'Lifelock'

David from San Gabriel, CA -

An affordable way for companies and individuals to prevent ID theft is by signing up for Lifelock. Yes, as in a previous post, you can invest in a shredder. But what if you do a lot of online banking, shopping, bill paying, or gambling like me? These guys have a pretty good plan, I've been using it for the last year. I got hit with id theft and it sucked ... life was hell. Trying to buy a car was tough, let alone groceries at the market. Luckily, I had my wife who took care of all of that for my family. I can't imagine what kind of personal hell ID theft can do for some individuals. They even have a million dollar guarantee.

Pretty good and affordable deal if you ask me! It's like cheap insurance!

• Lifelock

Comment #1 Sandy from Brooklyn, NY -

I had my identity stolen a couple years ago -- and while I got off fairly easy -- maybe after spending 10 to 12 hours on the phone with my bank?-- I was so ridiculously frustrated that I signed up for this service on the recommendation of a friend. The thing that I liked about it is that it's pretty affordable and it's totally hands off. The less work I have to do, the better.

Comment #2 Perry Solomon (70.90.166.37) -

I gamble a lot too, and I've been worried about the possibility of having my identity stolen. Credit cards are the easiest thing to use in Vegas, and who knows what's happening to them when I’m not looking! I have heard about LifeLock before, and I am thinking about enrolling with them. They seem to be the most reliable and cheapest service out there.

Comment #3 Samantha Jentry (70.90.166.37) -

I took my mother to the movie theater a couple weeks ago, and her entire wallet was stolen out of her purse. We don't remember who was sitting behind us, but they got everything: credit cards, checks, Driver's license, etc. The worst part is she didn't even notice it until later that night, so when we finally made a police report, there really wasn't anything they could do. We tried to put stop payments on checks, close accounts, and contact the credit card companies, but the thief still managed to use about ten of her checks. Within a week, she had bill collecting agencies contacting her, sending her threatening letters, and the bank made her do all this extra work, like getting a copy of the police report and having the whole incident notarized. It was a nightmare and incredibly stressful. Thankfully, most of the issues are cleared up now, but the whole family is thinking about getting LifeLock because none of us ever want to go through that again.

Comment #4 Bubba (152.163.35.113) -

Maybe Perry and Samantha need to get some more IP address so the promotion here doesn't look quite so hokey.

Comment #5 Hansel Wang (66.92.182.147) -

My girlfriend was phished but she didn't even realize it until three months after the incident occurred. She signed up for Lifelock and encouraged me to sign up also. My identity hasn't been compromised so far, so I think it's been working out pretty well.

Comment #6 Maude Darling (66.92.182.147) -

does anybody know anything about the Lifelock million dollar guarantee?

Comment #7 Bubba (152.163.36.91) -

I also see your "lifelock" reviews site above is just a site with a bunch of commentary about lifelock and an affiliate link through CJ.com to lifelock.

According to Samantha they deal with stolen credit cards? Or just stolen ID?

What about protection on paypal.com. They offer theft protection but only if you make a report within 2 days. Does lifelock cover theft protection there if you are unable to meet their unreasonable time frame?

Comment #8 Jeff Davis (68.13.61.193) -

LifeLock is pretty decent because they have that million dollar guarantee and they have the WalletLock feature.

The million bucks goes towards how much they'll spend to recover your damages from ID theft.

• Prevent Identity Theft

Comment #9 Ted Schrader (160.7.246.83) -

We are concerned about giving out our S.S #s over the internet. How can we insure that I.D. theft companies themselves are legit. Can someone provide link to Internet better business bureau.

Comment #10 Martin from Kansas -

Here is a link to the BBB

• Better Business Bureau

Comment #11 Rosey (74.95.135.193) -

It's true that you can use a shredder and you can be as careful as humanly possible to keep your wallet in your possession, but what if you want to make an online purchase with your credit card? Do you know what to do to keep your transaction safe?

