Identity Theft Labs was created to help you choose the identity theft protection service that is right for you. We have researched and tested many services and concluded that the best identity protection companies are LifeLock, LoudSiren and TrustedID. Compare them!
Identity Theft Protection Services Compared
LoudSiren (Debix)
LifeLock
TrustedID
Fraud Alert:
Maintains your fraud alert every 90 days
Secure/private phone number
Credit Bureau puts phone #'s in your credit file
Credit Bureau puts phone #'s in your credit file
Finds you on up to three phone numbers
Audit history for disputes with creditors
Recovery:
Insurance
First $25,000 backed by AIG, $1,000,000 guaranteed by Debix
While millions are still asking
"What is Identity theft?",
the criminals are in high gear. This must see clip from a recent Dateline MSNBC documentary points out the urgency of the situation.
MSNBC clip on identity theft and identity theft statistics.
For those of you who are still asking, Do I Need Identity Protection?, we have a great article on Identity Protection.
If you are still undecided on which identity protection company to use we have a LifeLock Review and a LoudSiren Review that will let you evaluate if that company is right for you.
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield and Davidson Companies Expose over half a Million in Final Days.
After a record number of data breaches in 2007 one would think tighter security would become a priority in 2008 but the first month showed no signs of this. Though, on average, there was a breach every day in January many seemed small in nature until the end of the month which closed with a bang led by large breaches at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield and Davidson Companies. A hacker tapped in to Davidson Companies database and stole the personal information of 226,000 clients of the financial services company. The personal information included names, addresses, SSN’s, bank account numbers and balances. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield also reported at the end of the month that a stolen laptop contained private information including social security numbers on over 300,000 clients. Large breaches earlier in the month occurred when online store Geeks.com was hacked (unknown number), GE Money lost the records of 150,000 on a backup tape, and the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services used a vendor who printed the SSN’s of 260,000 people on the outside of an envelope they mailed. Universities continued their poor streak with 10 reporting breaches in January the largest coming from Georgetown University in Washington, DC who had a hard drive, containing the SSN’s of 38,000 students, alumni and employees, stolen. If January is any indication it looks like 2008 is going to be another bad year for data breaches.
Another breach of note occurred at OmniAmerican Bank who was hacked by an international gang of hackers who stole account numbers, created new PIN’s and debit cards and then withdrew cash from ATM’s all over the world including New York. The Bank was on to these criminals quickly and mitigated the loss to about 100 clients by shutting everyone’s bank account down. This is of particular interest however because it showed the vast network of these criminal gangs and the speed at which they can work. Withdraws were done all over Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Canada, Britain as well as in New York. We at Identity Theft Labs have been saying for awhile now that there are large professional gangs both inside and outside the US who are targeting Americans and this was just another example of what we already knew. It is unfortunate but apparent that our personal information can not be held securely and that it is being used against us. This is why it has become essential to take the necessary steps to protect yourself from identity theft and to include some form of insurance in your identity protection plan. The reason Lifelock, Loudsiren and TrustedID are growing so quickly is that many Americans have realized this, though it is far from mainstream. This is why identity theft education is so important. Far too many Americans are sitting back thinking that identity theft won’t happen to them, thinking that they never had to purchase identity insurance before so why should they do it now. Quite simply its a different world than what we grew up in and insurance no matter whether its life, fire, car or whatever always feels like a waste of money until it happens to you. The fact of the matter is that we can’t afford to not protect ourselves. So get out there and buy a cross cut shredder, place those fraud alerts at the three credit bureaus, remove yourself from pre-approved credit card offers, order your free credit reports and buy some identity insurance. It simply needs to be done. If your not going to do this yourself then look in to the identity protection services from LifeLock, LoudSiren or anyone else and have them take all these steps on your behalf. In three minutes you can have the peace of mind that their insurance or service guarantee provides, and the most effective identity protection plan on the market today. Trust me its worth it.
