LifeLock

You’ve probably seen these LifeLock ads: “Hi. I’m Todd Davis, and this is my real Social Security number.” If you’ve thought about enrolling in their identity theft program, but heard people complain about paying someone else to do what you can do for free, ask yourself these questions: (more…)

So much has been written about the class-action suit brought against identity theft protection firm LifeLock, it’s only fair to say a little about the uber law firm pursuing the suit.

In 2006, a Maine jury ordered Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, LLC to pay $10.8 million for dropping a set of clients to take on the same defendant in a more-lucrative class action suit.

Hagens Berman represented three small, bottled water companies in mediation with Nestle Waters North America. Nestle had made a settlement offer, but withdrew it when the law firm suddenly left for greener pastures and deeper pockets. Their defection cost the bottled water companies millions of dollars.

When the decision was announced in favor of Hagens Berman’s former clients, the law firm’s attorney presciently announced that the jury’s decision wasn’t the final word. The firm decided to settle out of court the day before the jury was to convene to make a decision on possible additional punitive damages…thereby issuing the final word.

Hagens Berman files class-action suit to protect hearing-unimpaired Americans

Also in 2006, the firm sued Apple saying their iPods were too loud, and listeners who used earbuds while listening to their iPods at full volume could suffer hearing loss. (Now you know why your microwave has warning labels to tell you that putting your dog inside could result in fried Fido.)

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It doesn’t happen often, but occasionally you might come across complaints about Life Lock. Some people smirk and complain that Life Lock provides services you can do for yourself for free. Or, they say other people are crazy to give Life Lock all their personal information. In each of these complaints, there is a bit of legitimacy … but just a bit.

Some, but not all, of the services LifeLock provides, you could be doing for yourself. These are the things you could do yourself that are included in your LifeLock membership:

• Fraud alerts should be placed on your accounts with the major credit reporting companies. These expire every 90 days, so don’t forget to renew. You can do this free of charge.
• You should order and review your credit reports from all agencies at least once a year. You can do this free of charge.
• Those pre-approved credit card offers you get in the mail provide a wonderful opportunity for identity thieves. You should remove your information from junk mail lists. You need to do this annually, but it is free.
• It’s a common scam for pretexters, posing as phone solicitors, to call your house and tell you you’ve won a free trip. Then they ask for your credit card number to reserve a hotel room for you. You need to remove your name from all phone solicitation lists, and again, you need to do this annually, but it is free.

How many people do you think actually do all this stuff and follow up the renewals? (more…)

Before signing up with LifeLock or any other identity theft program, you want to check them out. Read their website content carefully. Compare their product and guarantee with their competitors’. Finally, you want to look at the company’s customer satisfaction ratings. The best place to do this is the Better Business Bureau’s website. (more…)