January 26, 2008

LifeLock Secures $25 Million in Funding

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.

Visit LifeLock.com and Save 17.5%

Visit LoudSiren and Save 10%

Visit Trusted Id and Save $45

Filed under Identity Theft, Identity Theft Protection, LifeLock by

January 25, 2008

Don't be Fooled, Your Identity Is Not Safe

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.

Learn more about identity theft protection services at LoudSiren.com, LifeLock.com or TrustedId.com

Filed under Data Breaches, Identity Theft by

January 19, 2008

Credit Card Data Lost by GE Money Affects 650,000

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.

Protect yourself now with LoudSiren (Debix) and save 10%

Protect yourself now with LifeLock and save 17.5%

Protect yourself now with Trusted ID and save $45

Filed under Data Breaches, Identity Theft by

Don't be Fooled, Your Identity Is Not Safe

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.

Protect yourself now with LoudSiren (Debix) and save 10%

Protect yourself now with LifeLock and save 17.5%

Protect yourself now with Trusted ID and save $45

Filed under Data Breaches, Identity Theft by

January 10, 2008

Davidson County Voters to get Free Identity Theft Protection says Nashville Mayor.

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.

Save 10% on LoudSiren (Debix) the lowest allowable rate

Save 17.5% on LifeLock the lowest allowable rate

Filed under Identity Theft, Identity Theft Protection, LoudSiren by

January 9, 2008

LifeLock Ceo Todd Davis Active in Recruiting Financial Companies

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.

Save 17.5% with LifeLock.
Save 10% with LoudSiren.

Filed under Identity Theft Protection, LifeLock by

Don't be Fooled, Your Identity Is Not Safe

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.

Protect yourself now with LoudSiren (Debix) and save 10%

Protect yourself now with LifeLock and save 17.5%

Filed under Data Breaches, Identity Theft by

January 4, 2008

Save 17.5% on LifeLock, or is it 10%?

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.

Save 17.5% with our LifeLock Promotion Code

Save 10% with our LoudSiren Promotion Code

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.

Filed under Identity Theft Protection, LifeLock by

January 1, 2008

Don't be Fooled, Your Identity Is Not Safe

Your identity is not safe regardless of the precautions you have taken because your personal information has been entrusted to companies, institutions and governments that do not secure it properly. Thieves, hackers, insecure databases, stolen laptops, corrupt employees, and lack of proper procedures and policies all contribute to the growing trend of data breaches that affect 10's of millions of Americans each year. You will here that 10 million Americans were the victims of identity theft in 2007 but did you know that 60 million Americans had their personal and confidential information exposed in 2007. Data breaches and identity theft have made mainstream news but few Americans know the full extent of the personal risk they are facing and the economical loss that is incurred by the fraud that is perpetrated by the vast number of criminals who are using your personal information for their own gain. Though most Americans do little to protect themselves from identity theft this will change as they are educated about the dangers of having their information exposed. What most people don't know or realize is that an educated consumer is not going to stop the problem. Our personal information is already trusted to others and we continue to hand this information over to others every time we shop, apply for a job, enroll in school, or apply for a state or federal benefit. Our personal information is referred to as data by those who hold it, and though they may have good intentions in regards to keeping this data secure, they are often unable to properly secure it.

Protect yourself now with LoudSiren (Debix)

Protect yourself now with LifeLock

The following four part series will list some of the data breaches in 2007 so that you will understand that regardless of the precautions you take to secure your identity and financial information you are still at risk because others are not as vigilant.

