Planet 9

Hi All,

Off topic Question: Anyone use any of these identity theft services (e.g., Lifelock, Trusted ID, etc.). If so, I would like your opinion.

Better safe than sorry.

Thanks

Absolutely the best thing you can do is to institute a credit freeze. State Security Freeze Laws. It's like locking the door to your credit unless/until you specifically authorize access.

I'm not impressed with credit monitoring services. They come in after the fact to tell you someone walked through your unlocked door and stole all your stuff.

A credit freeze helps you avoid being a victim in the first place, while credit monitoring services tell you after the fact that you were a victim. A freeze is also way less expensive than any credit monitoring service.

I'd stay the heck away from Lifelock. After reading this article about their founder/CEO, I wouldn’t touch the company with a 60 foot pole: Phoenix News - What Happened in Vegas... - page 1 - Phoenix New Times

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Funny, guess who I have been on the phone with all day? Identity theft services through my bank. Someone got my info. and tried to transfer money to their checking account. Not cool

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Sorry to hear about that. I found out today that you can place a security freeze online for Experian and Transunion, and it's free for Transunion.

Good luck. Thanks

+1 credit freeze is definitely the way to go.

I concur with the above about a credit freeze. It is one of the most effective ways of preventing identity theft. However, if you frequently seek new credit sources, the credit freeze is not a convenient technique. Planning is required for seeking out a new credit card, loan, mortgage, etc., i.e. unfreezing the credit freeze, and frequently requires a fee.

More People Are Freezing Credit Reports - WSJ.com

The credit freeze fee is different in each state. A credit freeze request needs to be put into place at all three credit reporting bureaus, and if one is married, for each member of the family.

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I recently signed up with Lifelock and am satisfied with their service.

The back story: in 2004 I purchased some life insurance, and the insurance company sent a lab technician over to my home to draw some blood and take basic vital signs (standard operating procedure). Then, around 2006-2007 I received a phone call from the Long Beach PD Cyber Crimes division out of the blue - apparently, this lab tech wasn't just a tech, but was also a member of a huge ID theft ring based in Long Beach, and she had culled my name, SSN, address, and other information from the lab requisition the insurance company had sent her. During an investigation, the LBPD found a room full of REAMS of personal data for tens of thousands of people, and I actually had to go pick this woman out of a lineup. At that time, I instituted a fraud alert (AKA 'credit freeze') with the three credit reporting agencies.

The problem is that these fraud alerts automatically expire after 90 days and you need to keep renewing them, which I forgot to do. Didn't have a problem until a few months ago, when I got a call from a bank asking if I had sent them a credit card application recently using an old home address. Also received a letter from the VA notifying me that a government laptop containing personal information of thousands of current and former employees had recently been stolen, and I was on that list.

Lifelock not only files the fraud alerts, but renews them for you automatically every 90 days so they never expire. They also notify various banks to stop sending preapproved credit apps by mail, request your free annual credit reports, and if your wallet is stolen, they'll notify all the banks whose credit cards were in your wallet for replacements. And they back up all of this with a $1M insurance policy against ID theft. Sure, you can do all of these things on your own, but I simply don't have the time or desire to do so.

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