Importance of Lifelock

Importance of Lifelock

Financial thefts are everywhere. Internet crimes are also became part of everyday life. Additionally, identity theft has been a recurring problem with unwary consumers since the emergence of online transactions.

Financial identity theft – pretending to be someone else most commonly to gain access to their finances – affects over 9 million people in the U.S., each year. Victims of the crime cannot easily reverse their bad credit and may find their financial lives sabotaged for the foreseeable future. Lifelock is the only solution to this problem.

Precautions such as never divulging personal information and checking your bank account often do not give you the security you need. You may consider a fraud protection company. LifeLock is one such company. Founded in 2005 in Tempe, Arizona, it promises protection from credit card fraud, and reimbursement should identity theft occur, for a monthly fee of $10(or a yearly fee of $110). Life LifeLock boasts such security in its service that the CEO, Todd Davis, publishes his social security number on the official website and in a television ad campaign. Davis says, “The reason I'm able to give out my social security number, is because we've gone out and posted fraud alerts with the credit reporting agencies and with CHEX systems”. Interestingly, the SSN was once used by an identity theft to obtain a $500 loan, but the situation was amended before police could press charges.

LifeLock's confidence in its service is reinforced by its $1 million ‘Service Guarantee’, stating the company will pay up to $1,000,000 to amend any failure in its service, per person, per lifetime. LifeLock claims that its service is so good it has never had to honor this guarantee.

LifeLock takes several steps to ensure its clients' security. Upon enrollment, LifeLock adds and automatically renews 90-days fraud alerts to clients' accounts. Fraud alerts notify creditors to verify their client's identity before open a new credit account. The client is called and if he or she denies opening the account, the action is canceled.

After requesting fraud alerts, LifeLock will remove the client's name from junk mail lists as well as pre-approved credit offer lists. LifeLock will then mail the client his or her credit reports. LifeLock also offers a service for retrieving lost wallets and purses, by helping the client to cancel each credit card account, and then by sending the client the necessary forms to replace important documents such as drivers license, social security card, etc.

LifeLock openly states that every one of its steps on the way to financial security can be taken by the client at no charge; however the company offers convenience and reparation services once theft has occurred.

In 2007 LifeLock's reputation was soiled when the co-founder Robert Maynard Jr. was accused of identity theft himself – apparently numerous outraged customers reported $300 debits in their accounts, and investigations linked the crimes to Maynard. Maynard vehemently denied the charges but then stepped down from his position amid the erupting controversy. Despite the controversy, today LifeLock remains a reputable company, the leader of the identity theft protection industry.