Topic: Submission

[charlesoakwood]

Cheaper prices, better discounts, ease of activity such as shopping, AT&T
requiring online registration to utilize five free numbers with their cellphone, etc. etc.
I decided to check into LifeLock, buy it, submit and go the hell online with my activities.

Whoa! Check out this company that promotes itself as your protector.


[blockquote]

LifeLock From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LifeLock Inc. Type    Privately held
Founded    2005
Headquarters    Tempe, Arizona, United States
Website    www.lifelock.com

LifeLock Inc. which was founded in 2005, is an American identity theft protection company.

According to the LifeLock website, for a minimum fee of $10 a month, the LifeLock Identity Alert system can identify fraudulent applications for some forms of credit and non-credit related services. These include some retail credit cards, mortgage loans, and auto loans, as well as non-credit related transactions such as wireless services, utilities, check orders and reorders, and non-credit related payday loans.[1] LifeLock will also opt-out members from pre-approved credit card offers on their behalf in order to reduce unwanted mail. The service guarantee states that "if you become a victim of identity theft while you are a LifeLock member because of some failure or defect in our service... we will spend up to $1 million to hire lawyers, investigators, consultants and whatever else it takes to restore your name and help you recover the direct losses from the identity theft."[2] The service guarantee does not cover any direct losses as a result of the theft.[2]

In 2009 the company was found guilty of defrauding customers and Experian by keeping their credit information in a state of constant "fraud alert."[3]

Former LifeLock CEO Todd Davis was the victim of identity theft 13 times during 2007 and 2008, after he "publicly posted his Social Security number on billboards and in TV commercials as part of a campaign to promote his company's credit monitoring services".[4]

Robert J. Maynard, Jr., company co-founder, resigned in June 2007 amid allegations that he had stolen his father's identity and ran up $150,000 in American Express bills.[5]

In March 2010 LifeLock was fined $12 million by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), "to settle charges that the company used false claims to promote its identity theft protection services, which it widely advertised by displaying the CEO’s Social Security number on the side of a truck."[6][7]

[/blockquote]

[charlesoakwood]

  Identity Theft Protection Services Compared

Looks more like a paid advertisement.

[rickl]

I'm not saying that the Wikipedia article is right or wrong, but you often have to take them with a grain of salt.  The articles are sometimes written or modified by people with an axe to grind.  This is particularly true with political or other "controversial" topics.  (Wiki articles about global warming are legendary for that sort of thing.)

All I know about LifeLock is that they frequently run ads on conservative talk radio shows.  Maybe a liberal writer is trying to paint them in the worst light possible.  Or the article could have been written or modified by someone with ties to a LifeLock competitor, or by a disgruntled customer.  Or it could be 100% accurate.  I have no idea.  If you're really interested in LifeLock, you should probably do some independent research before taking Wiki's word for it.

[Libertas]

Sounds like a good question for Rush on open line Friday's.

[charlesoakwood]

I think LifeLock would sanitize that wiki article if it was not true.

[Pandora]

I think LifeLock would sanitize that wiki article if it was not true.

And Wiki-people with a possible axe to grind would de-sanitize it right back.

You simply do not know how relentless the Wiki-nazis are.

[IronDioPriest]

I don't have time now, but a good way to check this out would be to google some of these accusations, using "____" for specific phrases, and see if the accusations come up anywhere else without the attribution to Wiki or another leftist source.

Given the conservative sponsors of the company, if LikeLock is disreputable, has been sued, or been involved in fraudulent or criminal activity, there is little possibility that this fact would not be covered in a hard news story somewhere online.

[IronDioPriest]

Just a quick search for "lifelock" "fraud" turns THIS up.

It seems to thoroughly debunk the claim "In 2009 the company was found guilty of defrauding customers and Experian by keeping their credit information in a state of constant "fraud alert.""

My gut tells me that further examination will uncover similar debunking of the other charges made by the wiki posting.

I wouldn't jump right and sign up in Charles. But I wouldn't take wiki's word for it either.

[charlesoakwood]

Thanks for the guidance, further investigation was and is still necessary; however, some of the information from the same sourcedoesn't inspire confidence.  Call in Friday?  Yeah, if I hadn't heard him advertise it I would never have considered it.

To sign up for the service, however, customers have to hand over their Social Security number, birthdate and other sensitive details to LifeLock. It turns out that customers who previously handed over such sensitive data to another business Maynard owned became victims of theft. That business, a credit-repair company called the National Credit Foundation, was investigated by state and federal authorities and was suspected of stealing money from its customers.

 [blockquote]

  Federal court records state that Maynard and the other defendants obtained their customers’ banking information and, "in numerous instances . . . withdrew funds from consumers’ checking accounts without authorization."

    Gilbert resident Vincent Calabrese, listed as one of the firm’s creditors because of owed back pay, says he worked for National Credit Foundation for about a year and was there at the end. He says he’ll never forget how the "phone was just going nuts" in the last few weeks with customers reporting unauthorized debits on their bank accounts, usually for about $300 a whack.

[/blockquote]


Maynard denied wrongdoing but the federal government issued a permanent injunction banning him from "advertising, promoting, offering for sale, selling, performing, or distributing any product or service relating to credit improvement services."

[Predator Don]

I use it, my brother uses it with nary an issue. My credit card company is also great at checking what they consider unusual activity. If I am traveling, I contact my card company to tell them. I've had an instance where I've used my card out of state and the next purchase it was denied. I had to call in.

[IronDioPriest]

...If I am traveling, I contact my card company to tell them. I've had an instance where I've used my card out of state and the next purchase it was denied. I had to call in.

That happened to me in Canada this spring. Both my American Express and my Cabela's Visa got denied in Dryden Ontario, and I had to call both companies to verify that I was out of country. So now I know - when traveling, notify the credit card companies.

That's never happened to me before, with one exception. I pumped gas in Silverton Colorado, went in to pay, and the clerk told me that before Master Card would approve payment, I needed to call the 800 number on the back of the card. This was after I'd used it for several days on the way out TO Colorado. For some reason, they felt the need to verify that it was actually me racking up charges across the country.

[Libertas]

I think LifeLock would sanitize that wiki article if it was not true.

And Wiki-people with a possible axe to grind would de-sanitize it right back.

You simply do not know how relentless the Wiki-nazis are.

Oh you got that right!  Remember the days when you could add to their pages?  I used to correct the Bill Clinton record daily.  It would get sanitized back to its former state within minutes.  You definitely have to be careful taking their info.