ID-protection ads come back to bite pitchman

[CAMERON & DUKE]

IF THIS ISNT ALLOWED PLEASE LOCK AND DELETE!!!
I AM JUST POSTING THIS AS WE SEE THIS AD ALL THE TIME AND YOU NEVER KNOW SOME1 MAY WANT TO TRY THIS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES




"In Wisconsin, a woman’s debit card was stolen, and that thief used that card to sign up for LifeLock. If you can’t provide the basic information to verify someone for subscription purposes, how can you be relied upon to protect people’s identities?”
 
ID theft protection firm sued
 
LifeLock misinformed customers, lawsuit says
For a time, the ads were everywhere on TV and radio, the ones with the head of a security company brazenly challenging would-be thieves to try to steal his identity.
By Andrew Clevenger
Staff writer
 
For a time, the ads were everywhere on TV and radio, the ones with the head of a security company brazenly challenging would-be thieves to try to steal his identity.
Richard Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock Inc., was so confident in his company's ability to protect his identity that he publicly revealed his Social Security number: 457-55-5462.
But according to a new class-action lawsuit filed last week in Jackson County, LifeLock's identity theft protection services were so inept that Davis' personal information was stolen repeatedly.
"While LifeLock has only publicly acknowledged that Davis' identity was compromised on one occasion, there are more than 20 driver's licenses that have been fraudulently obtained [using his personal information]," the suit states.
"Furthermore, a simple background check performed using Davis' Social Security number reveals that his entire personal profile has been compromised to the extent that the birth date associated with his Social Security number is Nov. 2, 1940, which would [inaccurately] make Davis 67 years old."
The lawsuit maintains that LifeLock, which claims on its Web site to be "the industry leader in the rapidly growing field of Identity Theft Protection," made false and misleading claims in its multimillion-dollar ad campaign about the level of protection it provides.
"Through its advertisements, LifeLock misrepresents and assures consumers that it can protect against all types of fraud including, without limitation, computer hacking, password theft and other noncredit-related theft," the suit reads.
But LifeLock doesn't protect against many forms of identity theft, according to the lawsuit.
The Arizona-headquartered company does place and renew fraud alerts on its subscribers' credit profiles. But it does nothing to combat breaches involving personal bank, employment or medical information, as well as theft pertaining to government documents and benefits, the suit alleges.
"LifeLock knows, yet fails to disclose, that the services it provides do not offer the breadth of protection that it promotes through its massive advertising campaign," the suit states.
The West Virginia suit follows similar suits filed in New Jersey in March and Maryland in April. It asks the judge to certify it as a class-action suit.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Kevin Gerhold of Falling Waters, and maintains that there are numerous other state residents who were similarly misled into signing up.
Gerhold was attracted by LifeLock's $1 million guarantee against any damages resulting from breaches that occur under the company's watch.
But even that is misleading, according to Charleston attorney David Grubb, who is serving as the suit's local counsel.
 
For a time, the ads were everywhere on TV and radio, the ones with the head of a security company brazenly challenging would-be thieves to try to steal his identity.
Richard Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock Inc., was so confident in his company's ability to protect his identity that he publicly revealed his Social Security number: 457-55-5462.
But according to a new class-action lawsuit filed last week in Jackson County, LifeLock's identity theft protection services were so inept that Davis' personal information was stolen repeatedly.
"While LifeLock has only publicly acknowledged that Davis' identity was compromised on one occasion, there are more than 20 driver's licenses that have been fraudulently obtained [using his personal information]," the suit states.
"Furthermore, a simple background check performed using Davis' Social Security number reveals that his entire personal profile has been compromised to the extent that the birth date associated with his Social Security number is Nov. 2, 1940, which would [inaccurately] make Davis 67 years old."
The lawsuit maintains that LifeLock, which claims on its Web site to be "the industry leader in the rapidly growing field of Identity Theft Protection," made false and misleading claims in its multimillion-dollar ad campaign about the level of protection it provides.
"Through its advertisements, LifeLock misrepresents and assures consumers that it can protect against all types of fraud including, without limitation, computer hacking, password theft and other noncredit-related theft," the suit reads.
But LifeLock doesn't protect against many forms of identity theft, according to the lawsuit.
The Arizona-headquartered company does place and renew fraud alerts on its subscribers' credit profiles. But it does nothing to combat breaches involving personal bank, employment or medical information, as well as theft pertaining to government documents and benefits, the suit alleges.
"LifeLock knows, yet fails to disclose, that the services it provides do not offer the breadth of protection that it promotes through its massive advertising campaign," the suit states.
The West Virginia suit follows similar suits filed in New Jersey in March and Maryland in April. It asks the judge to certify it as a class-action suit.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Kevin Gerhold of Falling Waters, and maintains that there are numerous other state residents who were similarly misled into signing up.
Gerhold was attracted by LifeLock's $1 million guarantee against any damages resulting from breaches that occur under the company's watch.
But even that is misleading, according to Charleston attorney David Grubb, who is serving as the suit's local counsel.
"In actuality, once you get beyond the numerous legal limitations and disclaimers, the policy really only guarantees that LifeLock will investigate how to fix its failure," Grubb said in a news release. "The subscriber receives no monetary recompense and no guarantee that their reputation and credit status will be restored."
According to the suit, the company has almost 1 million subscribers who pay roughly $110 a year for LifeLock's protection.
"This is a service that you pay for and it kind of lays dormant," said David Paris, an attorney with the New Jersey firm Marks & Klein who is heading the case against LifeLock. "So no one knows that they're not getting what they paid for, because they don't know what to look for."
Paris said that consumers can activate for free the same safeguards that LifeLock does, but the company fails to mention that in its marketing campaign.
The suit alleges that LifeLock's services can actually harm its clients because the constant placement of fraud alerts can prevent them from getting a home loan or refinancing their existing loans.
In addition, the company fails to reveal that it obtains its credit reports by requesting on its clients' behalf their free annual credit report. That means consumers can't ask for their own free report for at least 12 months, according to the suit.
The suit also traces what it calls the "nefarious origin" of the company, including the background of Robert J. Maynard Jr., who co-founded the company with Davis in 2005.
"Upon information and belief, Maynard developed the idea for LifeLock while sitting in a jail cell after having been arrested for failure to repay a $16,000 casino marker taken out at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas," the suit states.
Maynard was sanctioned by the Federal Trade Commission because of misleading infomercials for National Credit Foundation, a separate credit-improvement company, according to the suit.
The suit also maintains that Maynard stole his father's identity by using his information to get an American Express card, which he used to rack up more than $100,000 of debt.
Paris said he plans to file another suit in a fourth state soon, and he is still gathering information about LifeLock's practices.
"In Wisconsin, a woman's debit card was stolen, and that thief used that card to sign up for LifeLock," he said. "If you can't provide the basic information to verify someone for subscription purposes, how can you be relied upon to protect people's identities?"
 
