LifeLock Many critics claim that the service provides little value because everything done for LifeLock subscribers can be done by consumers for free. So we decided to put this common criticism to the test.
We have reviewed the main features of the LifeLock service and compared them with the steps you could take to accomplish the same thing. We also provided our own opinion as to the approach is more consumer friendly and efficient.
Setting Fraud Alerts
fraud alerts are annotations made on your credit file that allow potential lenders know that your identity has been compromised. When a lender sees a fraud alert on your credit file, he or she must take reasonable steps to verify your identity before you extend credit. This process makes it difficult for identity thieves to open new accounts with credit card companies, operators of cellular or other service provider that checks your credit report. However, fraud alerts only help prevent identity theft from new account. They will not prevent identity thieves access to existing credit card, banking or other accounts.
remain active fraud alerts on your credit file for ninety days and must be renewed in order to be effective. You only need technically have to put a fraud alert with a credit bureau every ninety days that each credit bureau is required to notify the other two when a fraud alert is defined. However, it is good practice to set fraud alerts with all three credit bureaus immediately if you believe you are at risk of identity theft. This prevents any kind of technical or administrative error which could prevent the notification of your fraud alert to be sent to a credit bureau to another. You can learn more about fraud alerts by visiting our Guide to Fraud and Credit Freezes alerts.
The Way LifeLock
LifeLock sets fraud alerts on behalf of each of its subscribers when they sign up for identity theft protection service LifeLock. In addition, they renew these fraud alerts every ninety days on behalf of their clients to ensure that fraud alerts do not lapse.
The Do-It-Yourself Way
Each of the three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, a separate process for setting fraud alert. To be effective, you need to set fraud alerts every ninety days and recommend the fraud alert layout with each of the three credit bureaus.
Equifax: 1-877-576-5734; www.equifax.com
Experian: 1-888-397-3742; www.experian.com/fraud
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com
NextAdvisor.com Opinion
We give the edge to LifeLock. It is true that the setting up fraud alerts can be a very simple process for the do-it-yourselfer. That said, we believe that the ongoing maintenance of LifeLock fraud alerts ensure that subscribers never have to worry about the lapsing alerts.
unsubscribe pre-approved credit offers
One of the most common ways that identity thieves perpetuate identity theft is stealing your mail. Mail you receive each day is full of personal information and can easily allow an identity thief either new accounts opened in your name or access existing accounts without you knowing. This usually occurs in one of three ways.
First, identity thieves can file a change of address form with the United States Postal Service and your mail re-routed to another address. This allows them to access all the information you receive in the mail. The USPS has actively repressed this by requiring additional verification of the applicant for the forwarded mail. As such, this type of mail theft is decreasing popularity.
Second, identity thieves can go "dumpster diving". This is the practice of literally go through your trash to retrieve sensitive documents and mail that you have thrown well without destroying it.
Finally, the identity thieves can simply steal your mailbox the mail right before entering the you. There have also been reports of postal employees or associates who have "gone wrong" and lifted sensitive electronics before even reaching the recipient.
In each of these cases, some of the fuel identity of the most powerful flight that criminals can get their hands fly when your mail is pre-approved offers of credit or other financial deals which you are sent by banks, mortgage companies, insurance companies or other institutions. These pre-approved offers may be used to commit identity account new flights in which the identity thief is opening new accounts in your name and runs up charges on them that you can be responsible for payment.
Financial companies that make these credit offers to consumers to determine your creditworthiness by using information on your credit report without your permission (called a "soft inquiry" or "soft pull" ). Although these surveys are totally legal and do not affect your credit anyway, it is possible to withdraw from all future preapproved or prescreened credit offers.
major credit bureaus including Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, jointly created the OptOutPrescreen.com site to help consumers do just that. The site allows you to opt out of receiving prescreened credit offers for five years or permanently. You can also opt to return at some point in the future your circumstances change and you want to start receiving firm offers of credit again.
The Way LifeLock
When you sign up for LifeLock services it chooses you automatically receive credit pre-approved offers and can even help you reduce other marketing offers and junk mail you receive. In addition, LifeLock will resubmit your opt-out requests and junk mail as they come due.
LifeLock also recently released an innovative feature called TrueAddress which monitors changes in forms of address submitted to the United States Postal Service on behalf of any customer LifeLock. This helps prevent identity thieves from stealing your mail by redirecting your mail.
The Do-It-Yourself Way
To process an opt-out of receiving prescreened or preapproved offers of credit through OptOutPrescreen.com:[19459002cinqannées]
1. Visit OptOutPrescreen.com
2. Select the opt-out five years in the list of options on the screen and click on the submit button.
3. Enter the required information on the next screen. OptOutPrescreen.com attempt to withdraw even if you do not provide your social security number or date of birth, but it is possible that your request to opt-out could fail without this information. From the website of OptOutPrescreen.com uses extensive security measures, you should not worry to submit this information directly. Keep in mind that your social security number and date of birth are not required to deal with an opt-out based firm offers of credit.
4. Click on the "confirm" button to submit your information to OptOutPrescreen.com and launch your opt-out request.
Once your application is submitted for your opt-out will be processed within 5 working days. You can still continue to receive pre-screened offers in the coming weeks your opt-out, but potential creditors will not be able to preset your credit for the firm offer of credit.
It is also possible to process a request to opt-out by calling 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688).
