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LifeLock Spokesperson's Stolen ID Inspires Lawsuits

Posted by timothy on Thursday May 22, @02:34PM
from the now-he-is-a-formless-protoplasmic-blob dept.
The Courts Privacy Security Technology
OrochimaruVoldemort writes "It seems as though LifeLock isn't as secure as Todd Davis makes it out. According to a LifeLock spokesman, his identity has been stolen. For two years, Davis has been daring hackers to steal his ID. Looks like he got what he wanted. CNN reports: '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.'"

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Firehose:LifeLock spokesperson gets ID Stolen by OrochimaruVoldemort (1248060)
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  • Isn't this old news? (Score:5, Informative)

    by ngth82 (1261748) on Thursday May 22, @02:35PM (#23509072)
    Isn't this old news? I thought I read about this months ago.

    • The news is... (Score:5, Informative)

      by dhj (110274) * on Thursday May 22, @02:58PM (#23509400)
      The new news is that he is being sued. The old news is that identity thieves took his identity. The summary mentions the new part, but the title is poorly chosen. From TFA:

      - Atty David Paris is seeking class action lawsuit against founder Todd Davis in MD, NJ and WV for

      - Also being sued in AZ over the 1 million dollar "service guarantee" because it is being misrepresented and only covers "defects in lifelock's service" and not actual identity theft. which they are misrepresenting.

      - Experian is accusing LifeLock of deceiving customers about their breadth of service because all they do is put a fraud watch on your credit record every 90 days which is something anyone can do with the agencies for free themselves. The only thing this protects you from is credit fraud which where an initial credit check is performed -- and incidentally means if you actually want a change in credit, a cell phone, car, etc you have to contact the credit agency ahead of time so they will allow it.

      --David

      • Re:The news is... (Score:5, Funny)

        by frank_adrian314159 (469671) on Thursday May 22, @03:11PM (#23509616) Homepage
        The new news is that he is being sued. The old news is that identity thieves took his identity.

        Well, then, he doesn't have to worry, then, huh? Because they'll be suing the thieves! Right? Right?

        • His identity was stolen pretty quickly after he started advertising his SSN. I read elsewhere that his credit is sooo screwed up that the major agencies report his DOB as around 1943 or something and that there have been no less than 5 drivers licenses issued under his identity in various states. That doesn't sound like it remotely did what it was supposed to.

        • billionaires for tort reform! (Score:5, Insightful)

          by globaljustin (574257) on Thursday May 22, @04:52PM (#23511070)

          good example of how litigious our society is

          I understand where you are coming from, and I agree, but torts are way down on the list of court reform issues that need to be addressed. Federal, State, and local Attorney's offices are the worst offender here, with large companies being a close second. Our criminal justice system is basically a plea bargain system now, it's so gamed and rigged by the DA's that any notion of a person accused of a crime having a 'fair day in court' is reserved only for the very rich who can afford $50,000+ lawyers. The RIAA, MPAA with their frivolous lawsuits are just as bad.

          The common thread here is that the courts have become another way to abuse everyday citizens in our country for political and financial gain, or even worse, for Public Relations.

          To the lawsuits mentioned in this story, I think the litigants in this lawsuit deserve their day in court. Part of me is glad his identity was stolen. Anyone who knows about how identity theft works (even at a cursory level), knows that the services this guy was pedaling were complete vaporware. His company was taking advantage of a climate of fear and he inadvisably believed his own hype. Granted, courts do get it very wrong sometimes, and we always need to make sure we provide ways to rectify those situations, but I do not think this case is in that territory.

          It is wrong to mislead people using their irrational fears and ignorance. Yes. It is wrong. Alot of people in our society seem to think that it's ok to do this...that's what I think needs reform!

  • TWO FREAKING YEARS (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Gotung (571984) on Thursday May 22, @02:38PM (#23509114)
    The guy has been throwing out his social security number (often in television advertisements) for 2 whole years and only once did anybody end up getting any money out of it.

