceptive claims about its service again and must take measures in better protecting the data of any future customers.

According to the FTC’s complaint, LifeLock has claimed:

• “By now you’ve heard about individuals whose identities have been stolen by identity thieves . . . LifeLock protects against this ever happening to you. Guaranteed.”
• “Please know that we are the first company to prevent identity theft from occurring.”
• “Do you ever worry about identity theft? If so, it’s time you got to know LifeLock. We work to stop identity theft before it happens.”

All of the above statements were found to be false and misleading. All Lifelock did was place a free fraud alert on their customers file. A fraud alert can help prevent new accounts being opened in your name. This accounts for just 17% of all identity theft. A fraud alert cannot protect your existing accounts (the biggest type of identity theft) nor can it prevent medical identity theft or employment identity theft.

As well as their advertising claims, the FTC found Lifelock mislead customers with false information about the safety of their personal data submitted to Lifelock during the sales process.

Customers were told:

• “Only authorized employees of LifeLock will have access to the data that you provide to us, and that access is granted only on a ‘need to know’ basis.”
• “All stored personal data is electronically encrypted.”
• “LifeLock uses highly secure physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard the confidentiality and security of the data you provide to us.”

Again all statements were found to be false. Your information was freeley available to all staff members and not on a need to know basis.

Absolutely no data was electronically encrypted.

The software they used was known to be highly vulnerable to attack from hackers.

Basically they lied through their teeth to make the sale.

The FTC will be sending out letters to past and present cusomers who fell for the Lifelock scam to see if they qualify for a refund. If you were a victim of Lifelock’s false promises and claims you do not need to do anything, the FTC will contact you with details about how to claim a refund.

You can set up your own fraud alert, monitor your own credit file and remove yourself from mailing lists without spending anything.

We recommend you visit Identity Theft Deterrent and learn how to take proactive steps to protect your own identity instead of leaving it in the hands of a company like Lifelock. Click here for more details.