Does LifeLock Work?

With identity theft on the rise, a huge concern to me and probably to you is how to prevent identity theft. LifeLock is the leading ID theft protection company. But does LifeLock really work?

Let's break down each portion of what a LifeLock membership does and analyze it.

LifeLock does these things anyone can do for free themselves:

• Place fraud alerts - renew them every 90 days
• Opt-out of pre-approved credit offers (I did this years ago.)
• Get a free credit report every year from http://annualcreditreport.com (I always get them myself.)

A fraud alert on your credit files is designed to alert you to anyone attempting to open a new line of credit in your name. Is it foolproof? Not as total identity theft coverage because it doesn't require a new creditor to call you first, it just requests it. Plus, it is only intended to stop new lines of credit. Fraud alerts can't keep someone from saying they're you if they've been arrested.

LifeLock's CEO, Todd Davis, publishes his social security and has had multiple attempts of people trying to get credit in his name. The only time a thief was successful was with a payday loan company in Texas where the company didn't follow the protocol requested by the fraud alert. The identity thief made off with $500 but no blemishes were put on Mr. Davis' credit report and he wasn't responsible to repay the $500.

What else does LifeLock do to protect your identity?

Because your personal information is 'out there' in so many places, there's no way you can gather it back up. In addition, since January 2005 to May 2008 there have been over 225,000,000 cases of security breaches as reported by PrivacyRights.org.

Because so many bits and pieces of your identity can be bought and traded on the black market by orginized crime, LifeLock now has a technology called eRecon^tm that patrols over 10,000 known criminal websites for the illegal selling and trading of your personal information. This is something that would be very difficult if not impossible for someone to do for themselves.

LifeLock also has a feature called TrueAddress^tm that monitors the databases for address changes. Thieves commonly submit change of address forms so they can intercept your mail. As a LifeLock subscriber, you'll be notified if your address they have on file is changed.

For me, the biggest benefit of using LifeLock's services is knowing they'll help me if my identity ever gets stolen. I don't believe there's anything I can do (or any company can do) that will 100% guarantee that I'll never become a victim. Identity thieves are just too good at what they do.

Knowing LifeLock will hire attorneys, investigators, case managers, whatever it takes to clear a theft is biggie for me. The moment I finished enrolling with LifeLock, I experienced such a feeling of relief - it's hard to even explain. And it was totally unexpected.

LifeLock currently has over one million subscribers. Of these, only 105 people have had to use LifeLock's $1million total service guarantee. That's about one thousanth of one percent -  much better odds than non-subscribers. The CEO has had plenty of attempts to steal his identity. Not a single one is recorded on his credit report nor has he suffered any harm from them.

So in my opinion, yes, I do believe LifeLock works and is a small price to pay for the peace of mind I now have.