For a time, the ads were everywhere on TV and radio, the ones with the head of a security company brazenly challenging would-be thieves to try to steal his identity. Richard Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock Inc., was so confident in his company’s ability to protect his identity that he publicly revealed his Social Security number: 457-55-5462.
But according to a new class-action lawsuit filed last week in Jackson County, LifeLock’s identity theft protection services were so inept that Davis’ personal information was stolen repeatedly. “While LifeLock has only publicly acknowledged that Davis’ identity was compromised on one occasion, there are more than 20 driver’s licenses that have been fraudulently obtained [using his personal information],” the suit states. “Furthermore, a simple background check performed using Davis’ Social Security number reveals that his entire personal profile has been compromised to the extent that the birth date associated with his Social Security number is Nov. 2, 1940, which would [inaccurately] make Davis 67 years old.” “Through its advertisements, LifeLock misrepresents and assures consumers that it can protect against all types of fraud including, without limitation, computer hacking, password theft and other noncredit-related theft,” the suit reads.
“This is a service that you pay for and it kind of lays dormant,” said David Paris, an attorney with the New Jersey firm Marks & Klein who is heading the case against LifeLock. “So no one knows that they’re not getting what they paid for, because they don’t know what to look for.”
Paris said that consumers can activate for free the same safeguards that LifeLock does, but the company fails to mention that in its marketing campaign.
The suit alleges that LifeLock’s services can actually harm its clients because the constant placement of fraud alerts can prevent them from getting a home loan or refinancing their existing loans.The suit also traces what it calls the “nefarious origin” of the company, including the background of Robert J. Maynard Jr., who co-founded the company with Davis in 2005.
“Upon information and belief, Maynard developed the idea for LifeLock while sitting in a jail cell after having been arrested for failure to repay a $16,000 casino marker taken out at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas,” the suit states. The suit also maintains that Maynard stole his father’s identity by using his information to get an American Express card, which he used to rack up more than $100,000 of debt.”In Wisconsin, a woman’s debit card was stolen, and that thief used that card to sign up for LifeLock,” he said. “If you can’t provide the basic information to verify someone for subscription purposes, how can you be relied upon to protect people’s identities?”
Feel free to use his SS#, it seems everyone else has.