Opinion NextAdvisor.com
OptOutPrescreen.com makes the process of withdrawing preset simple offer. However, adding a TrueAddress service makes the protection LifeLock criminals targeting top post consumer anything could easily do themselves.
Order your free annual credit report
Under federal law Credit Reporting (FCRA) all American adults are entitled to a free credit report Free from all three credit bureaus each year. These reports can be ordered at once from all three credit bureaus or they can be ordered at different times. Anyway, you can request a credit report from each credit bureau every twelve months.
The Way LifeLock
LifeLock order your free annual credit report to you annually. You must never request your free annual credit report from one of the three credit bureaus as long as you are a LifeLock customer.
The Do-It-Yourself Way
The three credit bureaus created AnnualCreditReport.com to simplify the application process FCRA mandated credit reports to consumers. Credit reports can be requested online or by phone. If you ask an online credit report, you will receive immediately, but those charged by phone may take up to 15 days to process. Learn more by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com.
Opinion NextAdvisor.com
There is a dead heat between LifeLock and the do-it-yourselfer when it comes to order annual reports free credit.
Replacement Documents personal Stolen
If your chances wallet, purse, briefcase or backpack is stolen are the thief fled with a part or all of your important documents. This may include identification such as a driver or a passport, credit cards, social security card, insurance card, checks or travelers checks.
Identity thieves can use this information to commit a number of crimes against you. For example, they can suck money out of your bank accounts, run up charges on your credit cards, access your social security administration account or even hijack your medical benefits.
The LifeLock Way
LifeLock offers the unique WalletLock service. If your wallet, purse or individual personal documents are lost or stolen, simply call LifeLock and let them know. From there, a specialist WalletLock will contact all financial institutions, appropriate state and federal to ensure that your accounts are superseded documents.
There are a few caveats. LifeLock obviously can not replace personal items such as pictures, and all the money that has been lost or stolen will not be covered. However, this service is free to all LifeLock clients will definitely save you time, money and frustration if you experience loss or theft of your personal documents.
The Do-It-Yourself Way
The process of replacing all your personal documents will vary greatly depending on the type and number of items that were stolen from you. However, it is likely that you may have to do some or all of the following:
- Credit cards will be canceled and reissued. If you have several credit cards from several transmitters, it means a number of calls.
- bank account numbers will be changed and the checks must be canceled and reissued.
license or identity cards- Driver must be reissued by the Department of Motor Vehicles in your state.
- social security card will be reissued by your administration office of local security.
- passport will be canceled and reissued at your local post office or embassy (if traveling abroad.
- insurance cards will be reissued.
This likely means many, many phone calls and in-person courses to successfully replace all your missing documents and to ensure that the stolen objects can not be used to commit a number of identity theft crimes against you.
Opinion NextAdvisor.com
there is no contest between LifeLock and the do-it-yourselfer when it comes to replacing documents lost or stolen personal. WalletLock ease of service LifeLock is a huge time saver for subscribers and is far more effective than trying to replace personal documents without using LifeLock.
Recovering from identity theft
at this stage, every American is the legitimate risk of having their identity stolen. Hundreds of thousands of people are victims of identity theft each year in the United States and this trend shows no sign of slowing. It is important for consumers to understand their recovery options because there is no surefire way to 100% prevent identity theft.
The Way LifeLock
In the unfortunate event that a subscriber LifeLock is a victim of identity thieves, he or she must notify the company in 30 days after first learning of the crime. Once LifeLock has been notified, a representative of customer service will be assigned to the case and will work to verify the claim.
Once an application has been verified, LifeLock will assign a third party recovery specialist to engage with consumers to evaluate the identity theft incident and to take all necessary measures to solve the problem. Each identity theft crime is different so that the measures taken to recover the subscriber identity vary from incident. The recovery specialist is both an educational resource that can inform victims of their rights and (s) of action that can be taken to remedy the situation and a proactive advocate who will work on behalf of the victim for information, complete the applicable forms and generally guide the subscriber through the recovery process.
Although much of the heavy lifting can be completed by the recovery specialist, there are a few key actions required by LifeLock subscribers as the company works to recover his identity. First, the subscriber must file a police report in person with local authorities. This is not only required by LifeLock, many identity theft experts, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), suggest that this is the first step that any victim of identity theft should take.
Examples of measures that LifeLock can take to help a victim subscriber may include:
- contracting an expert to help restore the credit score of the individual to the level it was before the incident as required
- Cancellation and replacement of all ID cards, licenses, passports, driver's credit cards or other important documents that need
- spending to 1 million to restore the identity of the victim subscriber (excluding restitution and loss of salary)
as LifeLock, most cases of identity recovery are resolved within 30 days following notification by a subscriber victim.
The Do-It-Yourself Way
Where to start? The actual steps to recover a stolen identity varies, but it probably means hours spent on the phone with lawyers and private investigators, seeking solutions and complete the forms and reporting requirements. The average identity theft victim spent $ 1 884 and 231 hours to recover his identity, according to a recent study by the Identity Theft Resource Center.
NextAdvisor.com Opinion
We believe that the recovery assistance dollars in service LifeLock million guarantee is one of its biggest selling points . There is no doubt that the resumption of Identity Theft with LifeLock is much better than the DIY option.
Having reviewed the characteristics of services of LifeLock and options available for the do-it-yourselfer, we are confident that most people are simply better with LifeLock protect their identities without it . We encourage our readers to learn about and LifeLock identity theft in general protection services by visiting our guide to identity theft protection services.