Readers of Identity Theft Labs probably noticed that we recently removed credit monitoring from our LifeLock and LoudSiren comparison and added a new company TrustedID. This was done as we believe that credit monitoring, while still useful in a total protection plan, should not be used as your sole protection from identity theft. We firmly believe that fraud alerts and identity insurance are far more important. This is for two reasons that the team has previously informed you about. Fraud alerts stop identity theft before it happens as opposed to monitoring which informs you after the crime has been committed and we believe identity insurance is a must as there is no such thing as full proof protection. We are committed to only reviewing the best protection plans and Trusted Id meets are qualifications as one of the best identity protection companies. They were recently endorsed by the Identity Theft Resource Center who is a well respected authority in identity theft education. In fact, Trusted Id is the only identity protection company to have received this honor. They are well established and have a great product with some interesting benefits that we thought would compete well with LifeLock and LoudSiren Debix. You will have to wait for all the details, but not for long, as we are in the process of completing a full TrustedID review. For now you can compare them on our comparison chart and visit TrustedID.com for further information. Keep checking back often as we have much more in store for our readers. We are already working on some new articles that will go in depth on how to protect yourself from all kinds of identity theft including medical and employment. We are working hard to make Identity Theft Labs a great resource for identity theft information and how we can protect ourselves and our families from this alarming crime wave. Check out our new resource area and keep an eye on some of our existing categories such as the FAQ as we will be adding a lot more information to them in the near future. We thank you for your patronage and hope that you too will continue to inform others of this serious crime.
LifeLock just hit another home run receiving $25 million in funding from prestigious firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc. With a rapidly growing customer base and great financial backing LifeLock is poised to continue their domination of the credit fraud and identity theft protection market. Unlike their main competitors LoudSiren and Trusted Id who have advertised little, Life Lock knew how to market their product from the beginning and used traditional media to draw attention to themselves. This new funding is not only a huge vote of confidence in the company but also in their very successful marketing efforts. Its like they say presence builds presence and Lifelock’s presence just keeps getting stronger. Need proof, how many Americans can say they haven’t heard of LifeLock CEO Todd Davis or that guy who advertises his Social Insurance Number. Not many, and this is what has given LifeLock their dominating market share.
LifeLock is based in Tempe, Arizona and is one of the fastest growing companies in the world and recent recipients of the Red Herring Top 100 Global Award given to the top 100 startup companies. LifeLock places fraud alerts on your credit file preventing identity thieves from opening new accounts or making changes to your existing accounts. They back their service with a million dollar guarantee that promises to fix any problems if they occur. They also released recently a new value added service called WalletLock. If you ever lose your wallet or ID one call to LifeLock will free you of the burden of canceling and replacing your credit cards and identification. LifeLock will fill out all necessary paperwork as well. Wallet Lock won’t get much appreciation until you need it and become very thankful for the service. Consumers wanting to learn more about LifeLock can read a full LifeLock review from Identity Theft Labs or can read our previous posts on LifeLock for more news.
Part 4
2007 Data Breaches Due to Lack of Proper Policies and Procedures
Data Breaches in part one to three were mostly caused by identity theft criminals who were seeking the personal information of Americans. There is another disturbing contributor to the emerging Identity Theft epidemic and that is the lack of proper procedure and policies to secure our personal information. Governments, institutions, and companies are exposing our records foolishly and this makes the job of an identity thief all too easy. Here are some examples of personal data that was compromised due to this negligence.
In California Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s office had the Social Security numbers, addresses and signatures of more than 650,000 Californians available for sale on a website for $6 each.
The University of Idaho posted the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of 2700 University employees on their web site.
The Census Bureau posted personal information from 302 households on a public Internet site.
RadioShack in Portland, Texas threw thousands of unshredded records containing customer names, addresses, telephone numbers and other data in an alley dumpster.
CVS Pharmacy store in Texas dumped 1000’s of unshredded customer records in an alley trash can.
An identity theft activist in Virginia provides the links to government websites that have the SSN’s of numerous congressman, judges, and district attorneys posted for all to see.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) printed 100’s of Social Security numbers of employees on the outside address labels of reappointment letters.