One of the things LifeLock does is presents you with a quick quiz that shows you the weak points in your habits. Look for it at www.idtheftquiz.org. When you think about how many many points of entry a thief has to your identity, purchasing a policy like LifeLock makes a lot of sense.

But even if you handle your identity safety needs on your own, check out the quiz if only to make sure you aren't overlooking some area where you could be doing more to protect yourself!

• identity theft risk factors quiz

Comment #12 Jason (70.76.199.118) -

Lifelock, LoudSiren, Debix, TrustedID, and Identity Guard are all legitimate identity protection companies. The first four have been reviewed at IdentityTheftLabs.com and the differences between each companies service is pointed out. Identity Theft Labs is also a good resource for identity theft news, information and tips.

• LifeLock Review

Comment #13 The Identity Cop from South Carolina, U.S.A. -

Pretty much everything you get from LifeLock you can do for yourself. LifeLock contacts the 3 credit reporting companies for you and places a fraud alert on your credit report. Fraud alert ensures that creditors call you and verify your identity before opening any new credit lines. You can put a fraud alert on your credit report yourself if you call any one of the 3 credit reporting companies. If you call one, they are required by law to contact the other 2 for you. They are also required to provide you with 1 free credit report. The only problem with fraud alert is that it expires after 90 days. You can call again and place the alert on your credit report or you can rely on a 3rd party company to do this for you.

Fraud alert is effective for detecting identity thieves who try to open new lines of credit, but for existing accounts you may need to place a "credit freeze" on your credit report. This is not something LifeLock will do for you, but it should be carefully considered before you do it.

The real benefit of using LifeLock is the $1, 000, 000 guarantee. If your identity is stolen they will spend up to $1, 000, 000 helping you clear your credit. It's not an insurance policy where you get $1, 000, 000. Rather it's a promise to spend up to that much providing you with the help you need to clear your name.

• Identity Theft

Comment #14 ryan (69.47.168.149) - Mon Jun 30 17:33:18 2008

I got LifeLock about 6 months ago and the junk mail has nearly stopped. I only paid $99 for the year (got a discount using promo code JBAZ35) and this alone is worth the cost

Comment #15 Jimmy (152.163.35.68) - Tue Jul 1 05:53:33 2008

So you get a commission if someone uses that promo code?

Comment #16 Dan (76.202.129.116) - Tue Jul 1 18:27:34 2008

Wow, that sarcasm was uncalled for.

Comment #17 Paul (58.8.155.187) - Thu Jul 3 21:13:07 2008

Lifelock does help protecting your identity theft of course. I wonder why people spends their valuable time to defend themselves against a fraud instead of hire some company handle on it. Something you can do for free but you forgot to calculate the value of your time.

• Lifelock Reviews

Comment #18 benoy from california - Sat Jul 12 02:21:40 2008

They offer theft protection but only if you make a report within 2 days. I wonder why a person spends their valuable time to defend themselves against a fraud instead of hire some company handle on it.

stop identity theft

• stop identity theft

Comment #19 George from Montana - Sat Jul 12 06:16:42 2008

"within 2 days" Make the report within 2 days of what? Someone stealing your identity? I would say that is impossible as you never know when someone steals your identity...

You only find out after they do something that negatively impacts you... and it might not be possible for you to make the report within 2 days of finding out.

For example, someone steals your SSN... gets arrested and gives the police your SSN. They skip out on the charges. Later you get pulled over for having a broken tail light. The warrant comes up under your SSN and the police haul you off to jail.

You sit in jail for a week or two while the police figure out what's up.

Now, its more than 2 days since:

1) Your SSN was stolen

2) Your stolen SSN was used

3) You found out something was hinky with your SSN

What if your SSN wasn't stolen at all and someone just made up a random number and it turned out to be your SSN.

Comment #20 tom dooley from mookiewookieville, oregon - Sat Jul 19 12:41:08 2008

Most identity theft protection plans allow you 30 days to report stolen identity from the time you find out that your identity has been stolen - not from the day it actually happened. This is the case for any good id theft protection plan.

• identity theft protection

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