    And that person got it from a payday check cashing place at that.

    Not exactly a reputable type of business in general.

    I'd say his service works pretty well based upon that track record.

    • Um, actually... (Score:5, Informative)

      by RandoX (828285) on Thursday May 22, @02:44PM (#23509236)
      According to The Consumerist [consumerist.com], "...the CEO's personal information is currently being misused by at least 20 different identity thieves"

    • Re:TWO FREAKING YEARS (Score:5, Informative)

      by XorNand (517466) * on Thursday May 22, @03:11PM (#23509622)
      This "service" is simply placing a fraud alert on your credit report. When a creditor pulls your report, they see this alert which means they ought to do a bit more manual verification of your ID before granting credit. Most creditors will go the extra mile to win the business, but some of them will just throw the credit app in the trash. The bureaus have been bitching left and right about Lifelock, because they're gaming the system. A FA is only supposed to be used if a credit report (CR) is suspected of containing fraudulent information. Anyhow... the point is, you can call a credit bureau (Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion) and place a FA on your file for free. You don't even have to call them all, a FA will in short time propagate to all three.

      (Note: a FA is different from "freezing" your CR, which prevents it from even being pulled at all by potential creditors. A freeze is a one-time fee ($10 I think) and is an even better protection against ID theft than a perpetual FA. The downside is you have to pay that $10 per bureau and it can be a pain in the ass if you ever to legitimately apply for credit.)

  • Let's keep this in perspective... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Jhon (241832) * on Thursday May 22, @02:41PM (#23509166) Homepage Journal

    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.
    One out of 87 -- and that guy only succedded in getting $500.

    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.
    Ok... so it's not perfect -- but it sounds like the service would stop major ID theft attempts...

  • "he knew it wouldn't"? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by webrunner (108849) on Thursday May 22, @02:41PM (#23509168) Homepage Journal

    claiming his service didn't work as promised and he knew it wouldn't, because the service had failed even him.


    Isn't the fact that he got his identity stolen due to use of the system more or less hard proof that he didn't know it wouldn't work?

  • Identity? (Score:4, Funny)

    by amccaf1 (813772) on Thursday May 22, @02:43PM (#23509204)

    Now, LifeLock customers in Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia are suing Davis[...]
    Gee, let's hope they sue the right guy... They might accidentally sue the guy who stole his identity!

  • "Identify theft" needs a new name (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sakdoctor (1087155) on Thursday May 22, @02:44PM (#23509238) Homepage
    ...cause seriously, it's bullshit. I mean this idea that my "identity" can be stolen. What this seems to be about to be is accountability. If a bank gives out money because someone duped them into believing that they were me, then the buck should stop with them. Their fuck up, their loss in a sane world.

  • Great secuity (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 22, @02:44PM (#23509242)
    1) Goto: https://secure.lifelock.com/enrollmentform.aspx [lifelock.com] 2) Enter ' or 1=1 or ' quotes included as the promo code. 3) ??? 4) Profit
  • For two years, Davis has been daring hackers to steal his ID.

    Child's play. I bet you dumbsassses aren't good enough to shuttle $5,000,000 into my bank account, losers! I dare you! I double dog dare you!
  • Ironic to read that Experian is complaining about LifeLock's practices when, in my view, Experian itself engages in deception far worse with their costly FreeCreditReport.com website that many people confuse with the truly free AnnualCreditReport.com.

    Ron

  • If you ever even considered using LifeLock... (Score:5, Informative)

    by DiscipleN2k (914143) on Thursday May 22, @04:16PM (#23510614)
    Step 1: Call Experian (1-888-397-3742) and have them put a fraud alert on your file. They'll pass it on to the other 2 credit bureaus (Equifax: 1-800-525-6285 & TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289).

    Step 2: Repeat step 1 every 90 days.

    Step 3: Save $120 a year by doing everything LifeLock does all by yourself.

    (I know, I missed the obvious, "Step 3: Profit!" joke)

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