Concord Hospital announced 9,000 patient’s personal information was exposed on the Internet for more than a month.
The state of Massachusetts warned 150,000 members of its Prescription Advantage insurance program that their personal information may have been snatched by an identity thief. No means of loss were disclosed as their is an ongoing criminal investigation. One suspect is in
custody.
Social Security Numbers and private information of over 300 employees of American Airlines were exposed on the company Web site.
200,000 customers of Blockbuster in Florida had their private information exposed when they threw out unshredded membership applications in to the trash.
Georgia Tech announced a brief internet exposure of 23,000 current and former students.
The credit card and checking account information of 1,200 parents who enrolled their children in youth recreation programs in Encinitas, California were posted on the city’s website.
Milwaukee PC exposed 65,000 credit card numbers.
Louisiana Board of Regents exposed the Social Security numbers, names, and addresses of students and staff on the web for up to two years.
SAIC, a military contractor, announced they compromised the personal records of 580,000 military personnel when they failed to encrypt transmitted data.
5,000 customers of ABM Amro Mortgage Group had their Social Security Numbers and other personal details accidentally leaked over a file sharing network by a former employee.
A Commerce Bancorp Inc. employee gave out personal information on an unspecified number of its customers.
1,800 Pfizer employees and their families were informed of a data breach at Wheels Inc. who rents them cars.
In a study by The Washington Post personal information including the SSN of Colin Powell and Troy Aikmen were found in public government records on the internet. This information was readily available from land deeds. Think of how many people in Washington own a house.
Identity theft is a major problem costing our economy an estimated 57 Billion dollars each year. Part of the problem is that we make it all too easy for perpetrators of identity theft to acquire our information. Often they do not even have to commit a crime to obtain this information. Governments are reluctant to clean up their mess due to costs associated with blacking out SSN’s and manpower required to pull records and change the in place systems. This has got to change, they need to be setting an example for the rest of the Country to follow. Identity theft is one situation where lawyers might actually be the cure by holding accountable those responsible for exposing our records. Its hard to admit that, but government action has been inadequate and their is an unwillingness to fix the problem in many areas. We will have more on that later. As we have been saying throughout this 4 part series, your identity is not safe. Already in 2008 over 1.3 Million Americans have had their private information compromised. The trend continues and we hope you decide to protect yourself from the ongoing threat of identity theft. It does not matter if you use an identity protection company or do it yourself. What does matter is that you realize the inherent dangers and take action to protect yourself and your loved ones.
The associated press has reported that GE Money, part of General Electric Capital Corp. has mailed letters to 650,000 customers informing them of a Data Breach. GE Money processes payments for over 100 retailers including J.C. Penney. GE Money was informed in October of the missing backup tape from Iron Mountain Inc, a data storage company, and spent two months reconstructing the missing information. Personal information as well as Credit Card and Social Insurance Numbers were included on the tape. GE Money estimates about 150,000 customers had both SSN’s and credit card information compromised. Consumers should be aware that the mailings are being sent by GE Money and may appear to be a pre-approved credit offer since most people have their credit card thru the retailer and may not know that GE Money processes the payments. GE Money has not yet stated retailers were affected though it is known that J.C. Penney was one of them. Identity Theft Labs advises all consumers affected by this breach to ensure they have an identity theft protection plan in place and to insist that they receive a new credit card number from the retailer. Consumers who are informed that their Social Security Number was also exposed should place fraud alerts immediately, consider identity insurance and continue to monitor their credit.