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"In actuality, once you get beyond the numerous legal limitations and disclaimers, the policy really only guarantees that LifeLock will investigate how to fix its failure," Grubb said in a news release. "The subscriber receives no monetary recompense and no guarantee that their reputation and credit status will be restored."
According to the suit, the company has almost 1 million subscribers who pay roughly $110 a year for LifeLock's protection.
"This is a service that you pay for and it kind of lays dormant," said David Paris, an attorney with the New Jersey firm Marks & Klein who is heading the case against LifeLock. "So no one knows that they're not getting what they paid for, because they don't know what to look for."
Paris said that consumers can activate for free the same safeguards that LifeLock does, but the company fails to mention that in its marketing campaign.
The suit alleges that LifeLock's services can actually harm its clients because the constant placement of fraud alerts can prevent them from getting a home loan or refinancing their existing loans.
In addition, the company fails to reveal that it obtains its credit reports by requesting on its clients' behalf their free annual credit report. That means consumers can't ask for their own free report for at least 12 months, according to the suit.
The suit also traces what it calls the "nefarious origin" of the company, including the background of Robert J. Maynard Jr., who co-founded the company with Davis in 2005.
"Upon information and belief, Maynard developed the idea for LifeLock while sitting in a jail cell after having been arrested for failure to repay a $16,000 casino marker taken out at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas," the suit states.
Maynard was sanctioned by the Federal Trade Commission because of misleading infomercials for National Credit Foundation, a separate credit-improvement company, according to the suit.
The suit also maintains that Maynard stole his father's identity by using his information to get an American Express card, which he used to rack up more than $100,000 of debt.
Paris said he plans to file another suit in a fourth state soon, and he is still gathering information about LifeLock's practices.
"In Wisconsin, a woman's debit card was stolen, and that thief used that card to sign up for LifeLock," he said. "If you can't provide the basic information to verify someone for subscription purposes, how can you be relied upon to protect people's identities?"
 
LINK: http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200805172662

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080522/ap_on_hi_te/identity_fraud_flap

[Tdcompton]

moron...

[sbayhylle]

Every time I see/hear that commercial I think...What a dumba$$, he's just asking for it.

[jayson_tampa]

This is no big shocker..

[Tdcompton]

In today's digital age there is no fool-proof way to secure your identity.

[Gummis Dad]

The only fool proof way to protect an identity is to erase it
 

Modern society has too many loopholes to exploit.  The most you can do is flag the mainstream sources but it requires someone to report identity related activity so that the system can pick up on it.

Before law school I thought about going into the FBI and doing computer related crimes but the thought of having a big bullseye on me for every nut job with a computer kinda pointed me in another direction

[MedicBarbie]

They can't do anything for you that you can't do for yourself, and cheaper.

My aunt had her identity stolen while she was in the HOSPITAL of all places.  Yep, it was the lovely health system that I am employed by.  Someone preyed on the fact that she was an insured, older person from the suburbs.  Since she was there for so long, she had two checks with her to pay for television (otherwise they shut it off, and her thought on it is... that's all she's got).  Anyway, she had them BURIED and I do mean buried in her belongings.  Someone waited until she was off the floor (in radiology, or down for a test) and took a check along with it's duplicate, and wrote down all of her info from her face sheet - SSN, DOB, address - etc.  It's all there in black and white.

As soon as my aunt found out, she notified Bank of America, which is where most of her money is.  She had 22K in her checking account (because I was paying bills and she didn't want me to worry about money) and also 2 credit cards with them with limits of about 50k.  They ran up her credit cards to their max, opened a few others, etc. 

Bank of America let the fraudulent peeps over draw her account to the tune of 900K!   She was not responsible for any of it, and she had her money returned to her, after a long, painful dispute....  thank God she's internet savvy and looks at her stuff online.  Otherwise, she wouldn't have known until it was too late.  They still haven't figured out who pulled this off.

Moral of the story.. ain't nobody safe anywhere.  That's just how it is.

[bulliez]

Great!  I signed up for this too.