Lifelock?

[bjl584]

Does anyone have any experience with this company or one like it? Is it worth it, or don't they do anything that I can't do myself? I have been thinking about getting some sort of identity theft protection, as it is rather rampant anymore. A friend of mine just had his identity stolen, and it was a mess to clean it up.

[wrk4lvg]

ID theft CEO has identity stolen - TODAY People - TODAYshow.com

[wrk4lvg]

Personally, I used Privacy Assist through Bank of American over the last couple of years and it was a great help. Now that I have everything squared away, I'll just get my free credit report each year or twice a year and monitor it that way.

[MonkeyMama]

I don't think lifelock does anything you can't do yourself.

It may be worth paying for a credit monitoring service (I say that as someone who had their identity stolen and $50k or so of department store debt ran up in my name over the course of 2 days). The thing is, the sooner you are aware of a credit breach, the easier it is to clear up. I was alerted by a department store credit department (thieves used my real phone # for whatever reason) who thought it was suspicious I maxed out my card they day I applied for it. Many others were trying to contact me for the same reason - others were clueless when I called. But I probably tracked down all the cards within a month and just had to call and get a notarized signature for a few. Half the department stored credit cards were owned by one credit company - so made it even easier.

I had to sign up for credit monitoring to find all the cards and clean it all up, but for a long time I didn't really want to give it up. I appreciated how easy it was to clean up because I was alerted immediately. I think finding out many months later could have been much more hassle. (Then again, they used my real address and I Would have found them all within a couple of months, regardless). That said, I have since signed up for creditkarma.com. It's free. Not perfect, but has enough info that if I check it often (once a month at the least) it should be obvious if something is fishy. For one, it tells me how many cards I have and projects a FAKO score. Changes in either would be an indicator that something is fishy and maybe I should pull all 3 free credit bureau reports to see what is going on.

Of course, I have fraud alerts on all my credit bureau accounts which I will probably keep indefinitely to help prevent that type of experience again.

[baptiste.tyrell]

Dont share any valuable personal information online....be careful about credit cards online ... you will be safe...dont do a lot of transactions online

[GREENBACK]

Dont share any valuable personal information online....be careful about credit cards online ... you will be safe...dont do a lot of transactions online

For lots of people(myself included)this is very tough not to do. I always make sure the site is secure before doing any buisness online and have never had an issue. I used to have "Debix" out of Texas and they contacted me when I applied for a Heloc. Guess the protections are in place to work. It was only $100 a year so not a bad deal.

I've heard the majority of I.D. theft comes from family and friends. If I had any that were of questionable character or addicted to drugs, gambling or anything like that I'd strongly consider it.

[cicy33]

Dont share any valuable personal information online....be careful about credit cards online ... you will be safe...dont do a lot of transactions online

This has nothing to do with a stolen identity online or off. you can have your identity stolen even if you never do anything online. Ever give your card to a waitress? Cashier. ATM? yep, even at a bank ATM. your trash - the kind you throw away at home not on the computer. I have done online transactions for YEARS and have not ever had my identity stolen. Perhaps they don't want me? true my credit isn't good but that doesn't mean I don't have feelings!!!

I will recommend changing your passwords periodically.

[SnoopyCool]

I received LifeLock for free through BzzAgent and I nearly forgot I had it until I read this thread. I received an e-mail from LifeLock once saying that my accounts were fine and there was no suspicious activity concerning my personal information. I don't know how helpful that is, but that's my experience with them.