Part 3
2007 Data Breaches Via Lost or Stolen Backup Tapes, CD’s and Hard Drives
The number of people who have had their personal information exposed in 2007 is staggering. Part one and two of this sequence of articles mainly described how identity thief’s were stealing your information by hacking databases and stealing laptops. This article shows how your private information is being exposed by companies and institutions that are “misplacing” or having storage devices stolen. Regardless of how your information is getting compromised what we need to understand as a society is that our private information in the wrong hands can be devastating to potential identity theft victims and as such we have to pressure those who hold our personal information to treat it with the security and proper procedures that it deserves. Unfortunately this is not being done due to costs of implementation and what we believe is a lack of understanding of identity theft and what companies and institutions need to do to protect their data from being stolen by criminals. It will be interesting to see how all the lawsuits against TJX change the mindset that data protection is not worth the cost.
Here is a partial list of data that was compromised in 2007 due to insecure data storage devices:
1300 California National Guards who were deployed to the Mexican border had their Social Security Numbers, birth dates and other identifying information compromised when a hard drive was stolen.
48,000 veterans plus 535,000 doctors and patients had their private information compromised when a hard drive was stolen from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Birmingham, AL.
26 IRS computer tapes containing taxpayer information were reported missing after they were delivered to Kansas City Hall.
135,000 employees and patients of John Hopkins University were affected when 8 computer tapes sent to a contractor were “misplaced”. SSN’s and bank account information of the employees were stored on the tapes.
196,000 customers of WellPoint’s Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in Virginia had their private information including SSN’s compromised when cassette tapes holding this information was stolen from a vendor.
Hortica Insurance clients had their data compromised when backup tapes were lost in transit.
2,900,000 Georgia residents were put at risk when a CD with their personal information was lost by Affiliated Computer Services. Personal information included addresses, birthdates, dates of eligibility, full names, Medicaid or children’s health care recipient identification numbers, and Social Security numbers.
100,000 Transportation Security Administration employees, including federal air marshals and airport security officers had their private information exposed when a computer hard drive containing payroll information was stolen.
47,000 J.P. Morgan Chase’s bank clients were put at risk when a computer tape containing personal information went missing at a secure off-site storage facility.
500,000 Ohio state employees, and taxpayers, had their information including SSN’s compromised when a state agency intern had a backup data storage device stolen from his car.
Merrill Lynch had a computer device stolen containing personal information, including Social Security numbers, of 33,000 employees.
University of Michigan’s School of Nursing compromised 8,000 patients of two clinics when a computer hard drive was stolen.
A flash drive stolen from an employee’s desk at the University of Cincinnati had private information, including Social Security numbers of 7,000 current and former students.
230,000 Hartford Financial Services policyholders in Ohio were put at risk when 3 backup tapes were “misplaced”.
Tax Service Plus in Santa Rosa, California had a backup computer stolen which contained financial data on 4000 tax returns dating back three years.
Hortica of Edwardsville, IL had a locked shipping case of backup tapes stolen. The tapes contained personal information including names, Social Security numbers, drivers’ license numbers, and bank account numbers.
TSA of Arlington, VA “misplaced” a storage device with 100,000 records including historical payroll data, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, time and leave dates, bank account, routing information, and details about financial allotments and deductions.
We understand that the theft of these devices can not always be prevented but with quite a few companies announcing their storage devices as “misplaced” or “lost” it becomes clear that better policies and procedures regarding their security needs to be put in place. We also realize that some of these devices may in fact have been stolen though they have no proof of this and as such are reporting them lost. Hopefully companies will start to see the costs associated with improper protection of personal data, the risks of identity theft, and the need for them to take an active role in preventing identity theft. We also hope that Americans realize the ever present danger of this horrible crime and put an identity theft protection plan in place for themselves and their loved ones.
Nashville Mayor Karl Dean announced today that all 337,000 registered voters whose personal information was compromised will get free identity theft protection through Debix. The move is in response to a large outcry from concerned and frustrated residents. The compromise occurred when two laptops were stolen from the Davidson County Election Commission in a burglary that occurred over the Christmas Holiday season. The stolen laptops were not encrypted though they did have password protection.
“My goal is to not only protect the voters whose Social Security numbers have been put at risk, but also to protect the integrity of the election process. We’re going into an extremely important election season and I want all citizens to feel 100 percent confident that they can and should participate in this process without worrying about their personal information being compromised,” Dean said.
