Wow. Symantec has always been a fairly reputable company that I've had little issue with other than that their security software is historically bloated and a resource hog. But now that they've partnered with Lifelock, I can only assume one of two things: Symantec is willing to throw their customers under the bus for money or they have no quality control. Either way, I think it's definitely time to stick with McAfee.

If you want to stay safe while working on your computer or browsing web sites, you can get Norton Internet Security or Norton AntiVirus with a 30-day LifeBook service and 10% off the subscription, along with two movie tickets. After the trial period ends you will be charged automatically with $9 a month, or $99 annually.

Granted, McAfee also does this "free trial" BS in order to trick customers into subscriptions that they didn't know they were getting, but at least the free trial is for their anti-virus software and not some shady ID theft insurance deal.

Lifelock was sued by Experian for placing fraud alerts for anyone and everyone when the alerts are supposed to be set by individuals themselves and only when they feel they are at risk for ID theft. While I think the whole fraud alert system is bogus and it doesn't really matter if you set one or not, I can't help but snicker that the courts ruled that the practice of a 3rd party company setting them for customers (like Lifelock does) is not legal.

Considering that the first 2 bullet points on Lifelock's "what we do" page is "set fraud alerts" and "set them again after they expire", their list of what you supposedly get for the money you pay is going to look quite anemic indeed.

Here's a great article for spotting ATM machine skimmers.

And here's a list of articles of people who've actually found them and alerted Consumerist.com.

In a direct slap across the face to the barely legal Freecreditreport.com, the FTC has released a spoof video of the pirate restaurant ad to highlight that there's only ONE place to get free credit reports and the rest are all pay services in disguise.

The original ad

The FTC version

Beware of the others,

There's always a catch,

They claim to be free,

But there are strings attached,

Brilliant!

It's so very rare that regulatory agencies actually get it right! Send this link to everyone you know and make sure they see it too.

What better way to get all your data than to offer you a job that doesn't exist?

As you all know, http://www.annualcreditreport.com is the ONLY legit site to order free credit reports (one per year per credit reporting company). Generally it's smart to spread out your reports so you get a year-long look at them, but for reasons I won't go into, I needed all three now.

The interesting twist is that since I have a credit freeze on my reports, I can't order them online (actually Transunion still lets you). There are several problems here. First, Transunion didn't ask for my freeze PIN before giving me access to my report and second, the other companies won't let me do a web order at ALL (they are making me mail them documentation).

Hopefully, they'll get their act together soon.

I just got a letter from Equifax stating that an attempt to access my credit was made and blocked since I have my credit reports frozen. It was my employer doing a routine credit check (which they do every few years), but even they can't get to my credit without my permission. Nice huh?

Anyway, I had to do my very first "thaw" which consisted of calling the number Equifax provided in the letter. They had to check if my state allowed "per company thaws" (which means that if you don't live in the right states, they won't let you lift the freeze for a specific company). Fortunately, I do so they charged the $5 lifting fee over the phone to my credit card and gave me a 4 digit pin to provide to the company I wanted to allow access to.

When they make their second attempt, they'll use the pin for access and then the credit file will be fully locked again automatically (so says the Equifax representative I talked to).

It's not as smooth or simple a process yet as it should be, but it wasn't bad. I'm just happy that for once a company has to ask (practically beg) to be able to access my sensitive personal information. It's nice to be protected without having to pay for rip-offs like monitoring or insurance.

What has been known as a Credit Freeze, but that I will now refer to by a simpler and more correct name: Credit Report Lock, is something pretty much everyone should do. Here are the links for each of the three major credit reporting companies:

http://www.experian.com/consumer/security_freeze.html
http://www.transunion.com/corporate/personal/fraudIdentityTheft/preventing/securityFreeze.page
http://www.equifax.com/cs/Satellite?c=EFX_ContentRoot&cid=1165203975981&pagename=5-1%2F5-1_Layout

Specifically, the agreement between LifeLock and TransUnion will automate and streamline the processes through which fraud alerts and opt outs are set, confirmed to be in-force and credit reports are provided for LifeLock members. These enhancements will serve to further strengthen LifeLock's delivery of proactive consumer identity theft protection services.

In other words, Transunion has decided to allow Lifelock to place fraud alerts and opt-outs on behalf of customers instead of suing them for abusing the system like Experian did. Wooo.

