UPDATE: Lifelock failed to protect customer data, FTC charges

This would apparently be at least the second time the FTC has gone after Lifelock regarding deceptive claims.  The company settled a case with the FTC in 2010, but the FTC is claiming that Lifelock has violated the terms of that settlement.

See:
http://news.morningstar.com/all/market-watch/ ... tc-charges.aspx

I've extracted the links to the government documents :

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/150721lifelocknotice.pdf

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-release ... rce=govdelivery

CNN Money also has an article but the details are incredibly skimpy.
The comment section is also dull.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/21/pf/lifelock-i ... id=hp-stack-dom
FTC: LifeLock protection service doesn't live up to its name
CNNMoney (New York) July 21, 2015: 3:28 PM ET

I just watched the commercial, suspecting that they provide a false sense of security.

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/03/are-credit-monitoring-services-worth-it/
Are Credit Monitoring Services Worth It?
Wednesday, March 19th, 2014

...

Avivah Litan, a fraud analyst with Gartner Inc., rattled off a long list of reasons why credit monitoring services aren’t much use to most consumers.

-Most won’t tell you if a new wireless or cable service has been taken out in your name.

-They do nothing to monitor your bank account transactions, credit card accounts (for fraudulent charges), retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, loyalty accounts and more. And these are all areas where consumers should be very concerned about account takeover.

-They do nothing to tell you if a bad guy has hijacked your identity for non-financial purposes, i.e. to get a new driver’s license, passport or other identity document.  Of course a bad guy impersonating a consumer using a forged identity document can end up in prison, causing lots of problems for the victim whose identity was hijacked.

-They do nothing to stop tax fraud (typically tax refund fraud) against you.  Same is true for other government benefit programs, i.e. medicare fraud, Medicaid fraud, welfare fraud, and Social Security fraud.

“In short, they only give consumers limited help with a very small percentage of the crimes that can be inflicted on them,” Litan said. “And consumers can get most of that limited help for free via the government website or free monitoring from a breached entity where their data inevitably was compromised.”

=== This is an excellent article and many of the comments from readers are also very informative.
=== The only problem is its age : 16 months
=== Things change, and I don't know if all the links are current.

Lifelock is one of the advertisers on the morning radio program I usually listen to while heading into work.  I just shake my head when they read their disclaimers at the end of the advert and make a statement to the effect of "Lifelock cannot monitor all transactions" because, basically, this is their way of getting around the fact that their service is useless.  When something happens and they refuse to help you, they will point to that little disclaimer and say, "That was one of those transactions we could not monitor, sorry."

I have said it once and twice and thrice, LifeLock is placebo security. The Krebs item up there shoots holes in places even I had overlooked. As the TV spots with animated walking padlocks piled on in the past couple years, I wondered when the next blowup would come. A review, at the risk of repetition:

Richard Todd Davis, Fraud-In-Chief, introduced LifeLock to the broader public by slapping his Social Security number on billboards and truck panels, daring all comers to exploit it. Local Arizona media later reported that thieves gleefully accepted the invitation at least thirteen times. Multiple times he's been chased and/or sued for junk debt he didn't create. A police report of ID theft in February 2009 showed that his credit reports were loaded with derogs for a total claimed of $4899, which might have been an underestimate.

"Cracking LifeLock: Even After a $12 Million Penalty for Deceptive Advertising, the Tempe Company Can't Be Honest About Its Identity-Theft-Protection Service"
Phoenix New Times - May 2010
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/content/printVersion/1704700/

A whistleblower lawsuit filed sixteen months ago may provide insight into the substance of causes of action currently under seal in the new FTC case:

Former Exec Blows Whistle on LifeLock
Courthouse News Service - March 2014
http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/03/24/66399.htm

"A former chief information security officer claims in court that LifeLock fired him for objecting that it turned off or limited the number of alerts sent to its elderly customers to reduce the calls to its customer support center."
"... the company's "technological security readiness (intrusion prevention, data leakage, data encryption, access controls, physical security, etc.) was only at 27 percent of the minimum to protect LifeLock's customers," and its security vigilance was at zero percent of the minimum."