The City signed a contract with Debix giving voters free identity protection for the first year and a significantly reduced rate the second year.
“We are honored to extend the Identity Protection Network to the voters of Nashville,” Bo Holland, CEO of Debix, said. “In the past six months, we protected similarly affected citizens on behalf of the state of Ohio and the state of Connecticut and are well prepared for the mission at hand.”
Debix will place fraud alerts with all three credit bureaus and automatically renew them. Using state of the art, patent pending technology, Debix’s automation system receives phone calls from creditors and forwards this call to three customer phone numbers. Customers then hear a recording of their own voice and can approve or disapprove the transaction by use of a personal identification number. This technology even prevents an identity thief who has your cell phone from taking advantage of your credit. Identity Theft insurance is also provided.
Debix has been the most requested provider of Identity Protection by companies, states, and cities who have experienced a data breach. Debix in partnership with LoudSiren, has also made great headway in to the business to consumer market trailing only the market leader Lifelock.
LifeLock Ceo Todd Davis has been active this week announcing two major signings for LifeLocks Identity Protection Services. LifeLock has signed Founders Bank and NARFE Premier Federal Credit Union. Both companies will offer LifeLocks services to their employees and customers. LifeLock has clearly been the leader in enrolling consumers due to their effective marketing strategies and is now taking their success and message to the financial business community. After recruiting executives from Bank of America and Visa in June, Lifelock has made inroads in the financial sector signing a half dozen or so major players before this weeks announcements.
Identity theft is one of the fastest growing and most talked about crimes in the United States if not worldwide and businesses are now paying attention and looking for solutions. They are turning to companies like LifeLock and the LoudSiren Debix team to offer their employees and customers a proactive identity theft solution.
NARFE Premier FCU wanted to do more than tell members to protect themselves. Working with LifeLock we’re actually doing something about identity theft. Most programs will only tell you there’s been a problem whereas LifeLock keeps it from happening at all,” said Todd Hoepker, Senior Vice President.
“We are very excited to partner with Life Lock by offering their valuable
theft protection service. ID Theft is the fastest growing crime in the nation. We are so convinced of the value of this service to combat ID Theft protection, we are extending our special discount pricing to not only our customers, but the community as well,” said Michele Madia, Senior Vice President of Founders Bank.
We at IdentityTheftLabs.com have been pleased to always offer the same LifeLock discount. Please take the time now to review the services of these identity protection companies. They will not only save you the time and hassle of placing fraud alerts every 90 days but will also give you the security and peace of mind that only a million dollar guarantee could provide.
Part 2 2007 Data Breaches via Stolen Laptops and Computers
It is now known in the criminal underground that Identity Theft is both easy and profitable. Thieves need personally identifiable information to commit identity theft and one way they get it is to steal a laptop or buy your personal information from another laptop thief. Personal information has a lot of value in the black market and it is often the case where the thief is not the end recipient of the stolen data. The following is a list of 2007 data breaches from stolen laptops and computers. The large majority of this information was not encrypted which would have at least added another layer of security. If your personal information has been compromised by any data breach don’t allow yourself to become a victim of identity theft. Either take action yourself or sign up with LifeLock or LoudSiren as they are the leading identity theft protection companies.
A doctor’s laptop was stolen from the Kaiser Medical Center containing medical information on 22,000 patients.
A laptop stolen from a car in a state auditor’s garage contained SSN’s of 1950 employees of Springfield City Schools.
16,000 employees of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command had their personal information compromised when a laptop was stolen from a vehicle.
Computers containing mystery shoppers’ personal data was stolen from Speedmark Inc.
40,000 employee records were compromised when two laptops were stolen from an office of the Chicago Public School system.
A laptop computer was stolen from a benefits consultant that works with Caterpillar, Inc. The laptop contains personal information on Caterpillar employees.
An outside consultant working on the University of New Mexico’s human resource and payroll systems had his laptop stolen.
