LifeLock Aggressively Advertising – Know the Truth Behind the Product

LifeLock is at it again with his aggressive advertising on cable television. In the middle of what looks like downtown New York or one of the major metropolitan cities, CEO Todd Davis stands in front of a van with his social security number plastered on it and screams it out over a microphone.

He is free to give out his social security number because he is not concerned about identity theft. His service guarantees that his identity will never be stolen. Now he wants you to sign up with his service so that you will get the same advantage. He even gives you a million dollar guarantee.

What is the catch? Quite simply he is taking advantage of a law that was put into effect by Congress that allows any consumer to place a fraud alert on their credit report. A fraud alert is a 90 day lock put on a credit file that will prevent any attempts by an unauthorized individual to steal a person’s credit.

If a fraud alert is on a credit file, authorization has to be obtained by the consumer for access. Thus, an identity thief cannot get credit when a fraud alert is in effect.

Every 90 days, LifeLock will renew that fraud alert on your behalf.

So, what is my issue with this service? First, this is something that you can do for yourself every 90 days. Why pay someone monthly for 4 calls a year that you can make yourself? That is my issue from a practical standpoint.

From an ethical standpoint, there is a much bigger issue. The law clearly states that a fraud alert is to be issued only if the consumer SUSPECTS he or she has been a victim of an identity theft. Funny, that is not in the advertisement anywhere. Todd David is randomly issuing fraud alerts for consumers who do not suspect that they are identity theft victims.

Here is what the law says so to back up this claim:

"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 (bold for emphasis) a suspicion that the consumer has been or is about to become a victim of fraud or related crime… "

Technically, a very broad interpretation of the law is that this applies because we are all "about to become a victim of fraud" at some time. We are always at risk. I don't think that was the intent of the law. If you lose your wallet, you are in a situation where you might become a victim. You are not in danger just because you get up in the morning and walk outside the house and get into your car.

Lifelock does include in their terms and conditions that you are signing up for this service under the assumption that you might become a victim of identity theft. Just like most offers in the credit industry, the details are not in the marketing program but buried in the fine print.

So, you need to know that basically you might be paying LifeLock to misrepresent you to the credit reporting agencies. This is no different then the other businesses in the credit industry that use smoke and mirror marketing to sell their product. Whether it is rent a credit score, consumer credit counseling, etc. they are all marketing the same way.