Speaker Announcement, March, 2006

LifeLock’s Mission: Complete Protection from ID Theft 

It seems that every other day another company issues a press release stating that they have lost the financial or health records of thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, even millions of Americans. In many cases, these records contain all of the information a thief would need to assume someone’s identity. After all, it was all of the information they needed to confirm the consumer’s identity in the first place.

For the second straight year more than 250 organizations have reported losses of personal information affecting at least 55 million employees, students, consumers, veterans, soldiers, nurses, patients, teachers, homeowners, taxpayers and children. Each of these potential victims has one thing in common -- they did nothing to deserve their fate but trust those who were entrusted with key information.

The Federal Trade Commission estimates that nearly 25 percent of identity thefts are done through the workplace or someone the victim knows. The FTC also reports that the average identity theft victim spends 177 hours repairing the damage, including a great deal of time during business hours, making it a workplace productivity issue as well as a personal security concern.

Due to ever stronger consumer protection laws, Americans are financially protected from most losses when it comes to damaged credit reports and credit cards caused by a thief. But there are other ways a thief can use someone else’s identity to cause serious damage to a victim’s life.

Take, for instance, the reporter whose 20-year old checkbook wound up in the wrong hands. “The thief was bouncing checks all over the place. The problem was, he was using my name and check fraud is a felony.” 

Or the Phoenix man whose identity was stolen by a man who went on to commit rape and murders using his name. “Even though he’s sitting in prison, I sometimes feel like I’m the one serving the life sentence,” says the victim.

To confront the problem, many people are turning to solution products or insurance to protect in the aftermath of identity theft. These products, though less expensive in most cases, do nothing to stop anyone from becoming victims or lessen the number of hours spent on the telephone resolving issues. But that’s reactive.

To be proactive, consumers are encouraged to take preventive measures to protect themselves against ID theft: Get a copy of your credit reports from each of the three credit bureaus once a year. Check your banking and credit card statements for unusual transactions. File a police report. Shred your mail. But credit industry leaders admit that these efforts are too little, too late.

“That doesn’t protect consumers. It’s not going to help and the public is starting to learn that,” said Thomas Chapman, CEO of Equifax, one of the “big three” credit reporting agencies in the United States.

Now there is really a guaranteed way to remove ID theft from your everyday life. An Arizona-based company, LifeLock, provides a system that “locks up” personal information and completely backs the service with a $1 million guarantee. While all others worry about how to clean up problems from ID theft, LifeLock (www.lifelock.com) concentrates on stopping the crime before it can cause havoc.

“If anyone tells you that this crime is under control or just hype, they really have no idea what they are talking about,” noted LifeLock CEO Todd Davis. “The number of reported breaches is much higher than previous years and everyone needs to understand that prevention is the only way to be safe. We still encourage people to shred and check credit reports, however, it’s time to go a few steps further. That is where we come in.”

LifeLock uses a combination of tactics that includes everything from setting and maintaining alerts forcing banks to contact people directly before issuing credit to removing them from pre-approved credit card lists. There are no other preventative answers available to consumers unless they want to take advantage of credit freezes which is offered in some states but often impedes easy use by the rightful owner.

As the only company with a program to protect children 16 and under, LifeLock developed a special program to help U.S. Veterans recently affected by breaches and victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

It is clear that 2006 was one of the worst years for ID theft with an estimated $1 trillion being stolen by criminals now doing research and development to find new victims. It will only begin to come under control when we all decide that stopping the crime is better than dealing with the after effects.

Come to the March meeting and learn more about identity theft and what you can do to make sure you’re not a victim.