Neiman Marcus Group compromised the information of 160,000 employees when a computer was stolen from a third-party consultant.
12,000 records were compromised, presumably by a former employee of Broward County’s child welfare system who stole a laptop containing information for background checks, including fingerprint scans.
A computer stolen from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Education (TCLEOSE), a state agency that licenses police officers, compromised the data of 230,000 peace officers and jailers in the state of Texas. Editor Note: Never mind Identity Theft, the worry here is the safety of police officers and guards whose home address is in the hands of criminals.
A Texas A&M University professor lost personal information of 8000 students while on vacation.
A contractor for Deloitte & Touche had a laptop containing personal information stolen.
Administaff Inc., a Houston-based provider of outsourced human resources services, had a laptop stolen which contained the personal data of 159,000 employees.
3,930 TSA drivers had their personal information compromised when 2 laptops were stolen.
The Connecticut Department of Revenue Services reported a laptop “missing”. The laptop contained data on more than 106,000 taxpayers. Editor Note: Not many better candidates for Identity Protection.
The University of Iowa has informed 184 students that a stolen laptop may have had there Social Security numbers won it.
800,000 people who applied for work at The Gap had their personal information compromised when a laptop was stolen from a third-party vendor.
A laptop stolen from an employees car had personal information on 10,000 Home Depot employees.
Roudebush VA Medical Center lost information on 12,000 veterans due to a stolen laptop.
I know, the data breaches from Part 1 were staggering but they were mostly due to specialized identity thieves, in that some skill was required to obtain the information they wanted. Any criminal can steal a laptop and sell it on the black market and they are learning that it is profitable. A lot of decent citizens lost personally identifiable information due to these thefts at government agencies, universities, and reputable businesses. You may not be one of them but, as I am pointing out with this 4 part series, no one is safe. It does not matter whether you use an Identity Protection Service like LifeLock or LoudSiren Debix, or take steps to prevent identity theft on your own. What matters is that you realize we are living in a new era where our personal information is everywhere and that you need to take action now to protect your good name and credit.
LifeLock promotion codes have created some confusion with consumers looking for the best deal on LifeLock Identity Theft Protection. Affiliates are advertising a 17.5% Life Lock discount and as we have always done a 10% LifeLock discount. The confusion is further complicated by LifeLock. Let me explain. First of all, the final price no matter which affiliate you go through is $99/year. If you use an affiliate link LifeLock will show you a $21 savings off the radio price of $120, hence the save 17.5% on LifeLock promo code. However, if you were to traverse to Life Lock’s website at at www.LifeLock.com without using an affiliate link the price would be $110, hence the save 10% Life Lock promo code. You see LifeLock radio advertisements offer their services for $120/year but the exact same identity protection service on the internet is $110. I guess it is an internet discount or they are trying to supplement the cost of their radio advertising. Regardless of the confusion, all customers who purchase LifeLock identity protection through any affiliate, such as Identity Theft Labs, pay $99 per year. Though we will continue to show a 10% savings as this is more accurate (you are using the internet, right!), we have revised our comparison chart to reflect the 17.5% savings promotion that other affiliates are using so that our customers know they are still getting the best deal. Customers who use Identity Theft Labs as their affiliate also receive the discounted rate for as long as they are a Lifelock customer. So what are you waiting for protect yourself with LifeLock Identity Protection Now!, and save 10% or 17.5% depending on how you look at it.
Correction Notice: I talked with a LifeLock representative today who cleared up the confusion. The full price is $120/year but if you pay for the year in advance LifeLock gives you a $10 dollar discount. Affiliates can offer a 10% Lifelock discount to customers who pay monthly or yearly. So customers who pay $99 for the year save $21 off the monthly rate or 17.5%. Customers can also choose to pay monthly at $9/month instead of the LifeLock rate of $10/month saving 10%. I did have the bottom line correct, its $99/year no matter which affiliate or promotion code you use, so don’t be so concerned with seeing a 10% discount as opposed to a 17.5% discount. Guess I better change my savings rate.
