Has anyone ever used this service? I can't help but think for $10 / month its trivially cheap insurance compared to the problems you'd have to deal with if someone did end up stealing your identity.

Yeah. You get several credit reports annually as well, and notices if anyone attempts to take out credit in your name.

I've heard it's good, as long as you're clear about what it does and doesn't protect you from. For example, it won't prevent someone from stealing your identity to gain employment.

Local radio station was real high on this, and I believe they interviewed the guy behind it. He used to have a promo where he would give his social security number, saying he was not worried about anyone using it because his "Lifelock" program was so good he guaranteed it up to 1 million dollars.

His identity was hacked, the last I heard from the radio folks.


At least, I think it is the same one. Lifelock sounds like the one they were talking about.

I wonder if he paid himself a million dollars?

One of the people I work with has LifeLock, and when he bought a new house and moved, it turned out to be a nightmare. None of the utilities would do anything over the phone because of it, he had to go in person to all the different offices to get everything transferred and turned on in the new house.

I've heard the usual nightmare stories - it's worth doing research before jumping into it. The concept is nice, but I gather the company isn't everything it claims to be.

Well, nothing is a panacea, but I've had no problems despite several moves and utility changes. Some people are more prone to fail than others and should plan accordingly :> In 2003 or some a group of scammers in Houston got me in a huge ID theft operation based on information they'd stolen from area businesses, fortunately the FBI nailed them before they did too much damage. I'd prefer the known problem of maybe needing to provide extra ID for the phone company to the unknown and unplanned problem of potentially being on the hook for thousands of dollars

Consumer Reports is kinda decided on the issue, their main concern is that you are paying for a lot of things you could do free yourself - but frankly at $10 / month I can find a better use of my time.

So Malse you use this and haven't had any troubles? I'm thinking I'll be signing up.

No, and I get a loss less junk mail too. It is technically a lot of things you could do for free, yes, but by that argument you can also farm your own food too, so it's not a question of cost but one of convenience and how you want to spend your time. Personally, I can not stand dealing with stupid paperwork.

His identity was used a ton of times actually. People were getting drivers licenses and all kinds of things with his SS.

I don't really think that he meant if you knew that SSN you couldn't steal it, especially since getting anyone's SSN is becoming easier and easier every day, I think he meant more that if his was stolen he didn't have a worry since LifeLock would take care of it. At least that is what I assumed.

Research the owner... Crook..... It's nothing you can't do your self for free.

It's nothing you can't do your self for free.

Yes, but like Malse said the amount of time it would take to do that every month is certainly worth a lot more than $10. Lately I've been billing at $60+/hr :)

Tell you what Osg, in your copious free time, if you can get me off all the junk mail listings, keep a fraud alert on all my credit listings, call me whenever someone tries to open any account with my name/SSN, and send me a copy of the various major FICO reports a few times a year, while being willing to pay me for any liability I incur that your service was supposed to prevent me from, I will happily pay you a few dollars less than I do for lifelock for the free stuff.

Do what ya want there smart pants.. I do most all the same for my self for free.. Just because you're lazy and I am not don't get all snarky...

You're funnier trolling politirants.

What ever man... THink what you want. It's your money... I do know you are not the brightest bulb ib the box if you can't figure out how to protect yourself for free with a simple modicum of effort.

I've been pretty happy with Lifelock - and it was worth the purchase for me because of where I've lived over the last several years (laredo, very near the border, extremely high identity crime rate, and south san antonio, ditto). The only time it presented itself as a potential negative was when I applied for my mortgage and they ran the credit check and I was asked about the inquiries (the quarterly reports they request) - they *do* count towards your credit score and I had to write a note of explanation for them. I had zero trouble transferring/starting utility service, however.

Regards,
Nydia