ID Protection Spokesman Has ID Stolen

After Daring Criminals By Flaunting Social Security Number, LifeLock Pitchman Is Victim Of Fraud

(AP)  Todd Davis has dared criminals for two years to try stealing his identity: Ads for his fraud-prevention company, LifeLock, even offer his Social Security number next to his smiling mug.

Now, Lifelock customers in Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia are suing Davis, claiming his service didn't work as promised and he knew it wouldn't, because the service had failed even him.

Attorney David Paris said he found records of other people applying for or receiving driver's licenses at least 20 times using Davis' Social Security number, though some of the applications may have been rejected because data in them didn't match what the Social Security Administration had on file.

Davis acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press that his stunt has led to at least 87 instances in which people have tried to steal his identity, and one succeeded: a guy in Texas who duped an online payday loan operation last year into giving him $500 using Davis' Social Security number.

Paris said the fact Davis' records were compromised at all supports the claim that Tempe, Ariz.-based LifeLock doesn't provide the comprehensive protection its advertisements say it does.

"It's further evidence of the ineffectiveness of the services that LifeLock advertises," said Paris, who is lead attorney on the three new lawsuits, the latest of which was filed this month.

Davis learned about the fraud in Texas when the payday-loan outfit called to collect on the loan, he said. He didn't get an alert beforehand because the company didn't go through one of the three major credit bureaus before approving the transaction.

Davis said it is possible driver's licenses have been issued to other people in his name because of the widespread availability of his personal information - and because of what he described as the flimsy mechanisms in place to report that kind of fraud.

Paris noted that LifeLock charges $10 a month to set fraud alerts with credit bureaus, even though consumers can do it themselves for free.

But Davis stands by his company and his advertising gimmick, which has appeared in newspapers and on billboards, radio and MTV. He even broadcasts it by bullhorn on walking tours through crowded downtowns.

"There's nothing on my actual credit report about uncollected funds, no outstanding tickets or warrants or anything," he said. "There's nothing to indicate my identity has been successfully compromised other than the one instance. I know I'm taking a slightly higher risk. But I'll take my risk for the tremendous benefit we're bringing to society and to consumers."

The lawsuits, for which Paris is seeking class-action status, highlight the fundamental limits on how much security identity-theft companies can provide.

Companies like LifeLock can help guard against only certain types of financial fraud by helping consumers set up alerts with credit bureaus, which inform them when someone tries to open a new line of credit or boost their credit limit to finance a buying binge, for example.

The services don't guard against many types of identity theft such as use of a stolen Social Security number on a job application or for medical services, or even the instance of an arrestee giving police a stolen Social Security number to shield his own identity.

LifeLock is also being sued in Arizona over its $1 million service guarantee, which the plaintiffs claim is misleading because it only covers a defect in LifeLock's service, and in California by the Experian credit bureau. Experian accuses LifeLock of deceiving consumers about the breadth of its protection and abusing the system for attaching fraud alerts to credit reports.

Security experts say complaints about the company reinforce the time-honored wisdom of keeping your Social Security number secret.

"There's been a lot of marketing, a lot of hype about LifeLock," said Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy with the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. "The question is, 'How much protection does it really buy you?'

"There is no company that can guarantee they can protect you (completely) against identity theft," Stephens said. "Absolutely nobody can do that."

The solution is: If I didn''t make the transaction, I am not responsible for it. Whoever accepted the fraudulent transaction must take the loss, not me. Why is it not this way?

[nonayabiness]

I always thought LifeLock was a scam, anyway. He invited people, dared them even, to steal his identity. I''m only sorry that the guy who did only got $500 out of him.

[nonayabiness]

"And now with medical transcriptionist jobs moving overseas, was HIPAA wasted effort? Or is the rest of the world wasting?"
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Posted by hypnotoad72 at 09:57 AM : May 25, 2008

-So now, people who can''t speak English are not only answering phones and not being of any help, but now they''re responsible for our health records too? Completely outlandish!!!

When is the revolution coming over lost jobs in the name of fatcat CEO''s and the spike in oil costs over the last 3 years in the name of Big Oil, and again, fatcat CEO''s. Tea, anyone?

[hypnotoad72]

Whoops!

I''d heard the guy''s commercials and thought, "This is a joke, right?"

Yup. Seems it was a joke after all.

And now with medical transcriptionist jobs moving overseas, was HIPAA wasted effort? Or is the rest of the world wasting?

[lochlan-2009]

So the real criminals are the credit agencies who seem to be doing practically nothing to stop security fraud.
Maybe they''re the ones taking part in the billions of $$$ being stollen at our expense. If we had a government that was for the people they might have wanted to look into that. Shouldn''t we be fining them for letting someone else use our identity and reputation (defamation).

[toolmangler-2009]

If one man can make it, another man can change it. Only GOD cant be defeated, and man cannot destroy one single thing that GOD had made, man has been allowed to re-mold some of GODs works but GOD is the ''only'' one that owns the universe and only the owner has the power and right to destroy it.

[jw218389]

Perhaps we should make him an enemy combatant?

Lock him up in Guantanamo and convert him to Neo Conservatism??

hmmm....

[rudy654-2009]

online payday loan operation last year into giving him $500 using Davis'' Social Security number.
***********

So make it so that the stupid online payday loan operation suffers the consequences. Nobody can help stupidity.

[chris61611]

There should be a business or organization that could keep or information safe.

[j_davis_meeb]

Ohhhhhhh noooo, what will the palsied, paid spokesperson P p p p Paul Harrrrveyyy have to say about this?

-http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acxiom

Posted by bobnjersey at 03:56 PM : May 24, 2008

Excellent link there, Bob. I suspected but didn''t know places like this existed. Very scary.

[bobnjersey]

the storing and trading of people''s personal information should be completely and totally banned.

a system that represents the interests of corporations ... instead of the individual citizens is the main reason why this can happen in the first place.

these people know more about you than you do.

http://www.acxiom.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acxiom

[kennedy7955]

Class action lawsuits should be reduced through tort reform. This is an example of lawyers taking advantage of the system and suing a legitimate business over nothing. The company clearly offers a guarantee which does not claim your identity will never be stolen - only that it will do its best to prevent it from happening and should it happen, they will pay the losses.

[kennedy7955]

Class action lawsuits should be reduced through tort reform. This is an example of lawyers taking advantage of the system and suing a legitimate business over nothing. The company clearly offers a guarantee which does not claim your identity will never be stolen - only that it will do its best to prevent it from happening and should it happen, they will pay the losses.

[antoniof123]

People if it sounds too good too be true IT IS.

Don''t be fooled they are just as bad and the criminals who steal from a bank.

God there should be a way to stop these preditors.