May 21, 2010

Instant Karma's Gonna Get You


I generally do not run stories about privacy and identity fraud issues concerning Social Security numbers. These stories are numerous and have almost nothing to do with the Social Security Administration. However, I cannot resist this one. From the Mobile, AL Press Register:
LifeLock CEO Todd Davis was so confident in his company's ability to protect people from identity theft, he plastered his own Social Security all over the companies ads.

According to Wired, however, Davis' ads backfired and his identity has been stolen 13 times since June 2007, despite his claim that paying LifeLock $10-a-month makes identity theft impossible.

First, somebody used Davis' identity to get a $500 loan from a check-cashing company. Davis was duped 12 more times, with various thieves using the CEO's identity to rack up a $2,400 AT&T bill, receive a $573 bank loan and to accrue several other small debts from utility and credit companies.

In March, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined LifeLock $12 million for deceptive advertising. "In truth, the protection they provided left such a large hole... that you could drive that truck through it," chairman Jon Leibowitz told Wired.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Probably if you check he's probably been cutting grass and working fast food in every state, LOL

Anonymous said...

Good thing they have that $1 mil guarantee...