LifeLock Identity Theft Protection Review

LifeLock is the company with the CEO, Todd Davis, who publishes his social security number everywhere he can. He has even printed it on the side of a BIG truck and drove it through New York City. Mr. Davis doesn’t recommend that you put your social out there quite as noticably as he has. But he’s so confident of his product and company that he gives you a $1,000,000 total service guarantee.

Credit monitoring is the old stand-by way of protecting yourself from identity theft. In today’s electronic age, it’s just plain, old technology, but it’s something people are familiar with. LifeLock represents the new generation in Identity protection.

How does LifeLock work?

The first thing they do is put a fraud alert on your credit. If someone tries to open any new credit with your name and personal info, you’ll get a phone call from the new creditor asking for confirmation that it’s really you. That fraud alert will be done correctly and renewed every 90 days.

The next thing they do is stop junk mail and pre-approved credit offers by opting you out of all the mailing lists. That’s a great feature because now you won’t have to shred all those offers you get in the mail. I used to get 5 or 6 of them every single week. What a relief to have them gone.

Next they order your credit report for you from all three credit reporting agencies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You can check your reports for any discrepencies or errors. It’s good to look at all three because sometimes they’re different.

New! Does LifeLock scan the Internet looking for unauthorized use of my personal information?

Beginning April 2008, LifeLock membership includes a scanning product called eRecon^TM that scans the internet’s back alleys and black markets. It looks for unauthorized use of your social security number, credit card numbers, driver’s license number and email addresses.  This protects LifeLock members against their information being illegally traded or sold online.

They also have a feature called TrueAddress^TM that does a daily search to see if you’ve had a change of address filed with the Post Office. If they find one, they will alert you. This prevents thieves from hijacking and stealing your mail.

Is LifeLock Safe?

LifeLock is safe and secure. Their website is certified ISO 27001. This is the most stringent security certification within the industry and LifeLock is currently the only company in the identity theft prevention field who has achieved this status. They take every measure possible to keep information secure.

At the beginning of 20007, LifeLock had 30,000 subscribers. A short nine months later, over 300,000 people have signed up for the identity theft protection. They are the largest in the world. There was a security breach in September 2007 at Semtech, a technology company in California.  All 690 employees of that company were immediately offered LifeLock’s identity theft protection services.

If I lost my wallet and someone used my credit cards and drained my bank account, what would LifeLock do?

After the bank and credit card companies do what they can, LifeLock will reimburse you for the rest of your losses. The LifeLock million dollar guarantee will replace any funds the bank doesn’t. LifeLock can also hire professionals to work on your behalf to oversee the process so you are not out any time. If your information is stolen while a LifeLock customer, contact LifeLock immediately and the experts they hire will take care of the rest.

LifeLock also has stolen wallet recovery assistance called "WalletLock". One quick call to their 800 number is all it takes to get the help you need to replace stolen documents and cancel credit card numbers.

Can you do what LifeLock does and not have to subscribe?

Sure you can - at least the fraud alert and opt-out of junk mail. They say that on their website. But for a small monthly fee, you can set it and forget it. You won’t have to remember to redo the alerts or order your credit reports. Plus, with LifeLock, you get the million dollar total service guarantee and complete assistance if your identity is compromised in any way while under their coverage. They also offer identity theft protection for your children at a very nominal cost. Children’s identities are at risk, too.

The main difference between doing it yourself and using LifeLock is the million dollar total service guarantee and help you’ll receive from LifeLock if your identity or wallet should be stolen while using their services. Nothing is 100% effective in deterring thieves. Doing it yourself will require you to renew your fraud alert every 90 days. And any losses - too bad, so sad… you’re on your own.

You’d also have the difficult (if not impossible) task of searching the Internet for illegal use of your personal information.

The most important benefit of LifeLock’s service is the overall peace of mind you’ll get when you know you’re completely protected from identity theft.

Going straight to LifeLock.com, the monthly cost is $10 or $110 annually. You can get a LifeLock promotion code  which will give you a discount. It lowers the cost to $9 per month or $99 annually which is only $8.25 per month. You’ll also get your first 30 days for free to take LifeLock for a test drive. Or if you go to LifeLock.com, use the promotion code ‘9′ to get this deal.