[Dataloss] CBS4 Tests Credit Protection Companies

[Michael Hill, CITRMS]

http://cbs4denver.com/consumer/credit.protection.identity.2.662760.html


Thought this might be interesting to all that there's no identity theft protection plan that is 100%.  Its what you do after it happens when it counts. 

[...]

How well do they work? CBS4 found out, when it picked three popular companies and put them to the test. 

The first company is LifeLock. The CEO of LifeLock actually publishes his social security number to promote his company's ability to protect a person's identity. 

The second company was Loudsiren/Debix. It calls itself "... the next generation of consumer protection ...." 

The third company, Trusted ID, says it provides "... the strongest proactive total identity protection ..." 

[...]

CBS4 asked some of its own employees to help test the companies by signing up. Tom signed up for Loudsiren/Debix. .....

[...]

CBS4 then moved on to the actual test. With their permission, CBS4's Jim Benemann took all of Tom, Jillian and Kristine's personal information including their social security numbers and dates of birth. Using that information, Benemann applied for the same major credit card in each of their names. 

[...]

CBS4 asked all three companies to respond to the test. 

Here is what LifeLock had to say: 

The credit card companies have a contract with the credit bureaus that say they must honor fraud alerts. The fact that they chose not to is proof that the fraud alerts are not bulletproof. The good news is that this is where the LifeLock $1 million guarantee is most effective. LifeLock is not a credit monitoring service but a protection service in the event a fraud alert proves to be ineffective. 

Here is what Loudsiren/Debix had to say: 

Placing a call to the consumer's Debix Safe Number provides a proven, multi-factor authentication of the consumer for the creditor. Unfortunately, not all creditors take advantage of this opportunity. We believe that as creditors experience the speed and security of the Debix network, we expect fewer of them to mail letters. 

Here is what Trusted ID had to say: 

The most important fact is that the TrustedID customer's identity was clearly protected from an attempted theft. The experience by this customer was an exception, not the rule. Lenders make every effort to contact individuals to confirm their identity, and a majority of the time a customer is contacted by phone to verify their information.








Michael Hill 
Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist
IDT Consultants
404-216-3751


"If You Think You're Not At Risk, Think Again!"



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