Lifelock Says You Can’t Stop All Forms of ID Theft

by Rick Kam

On June 11, 2007 an article in Wired Blog Network reports CEO of Lifelock, Todd Davis’ identity being stolen. Mike Prusinski, spokesman for Lifelock is quoted as saying,

“…there's no way to prevent all identity theft -- especially in cases in which a business (such as the check-cashing operation) doesn't run a credit report before providing someone with a loan or new credit card. It's a loophole," Prusinksi said. "We tell people that you can't stop every form of identity theft."”

Todd Davis was so confident in Lifelock’s identity theft protection solution, he regularly displayed his social security number on the company website. It was only a matter of time before an identity thief would use his social security number.

The Federal Trade Commission, Better Business Bureau, AARP, and law enforcement, as well as Identity Safeguards, all suggest protecting your social security number to reduce the risk of identity theft. It is the “key” to your identity. The ability to “freeze” or lock your credit will reduce the risk that an identity thief will be able to open fraudulent credit accounts, but it is not “fool proof” in stopping other growing forms of identity theft.

So how was Todd Davis’ identity stolen?

A plausible scenario would be that an identity thief saw Todd Davis’ social security number on the LifeLock website and decided to use it to commit the crime. There are many other ways an identity thief can access and use your personal information. For many individuals today, a government agency or company who has their information may lose it or have it stolen by identity thieves potentially exposing them to misuse.

While setting up fraudulent checking accounts or credit lines are the likely ways an identity thief will use stolen personal information, it is not the only way. Identity thieves also can set up cell phone accounts, obtain fraudulent driver’s licenses, or access medical services (note that medical ID theft is one of the fastest growing issues today). A credit freeze or fraud alert set by the credit bureaus (or Lifelock in Mr. Davis’s case) won’t necessarily protect them from these forms of identity theft.

The good news is you can reduce their risk of falling victim to many forms of identity theft by taking a few simple steps to protect your good name. The FTC offers good suggestions to reduce the risk and is a great consumer resource. My suggestion, consistent with that of many other security experts, is carefully protect your social security number in order to reduce your risk of identity theft.