Part 1 - A Partial List of 2007 Data breaches Via Thieves and Hackers

  • TJX, the retailer that operates T. J. Maxx and Marshall’s lost the data of up to 46 million customers as thieves used a insecure wireless network in one store to gain access to the main database.
  • Up to 79,000 health insurance customers of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co were affected when a database of a vendor was hacked.
  • Stop & Shop Supermarkets customers lost debit and credit card numbers and their pins when thieves sucessfully tampered with the keypads used to enter information allowing the thieves to receive the pertinent data.
  • 46,000 records of students, faculty, and staff associated with UCSF or UCSF Medical Center over the past two years were accessible via a compromised server.
  • Thieves stole three years’ worth of tax returns from Tax Service Plus, a Santa Rosa accounting firm affecting 4,000 people.
  • A University of Missouri computer database was hacked and more than 22,000 Social Security numbers were stolen.
  • The Georgia Department of Human Resources warned parents of 140,000 babies born in Georgia between April 1, 2006, and March 16, 2007 that a security breach has exposed some of their personal and medical information to the risk of fraud.
  • Western Union notified about 20,000 customers of a potential compromise of their personal data due to a database intrusion in which thousands of customers had their personal information stolen by hackers.
  • A computer hacker gained access to 1,100 of the University of California, Davis veterinary school 2007-08 student applications.
  • An employee of Certegy Check Services Inc., a St. Petersburg, Florida, subsidiary of Fidelity National Information Services of Jacksonville, Florida, wrongfully removed and sold the records of 8.5 million customers to a data broker who in turn, sold part of the data to direct-marketing organizations.
  • Kingston Technologies Inc., informed 27,000 customers of a data breach that took place in September 2005.
  • Law enforcement agents arrested a subcontractor working for Alta Resources, a company that processes and fulfills orders for the Disney Movie Club when the subcontractor sold them credit card numbers and other account information belonging to an unknown number of customers.
  • AT&T's online store was hacked and personal data stolen from approximately 19,000 customers.
  • Monster.com was hacked and the confidential information of 1.3 million job seekers was stolen.
  • A safe stolen from the Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists contained personal information on thousands of hair stylists in West Virginia.
  • Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer had a data breach compromising the personal details of up to 34,000 employees.
  • Personal records of more than 35,000 Ex-Prisoners of War and their families were stolen from the offices of a P.O.W support organization in Texas.
  • A hacker posted the personal contact information and credit card data of 1,200 eBay users on the company’s Trust & Safety forums. The posts were removed promptly by eBay.
  • Online brokerage firm TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. reported that one of its databases was hacked and personal information from more than 6.3 million customers was stolen.
  • An employee of Certegy Check Services compromised the privacy of up to 8.5 million of its clients customers. Certegy clients include major retail stores among them Amazon.com, Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, OfficeMax, T.J. Maxx, and Sears. It is reported that the records were sold for marketing purposes rather than for identity theft.
  • 12,000 Clients of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennesse between 1990 and 2004 may have had confidential lab information exposed when hackers sent phony e-mails whose attachments when opened allowed hackers to access the lab’s computer.
  • Clients of Salesforce.com who were on an exposed contact list continued to receive phishing e-mails that may download key loggers. Key loggers if downloaded to your computer allow a hacker to record every keystroke you enter.
  • The state of Massachusetts warned 150,000 members of its Prescription Advantage Insurance program that their personal information may have been stolen by an identity thief who has been caught and had already used a small number of peoples information. It is unclear whether the personal information of all 150,000 members has been compromised but state law requires that everyone who may possibly have been affected to be notified.

Identity theft is a growing concern and hackers from all over the world are targeting the U.S.A. and their intentions are to steal as much money as possible from Americans and the American economy. It is almost impossible to catch these hackers let alone prosecute them as they are protected by the countries and groups that support them. Everyone knows hackers and thieves can steal their information but did you know how often it happens. The list above is public knowledge, what about those who don't report their system being hacked or don't even know that it was hacked. Those who we entrust to protect our information have to become more vigilant in protecting the data they hold. I am also concerned with the stereotype that identity theft victims are tricked or fall for something that most people believe will not happen to them. Americans have to educate each other about phishing, key loggers, email scams, unsolicited phone calls, and most importantly keeping our private data private. We must also realize that most identity theft victims became victims through no fault of their own. Take action now by protecting yourself with one of the best identity theft protection programs available.

Save 10% on LoudSiren (Debix) the lowest allowable rate

Save 10% on LifeLock the lowest allowable rate

Filed under Data Breaches, Identity Theft by

December 18, 2007

LifeLock adds WalletLock to Assist Theft Victims.

LifeLock has launched an addition to their service that has great potential - and at no additional cost!

WalletLock will be offered as a new addition to the standard LifeLock Identity Theft Protection plan.

The new service will provide assistance to subscribers who experience a stolen purse or lost wallet. The service will have experts available 24/7 to help victims with reporting and replacement of many items and documents, including:

  • Credit Cards
  • ATM Cards
  • Debit Cards
  • Driver's License
  • Social Security Cards
  • Insurance Cards (Health, Auto, etc.)
  • Professional Licenses and Certificates
  • Passport
  • Immigration documents
  • Owner's Checkbook
  • Traveler's checks

This certainly seems to be a major increase in overall value for
LifeLock subscribers. One thing is clear though - having a detailed list of what is actually in your wallet or purse will give you a huge jump start in the recovery process, see our previous post on lost wallets and stolen purses for more information.

The launch comes at a time when many LifeLock subscribers will be deciding if they should continue their annual subscriptions. Additional, no charge, upgrades like this will make it an easy decision.

LifeLock CEO Todd Davis put it this way - "If you have ever had your wallet stolen or lost, you understand the panic and anger you feel, not to mention, how much time it takes to cancel and replace the important items. It’s frustrating and completely unnecessary. By adding WalletLock to our service we have found another way to help lift the burden that surrounds identity theft.
If a wallet is lost or stolen, WalletLock will provide the complete recovery services necessary to allow our client to go on with their
lives and not spend hours on the phone."

Once we fully understand the details of the WalletLock service we will likely add it to our Lifelock review and comparison chart. In the mean time keep it in mind as a definite plus for the LifeLock team. And why not save 17.5% right here at IdentityTheftLabs.com? You will get the same discounted rate every year plus you get the first 30 days free.

Save 17.5% on LifeLock

Save 10% on LoudSiren Debix

Filed under Identity Theft, LifeLock by