Lifelock Scam
In the past, I've wondered if there were any services like this to protect individuals from identity theft, and in all fairness, I assumed there were, but there is already almost an over abundance of safety protocols designed and implemented with the consumer in mind. These standard measures are handled by businesses and companies as part of their normal service; be it banks, credit card companies, subscription based web sites, or eBay.
After reviewing what you actually receive for this service, I'm trying to understand why anyone feels the need for what amounts to a minute amount of coverage. I'm not at all trying to be rude, or condescending in any way towards individuals that feel the need to fortify a sense of security when it comes to finances. Nor am I trying to be rude or presumptuous toward about new company, however, I can't logically find a place for companies like Lifelock in an already overflowing network of services; all promising to protect my identity, or defend my PC from viruses.
In fact, just recently, I used my bank card to make a purchase on eBay, and immediately received a phone call asking me to answer specific questions about my identity in order to clarify that it was indeed me making the purchase. Not long after, I used my credit card to buy a bottle of wine at a liquor store, and sure enough; received another phone call from a VISA associate doing a security check to make sure that my card wasn't stolen by a ninja.
Lifelock charges $10 a month for its basic service, and $15 for its "Command Center" service. That means that for 4 years, I'm going to pay $480, and for that amount of money, I'm going to receive a free credit report, which is essentially mailed to me for free from my credit card institution every 4 months, but I can pay a fraction of that for the same service from all 3 "major" credit card bureaus, and unless I fail to pay my bills or loans, my credit score isn't going to change much in 4 months...
I also receive a "fraud alert" which is placed on my credit file in order to protect me from anyone trying to take out a loan under my name, as if the phone call each and every time I use my credit card isn't enough. The fraud alert essentially goes on your credit file and insures that a proper identity verification takes place before anyone can take out a new line of credit in your name. Isn't this something that takes place anyway? Let's say for the sake of argument that it doesn't; realistically, you would probably find it easier to track down the credit associate that failed to verify your identity than to get another credit associate to replace his own company's protocol with Lifelock's. Any credit agency or credit card service that fails to verify someone's identity will be found at fault 9 out of 10 times, and they would likely issue back the credit instead of paying legal fees.
Another issue with Lifelock that has already occurred in one case, is that it slows down the loan process, and that is already the subject of a legal dispute between Experian and Lifelock.
What I ultimately can't understand is why anyone would pay $10 a year to have someone else place a fraud alert on your credit file when you can do it yourself?
