LifeLock Blog

More sophisticated tools allow LifeLock to offer more comprehensive protection against identity theft.

Recent news and magazine articles have made much of CEO Todd Davis’ decision to publish his Social Security number in advertising and his reliance on LifeLock’s service for protection. Critics of both Mr. Davis and LifeLock have pointed out that there have been 13 cases where his Social Security number was successfully used to open accounts or take out small loans, despite the protections offered by LifeLock – and cited these 13 cases as “evidence” that LifeLock’s service does not work.

In fact, LifeLock’s service did for Mr. Davis EXACTLY what it does for any LifeLock member, and his credit report remains spotless as a result. The LifeLock member services team made all the necessary phone calls and monitored his credit file. None of the incidents cost Mr. Davis a dime! Contrast this to victims of identity theft who often spend numerous hours, lose money, and suffer stress and frustration as a result.

Since 2005 there have been hundreds of unsuccessful attempts on Mr. Davis’ personal information; attempts that were stopped by the service provided by LifeLock. To his knowledge, there have been zero new incidents occurring over the past year.

For years, LifeLock has made it very clear that although no identity theft protection service can stop all identity theft, continuously developing new and innovative, proactive solutions can help. LifeLock’s most recent innovation is the Identity Alert™ System, developed in part as a response to innovations by identity thieves who work below the radar – not all loan applications or account transactions generate a credit check.

LifeLock Identity Alert™ System offers broader identity coverage and early notification of both credit and non-credit related identity threats by searching more than 45 million data points daily and 30 million consumer transactions each month. This advanced detection system works to identify fraudulent applications for many forms of both credit and non-credit related services, including many retail credit cards, mortgage loans, auto loans, as well as non-credit related transactions such as wireless services, utilities, peer to peer loans, and non-credit related payday loans. Working in concert with LifeLock’s existing services, the systems search for evidence of identity theft from online sources and within public records such as courts, correctional institutions, and sex offender registries.

LifeLock Identity Alerts, designed to be more comprehensive in scope than ever before, have provided more than 310,000 alerts to our members in the last eight months alone.

The case of the FTC vs LifeLock illustrates just why lawmakers at all levels of government to take the threat of identity theft seriously.

Lifelock CEO Todd Davis decided to take a big risk – he was confident enough in the ability of his new firm to protect its customers against the damage done by identity theft that he dared thieves to use his Social Security number – placing it on billboards, trucks and in radio, TV and print advertising.

The FTC determined that he went too far.

In a ruling, the FTC penalized LifeLock for potentially false advertising – assuming that its customers interpret the ads as claiming LifeLock can totally prevent all incidences of identity theft, then they would have been mistaken.

It is very significant that the FTC did not challenge the effectiveness or validity of LifeLock’s  guarantee of service – that in the event one of its customers is victimized, LifeLock representatives will step in to do the time-consuming work of repairing the damage done – what Mr. Davis calls the “curative” aspect of LifeLock’s service. The FTC ruling only addressed advertising wording – claims related to identity theft prevention, such as using the words and phrases, “complete protection,” “prevent,” “constantly monitors,” or “always receive a phone call.” Obviously nothing and no one can entirely prevent identity theft– and LifeLock knows this.

Interestingly enough, Davis never lost money and he was saved many hours of invaluable time correcting his credit report. Also, he did not suffer any damage to his credit or financial standing as a result.

In other words – LifeLock’s service worked precisely as it was designed to do.

Davis claims that giving out his Social Security number was “a risk worth taking to alert consumers to the rising tide of identity theft.” As one result, a Texas man was able to take out a $500 loan using that information. Davis’ story very clearly illustrates the looming threat facing millions of consumers every day. And while LifeLock is doing its part to help protect consumers by constantly developing new technologies, no private identity theft company can do it alone.

Major studies conducted by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors determined that 70 to 80 percent of all credit reports contain significant errors. Consumers with common names are especially vulnerable to mistakes on their credit reports. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act) was intended to provide consumers with the protection of fraud alerts, but fraud alerts are clearly not enough, especially when not all lenders check credit reports!

The lender who gave $500 to a man claiming to be Davis almost certainly did not check a credit report or accurately verify the man’s true identity.

”Fortunately, proactive identity theft protection services evolve more quickly than legislation. Last fall, LifeLock introduced their Identity Alert System™, a multifaceted, technologically advanced service that makes fraud alerts seem quaint. As a company, LifeLock is doing what it can. As a country, we need to make combating identity theft a top national priority – and lawmakers at all levels of government to take the threat of identity theft seriously.

Chances are, you’ve seen this Social Security number!

Todd Davis, the CEO of LifeLock, has published his Social Security number on billboards, over the Internet, and in radio and television advertising beginning in 2005. Since then, his personal information has been reproduced billions of times. Was daring identity thieves to use it a mistake, or a gutsy move to bring LifeLock and the ever-growing problem of identity theft to the forefront of consumer consciousness?

LifeLock contends it has done exactly that.

Since 2005, when the now famous number was first used in advertising, there have been only thirteen successful cases in which Mr. Davis’ personal information has been used to open unauthorized accounts in his name.

Thirteen.

If there were only 13 successful attempts, it is not hard to imagine just how many unsuccessful attempts that were stopped by the service provided by LifeLock. In fact, LifeLock is not aware of any new incidents occurring over the past year.

Each of the 13 instances of theft have been for relatively small dollar amounts, and the accounts were opened despite fraud alerts being present on his credit file – in other words, the amounts involved were either too small, or the companies involved did not check the credit history of the applicant before opening an account!

The truth is, LifeLock’s Member Services Team performed the same services that it would for any LifeLock member. Some have argued that if the CEO of LifeLock can become a victim of identity theft, then how can LifeLock’s service possibly be effective. No service can ever protect against all instances of identity theft, no matter how small. For years, LifeLock has made it very clear that no service can stop all identity theft, and although LifeLock has been leading the industry by continuously developing new and innovative proactive solutions, compromises do still occur. That is why LifeLock is there to assist its members to make sure problems are taken care of.

It worked in Mr. Davis’ case. He was never out any money, he was saved many hours of invaluable time, and his credit report was always corrected. Amazingly, Mr. Davis has not suffered any damage to his credit or financial standing as a result.

Obviously, LifeLock does not encourage consumers to follow in his example. In fact, the LifeLock terms and conditions agreement states that, “…you agree that you will not purposely engage in behavior that will put your personal information at unnecessary risk, such as leaving your PIN or passwords in obvious places or publishing your Social Security number.”

One thing is certain – the debate that has raged since has raised the profile of both LifeLock and the ever-growing problem of identity theft.