I see that the FTC's counsel is asking for permission to bend a couple procedural rules. They want to exceed the page limit in the contempt motion memorandum and to file up to 73 exhibits in a "non-electronic" manner. To explain, federal litigants ask for things they want by a motion, which briefly states the request, and then support why they want it and why they deserve it by a detailed memorandum. Presumably the FTC has a great volume of material to show and tell the court, suggesting that they would like LifeLock buried so deep in items to oppose that LifeLock's counsel will need a jackhammer to cut them out.

I was a LifeLock member, from way back in their early days.
Then, yes, the level of protect was good and very transparent:

• I did get copies of my credit reports very regularly.
• If I tried to open a new account somewhere, I was phoned during the process to confirm that it was me making the requests.
• I had to give authorization for a third party to run a credit report on me.

Over the years they became progressively less and less obvious they were monitoring me:

• I stopped getting credit reports.
• I financed two vehicles and a house, never a flag was raised.
• Employment background and credit check was performed, with my knowledge, but no prompts for authorization.

While I never had any issues were I would have needed them, it became quite apparent that they weren't doing anything to prevent me needed them.
Like I said, I was a LifeLock member.....

I was just starting to look into this sort of service, and I am glad to have these posts.  Thanks to All - //

Stay away from CreditKarma as well.  The security there is so lax a 2 year old could hack it.

I was part of the Anthem Health Care breach and my info may have been compromised. They arranged for free two year credit monitoring from a different company (AllClear ID if I am allowed to say it, if not, I apologize, not pushing anything, just letting those know which one was offered),  for those who wished to take advantage of it and I did. I receive monthly activity reports and have set up a cell phone telephone call alert  in case something is tried. I also froze, temporarily, the three credit reporting bureaus. I also check each of my credit cards and bank statements on a daily basis so I am also monitoring it on my own.

Never hurts to be cautious.

You can't trust any of these groups it seems that just about all have been breached in the past
12-months.   Using a debt or credit card for anything on-line is extremely risky.  I have had good
luck finding what I need locally and paying cash.

I had exactly the same situation as Roe: the Anthem Hack, the offer of the free monitoring, which I did accept but do not trust, and since I don't have any need for more credit, I've frozen the three credit reporting bureaus and have recently asked for and received my free annual reports from them. I also check my bank accounts every morning and the two credit accounts I actually have about twice a week or so.

Nothing like a good, healthy dose of paranoia. Remember: it doesn't mean they're NOT out to get you.

From the comments I am assuming all of you think LifeLock should do all of the monitoring and you do nothing.  I have worked for both a credit bureau and now 2 major financial institutions.  No system is foolproof and you have to do your own checking as well.  You get 1 free credit report from the 3 bureaus every year -- yes, there are 3 bureaus.  All 3 do not report info the same nor do all financial/banking/retail institutions report to all 3 bureaus.  LifeLock has monitored both my credit and my husband's credit since we purchased our house. I did my homework and knew upfront they do not monitor bank accounts, taxes, etc.  That's MY job............  You should have a Consumer Statement on your bureau stating that any applications for credit should be checked by phoning you before approval -- and it's easy to do.

I no longer use my credit/debit cards online due to previous unauthorized charges. What I've found is that most website will accept gift cards - the local groceries sell gift cards in conjunction with their gas perks program. I buy gift cards when I plan to shop (brick & mortar as well as online) and use them like cash. Sometimes it isn't really that convenient but I haven't paid more than a dollar a gallon for gasoline in a couple of years so the inconvenience is actually worth in based on the amount of money I say on gas. Check into it. I just purchased a new refrigerator at Sears with gift cards purchased at Giant Eagle and can now get 30 gallons of gas for free .... nice perk.