They advertise this like it's some great thing, but all it does is make life easier for Lifelock and doesn't have any benefit to you as a customer at all.

I reported before about the large amount of bogus Lifelock review sites and blogs that are everywhere on the net and they just won't quit. I set up some web alerts to tell me whenever a new site or post is created mentioning Lifelock and that led me to this article:

Lifelock and Melaleuca

First of all, it's highly insulting to our collective intelligence to suggest that Lifelock is actively pursuing the "cure" to ID theft just like it was insulting when OJ Simpson claimed to be actively looking for the "real" killer. The answer is already out there and they are either ignoring it on purpose or they are unaware of it. That makes them incompetent at best, and dishonest at worst.

But my feelings for Lifelock aside, the real issue here is that the company they name in the article is Melaleuca, an Amway-like direct sales company that has a fairly decent line of products that I buy from time to time. I have always liked their philosophy and assumed that they were one of those companies who was run by real people who actually care about the world, their customers or both.

I'd like to think that they just don't know anything about Lifelock which disappoints me in that they clearly didn't do their homework. Alternatively, perhaps they don't care and it's only the bottom line that counts. Either way, I'm not thrilled by this partnership and I'm sending Melaluca corporation an e-mail to that effect. I expect a similar response to all the other e-mails I've sent in the past, but at least I can hope for the best.

At least it will give me the chance to use the skills I've been reading about in one of my new favorite books: How to Complain for Fun and Profit.

[+] Complain Letter to Melaleuca

Click the [+] to open and read the letter

[-] Complain Letter to Melaleuca

to: info@melaleuca.com
subject: New Lifelock partnership

Dear Mr. Frank L. VanderSloo, founder of Melaleuca:

"We believe the products we use every day should make a significant difference for our health, our families, and the earth."

This is the mantra prominently listed on your page and my wife and I believe that you mean it as we love Melaleuca products and have been customers for over five years. Not only are the products effective, but cost effective, and safer for the environment. It's hard to find products that are better than others on so many levels and we've been pleased to be your customers.

I can't begin to tell you how upset I was to find out that one of the companies that I respect most has partnered with one that I respect the least. Lifelock is a company that makes millions by appealing to people's fears while offering them nearly nothing in return. I wrote a web-review of the company and have been following some of their exploits over the years and even written a direct challenge to Todd Davis, Lifelock founder and CEO to include actual ID Theft protection in his service in order to provide a real service to his customers. I've received no response.

Because I believe in your motivations, I can only assume that you don't possess any technology, privacy, and identity theft professionals on your staff before this partnership was formed. I'm including links to my review and other information, but the thrust of it is this: Lifelock offers a series of single-time services that are quick, easy, and free for anyone to do themselves. The majority of Lifelock's "service" consists only of ID theft insurance that has been the subject of several lawsuits and allegations concerning how easy or possible it would be to actually collect.

There is a much simpler solution for ID Theft called Credit Report Freezes that makes it all but impossible for a thief to get credit in your name, but Lifelock either doesn't know about them or chooses to ignore them making them incompetent at best and dishonest at worst.

Though the profitable decision would not be to sever ties with Lifelock, it is the moral decision. I hope that you will take what I have told you to heart, research for yourself just what you've gotten yourself into, and end your relationship with companies that fall so far below the standards of your own.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Duffy
Awareness Advocate

Review of LifeLock services:
http://www.jeremyduffy.com/lifelock-sucks/

Open challenge to Todd Davis:
http://www.jeremyduffy.com/an-open-challenge-to-todd-davis-of-lifelock/

Class action suits against LifeLock:
http://www.jeremyduffy.com/another-class-action-suit-against-lifelock/
http://www.jeremyduffy.com/class-action-suit-against-lifelock/

Bogus LifeLock "Reviews" Litter the Web:
http://www.jeremyduffy.com/igotmyidentitystolencom-is-front-site-for-lifelock/
http://www.jeremyduffy.com/lifelock-has-series-of-front-sites-online/
http://www.jeremyduffy.com/lifelock-trash-sites-cross-the-line/

Credit Report Freezes, the REAL Answer to ID Theft
http://www.jeremyduffy.com/top-issues/credit-security-freezes/

Most credit reporting companies have made it as difficult and cumbersome as possible to get a credit freeze because they desperately hope that by putting barriers in your way, they can discourage you from doing it (in my opinion). That said, Transunion has suddenly decided to offer FREE freezes to everyone, even people who live in a state that allow them to charge a fee. Not only that, but they are also allowing you to do it through an ONLINE system rather than a cumbersome certified mail system.

