Come April 12, Lifelock will be featured on Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice” television program. In this episode, the remaining celebrity contestants which include Andrew Dice Clay, Dennis Rodman, Melissa and Joan Rivers, will be asked to design a new Lifelock retail package and point of purchase display. The teams’ presentations will be judged by Todd Davis, LifeLock CEO who’s famous for displaying his Social Security Number on the net, on TV and in billboards.
Some see it as LifeLock’s attempt to do a little marketing. But whatever the reason is, Donald Trump made the right thing when he decided to feature Lifelock because it will improve awareness. Identity theft has now surpassed drug trafficking as the number one crime in the country, unless the right precautions are taken, the situation has the potential to become a lot worst.
It’s very beneficial that companies like Lifelock were able to come up with innovative systems that protect your personal information and prevent thieves from using your data. It is not surprising that the company is gaining popularity among those who had already been informed of the service. Right now, the country is suffering from economic crisis. Companies like Lifelock can help make the situation easier for you by eliminating harmful risks in your personal and family life.

As will be discussed later in this article, there are some types of identity theft that really can occur almost instantly when your credit or debit cards are involved.  Therefore, the constant monitoring of your credit and debit cards really does become a crucial step for you in your own efforts to protect
yourself from becoming the victim of identity theft.

Thanks to the Internet and World Wide Web it literally is possible for you to monitor your credit and debit cards on a daily basis if you so desire.  You can access your accounts online (of course, using a secure computer at your home) and quickly check the activity on your account.  In addition, you will want to check the transactions you made with your credit or debit card to make sure they are correct.

Unfortunately, there are identity theft related scams that can be hard to detect unless you are double checking your own transactions.  For example, assume you have had a lovely dinner in a nice restaurant.  It simply is not beyond the realm of possibility for the server to add a few additional dollars to your credit or debit card charge as an additional tip and pocket the money.  While you personally being out a few bucks might not be noticed by you or seem worth the effort to complain about, understand that if it happened to you it is happening to dozens of people each and every week.  And that amounts to a great deal of money in the end.

Consider for example a another fairly common identity theft related scheme involving restaurants or retail stores.  A staff member will take your credit card information – credit card number, your name, the expiration date, the security code number on the back and even your billing zip code – and be able to turn around and easily use this information to order an amazing amount of merchandise online.  The thief can move quickly and rack up a pretty sizable bill before you even know what happened unless you regularly monitor your credit and debit cards.

The rise of identity theft can also be attributed as a bad side effect of the internet. Due to the fact that as long as you have correct information anyone can use your account to buy products, transfer/pay accounts and access online credit information.

This has become a serious problem and a lot of people have been badly affected by it. Some people still cannot get new credit lines since they are being questioned about their identities. Other people lost their jobs and credibility due to felonies charged against their names.

Most of these individuals have been questioned by the police and are in constant contact with the authorities to clear their name. Most of them are innocent, but due to the sensitivity of the crimes and financial setbacks, most of them are kept for questioning.

Some even until two years and the damage to their lives has been immense.

In 2006 a census survey consisting of 44 questions has been conducted to know how identity theft has affected their lives. It also surveyed how identity theft happened and its diverse effects on people.

According to the survey, the sources of stolen information between 2003 and 2006 came from information theft via the internet (phising), lost and stolen wallets, and the workplace and home/car robberies.

Another shocking part that contributes to the rise of identity theft is that most of the respondent is victimized by people who have access to their information these include family, friends and colleagues.

Most of the felons who victimized people have committed other crimes, experiencing financial problems and addictions. These people are the ones desperate enough to steal personal information and risk getting caught using them.

Two-thirds of the 2006 respondents also noted that their information has been used to open new credit lines, 29% for new cable/utility and another 27% reported that the felon made charges to the victim’s existing credit card accounts.

The actual Costs to the Victims averaged around $1,884 dollars for out-of-pocket expense for travel, childcare, postage, purchasing police and court records and childcare

The biggest problem for these people though is the inability to clear negative records. They cannot be cleared to get credit and other essential needs due to the fact that their negative information remains on their report.

Most of the reasons stated that Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs) kept putting inaccurate information back on the report (43%), credit agencies refuse to remove it (39%) and fraud alerts were ignored (30%).

It should be noted that there was a sharp increase in victims (24%) who stated that they were unable to get a police report, more than doubling from 2004’s study.

This figure is still increasing each year and this is why we must be more vigilant in protecting our identities by learning about identity theft prevention and consistently checking our credit and identity reports and informing the authorities about any kind of odd discrepancy in our records. 

Protect your identity from thieves with LifeLock identity theft protection service.

LifeLock will give you full control and oversight on any checking account issued in your name by setting up and maintaining fraud alerts with the top credit bureaus. With fraud alerts in place, creditors are then required to call the LifeLock number to confirm your identity, before approving any credit card transactions or applications. 

LifeLock will permanently give you full control of your credit reports and the people who have access to them. Moreover, LifeLock will ensure that you get free credit reports annually from credit bureaus such as Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

LifeLock will also help remove your name from junk mail and pre-approved installment loans and credit offers. This reduces the chances of thieves getting your personal information through stealing your mail, as well as eliminates unwanted junk mail. 

LifeLock also ensures confidentiality by not storing client data on their site and hosting only secure data centers. LifeLock is so secure from hackers that it has even earned a certificate from Hackersafe, a company that ensures corporate systems.

LifeLock will also help you in resolving identity theft-related credit issues. They will deal with creditors, fill related paperwork with the reporting credit bureaus and work on police reports. 

LifeLock guarantees that if ever your identity is stolen while you are a member, LifeLock will fix the problem no matter what. They are willing to spend up to $1 million dollars to cover for all costs, including reimbursing you for any monetary losses or paying for lawyers.

LifeLock offers two plans – Individual and Business plans. The individual plan charges a fee of $9 (with promo code budget) a month or a discounted fee of $99 a year. The fees will remain the same for each adult in the household. However for families with children, assuming that the children are below 16 years of age, the charge is $22.50 per year. 

On the other hand, LifeLock offers multiple plans for businesses such as plans to protect your employers, your customers and your web business to ensure the validity of customers and companies when doing business. Getting a LifeLock plan for your business is certainly a good investment because your employees will remain focused on the business at hand and not on identity theft related issues.

Indeed, subscribing to LifeLock will surely make things easier for you and make you less worried about becoming an identity theft victim.