I'm so shocked I had to to confirm it and here it is:

There's no telling how long this will be the case so make sure you get it done now while you can.

Good news for Georgians.

Related topic(s):

Credit Report Freezes (How to Stop ID Theft, Part 1)

The Georgia law caps fees for freezing or unfreezing credit records at $3, lower than most states, and requires the service to be free for people over age 65. The law also requires credit bureaus to lift the freeze within 15 minutes when a customer makes a request to buy big-ticket items like cars and TVs using credit.

Not bad at all. The only way the terms could have been better is if the freezes were entirely free.

I've written about Lifelock's morally dubious advertising techniques before, but this is certainly new. Lifelock has been accused of paying for sponsored links to their competitor NAMESAFE which, when clicked, take you not to NAME SAFE, but Lifelock.

I would be very surprised if this wasn't considered fraud and I'm interested to see what happens as a result.

A commenter pointed out this checklist of tips for controlling your data and your privacy and I agree that it's got some good advice so here's the link. Most of all, I credit them for being one of the first articles I've found online about ID theft that actually mentions credit freezes (other than mine of course).

This Thursday, I'll be doing an interview on Techtips blog radio. You can listen or call in to talk with me about Identity Theft issues. Link here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/stations/bc/TechTips/2008/06/05/How-to-avoid-becoming-an-ID-Theft-victim

I have been challenging the value of Lifelock for a while based on the fact that they claim to prevent ID theft, but can't. It looks like several other people have come to that conclusion and are busy suing him for as much of his millions that they can get.

The problem is that even with CNN, Wired, and Yahoo finally getting around to spreading the word, Lifelock is still going very strong.

Even though I've been chasing lifelock postings around on the net and posting comments letting people know the truth, I don't think my efforts are going to amount to much in the long-run.

That's why I've decided to challenge Todd Davis directly. He's obviously a showy type that feels comfortable challenging others so now it's time to turn the tables.

I've looked into Lifelock's features and found them useful, but far from worth the money spent. But with only one feature addition, that could all change. So let's get to it:

So there you have it. What are the odds that he'll actually respond? We shall see…

Last year, credit reporting companies "voluntarily" implemented credit freezes in all states in a desperate attempt to prevent more states from passing laws with worse terms than they wanted (that's my theory anyway).

Now Georgia has passed just such a law. Starting August 1st, people will be able to freeze their credit for only $3, a full $7 less than the $10 the credit reporting companies allowed in their "voluntary" plan.

Even better:

The new law also eliminates a major objection of retailers and other grantors of instant credit: that freezing a file was too much of a hassle for someone applying for an in-store credit card or car loan on the spot. Under the law, consumers will be able to "thaw" their files temporarily, and credit bureaus are required to comply within 15 minutes of the request — a first in the country.

Good. Now they have no excuse for making the thawing process more difficult for any other state.

Using only a photocopy of a driver's license and a social security number, James Harman bought over 3 million dollars worth of goods in his brother's name.

The most important point to this story? It wouldn't have happend in the first place if he'd had a credit freeze, but it still would have even if he'd had any kind of monitoring or insurance plan (even Lifelock).

Some new game manufacturers are requiring that the game system you play with have an Internet connection so the game can authenticate itself every few days. Most people are pretty adverse to being treated like criminals just to play a game much like they'd resent a screeching corporate harpy who strikes their hands with a ruler every time they do something that the company deems "unworthy".

Well since the company can't afford to train and assign a corporate harpy to each and every player, they instead put restrictive software that calls home and says, "yup, this guy's still ok". Should the software not be able to call home, like a spy under strict orders to lie low, the game will refuse to operate until given an Internet connection by which to phone home to command.

The funny thing about this is that most of their market will happily and quickly buy their games, but when they put in the screws, those same customers will refuse. However, being avid gamers and fans, when presented with the ability and opportunity to download a cracked copy, they are much more likely to do so since they will still want to play the game.

SO… Adding restrictive software to prevent piracy actually causes piracy. Too bad they don't understand that.