Posted on 04/30/2008 8:58:56 AM PDT by APRPEH
N.J. Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against LifeLock Alleging Deceptive Marketing Regarding Limited Level of Protection Against Identity Theft
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., March 31, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- A class action lawsuit was filed on Friday, March 28 against LifeLock, Inc. and its CEO Richard "Todd" Davis by Dr. Warren Pasternack and his wife, Susan Pasternack, on behalf of themselves as well as all other New Jersey LifeLock subscribers. The Pasternacks allege that LifeLock misled them about the limited level of identity protection the company provides, and failed to warn them about the potential adverse impact those services could have on their credit profiles.
The plaintiffs, who reside in Middlesex County, filed suit in the New Jersey Superior Court in New Brunswick, claiming that they were the victims of Consumer Fraud by virtue of LifeLock's deceptive advertisements. The suit seeks to recover the money subscribers have paid to LifeLock and prohibit the company from continuing to promote its services through its marketing campaign.
LifeLock, which is headquartered in Tempe, Ariz., charges subscribers $10 per month for the services it provides as "the industry leader in the rapidly growing field of Identity Theft Protection." In fact, in its ubiquitous marketing campaign, Davis broadcasts his own social security number on television and radio stations across the country as testimony to his confidence in the services LifeLock claims to provide.
According to the Complaint, however, LifeLock's popular advertisements lull its subscribers into a false sense of security by misrepresenting the level the protection its services provide. To illustrate this point, the Complaint states that as a result of LifeLock's popular advertisements, CEO Davis's identity "was stolen while he was a customer and is, upon information and belief, presently being misappropriated by at least twenty identity thieves." David Paris of Marks & Klein, LLP, Red Bank, N.J., the attorney for the Pasternacks and the proposed class, maintains that LifeLock dramatically overstates the level of protection provided by its primary service -- the placement and constant renewal of fraud alerts on its subscribers' credit profiles.
"While fraud alerts may be effective in limited instances, they certainly cannot provide the comprehensive identity protection that LifeLock deceptively advertises," said Paris. "For instance, fraud alerts cannot stop the use of existing account numbers, and contrary to LifeLock's advertisements, lenders are certainly not required to contact the subscriber before extending credit to a potential identity thief." According to the Complaint, LifeLock also misleads subscribers by advertising its $1 million service guarantee. "Potential LifeLock subscribers are enticed by the 'safety net' of what appears to be a one-million dollar insurance policy against any losses sustained as a result of identity theft," said Paris. "In actuality, once you get beyond the limitations and disclaimers, you find that the guarantee is limited to fixing failures in LifeLock's services and paying third-parties to attempt to restore subscriber losses." Paris added that Marks & Klein plans to file similar actions in New York, Florida, and California for violations of those states' Consumer Protection Laws. LifeLock, which was founded in 2005, presently has approximately 900,000 subscribers across the United States.
SOURCE Marks & Klein, LLP URL: http://www.markslaw.net www.prnewswire.com Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved -0- KEYWORD: New Jersey INDUSTRY KEYWORD: CPR
Pick up the phone. Call the credit reporting bureaus, and request a fraud watch. You get the exact same thing for free.
#1. If it is a non-local advertisement on a radio show, it very likely is a fraud or at least there are some major problems with it.
“New Jersey’s one of the states where you can simply freeze your credit for free. It’s a $5 fee to thaw your credit if you need to.
A lot cheaper than $10/mo.”
I wish the state would freeze its own credit.
Their website still shows the 1 million dollar guarantee.
Don't forget Proflowers and the engineering wizards at GM with their variable valve timing. And would someone please make the freecreditreport.com pirate walk the plank?
>>>>The TV commercial says they’ll pay you up to $1 million for any losses.
No, it does not say that.
I’ve known for probably a year that Lifelock’s service is pretty much limited to renewing credit file security locks on customer accounts every 90 days, with the “proxy” permission of that customer.
Whether that violates the fine print of the credit agencies’ guidelines is questionable (it may or may not be), but I’ve heard nothing in their commercials that’s “deceptive”.
In fact it is the credit reporting agencies who go to great lengths to hide, disguise, and misrepresent their activities from consumers.
Even easier, go to Equifax.com, and place a fraud alert on your social. It’s free, and they push it to the other CBs as well. Basically, you have to be contacted whenever a report is requested on you for approval. This is all LifeLock really does for you, in essence. It lasts for 90 days and you can renew. My wife’s purse was stolen this last weekend, so that was the second thing that I did.
How hard is it to be up front with the offer and hope enough brain-dead people subscribe anyway?
This publicity must not be a good thing for them. I hope that they're also not a publicly traded company, either.
I have often thought that very same thing.
Can you have a class action suit if no damages actually occured yet? Or is this a case of the company promising something, taking the money, and then not doing anything at all?
-PJ
This year the IRS procedures have been strengthened to prevent illegal IRS filings and Identity Theft occurrences. This is why we all use firewall and security software 'cause there are thieves out there!!!
I suppose that a means of protecting the terminally stupid would be nice; but every time somebody does that improved stupids appear.
How much brain-power does it take to realize that, if someone offers "free credit reports", you've got to give them all your confidential credit information first?
D'OH!
Girl here at work had her debit card # stolen last week. Stupid moron that did it used her card to pay his utility bills....including his bill with the company that his victim and I work for.
Yea he was easy to find.
“I equate IDTheft to airplane crashes. Rare but the result is devastating on a large scale.”
ID Theft is common and affects millions of Americans each year.
In February 2007, Javelin Strategy and Research released its 2007 Identity Fraud Survey Report. The report is issued as a longitudinal update to previous Javelin Identity Fraud Survey reports and the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) 2003 Identity Theft Survey Report.
Survey findings Include:
* The number of US adult victims of identity fraud decreased from 10.1 million in 2003 and 9.3 million in 2005 to 8.4 million in 2007.
* Total one year fraud amount decreased from $55.7 billion in 2006 to $49.3 billion in 2007.
* The mean fraud amount per fraud victim decreased from $6,278 in 2006 to $5,720 in 2007.
* The mean resolution time was at a high of 40 hours per victim in 2006 and was reduced in 2007 to 25 hours per victim. The median resolution time has remained the same for each Survey year at 5 hours per victim.
There is a commercial that states an idenity is stolen every 3 seconds. Based on the US population can someone figure out how often my identiy will be stolen in the next 5 years.
How many people on this thread have had their idenity stolen?
You have to read the fine print with Freecreditreport.com.
Remember: Nothing is Free, there is always a catch.
Such as... Who do they share your personal information with?
Example Disclaimer:
“PERSONAL INFORMATION
CIC may use your personal information to the extent necessary to process your order and/or engage in business maintenance.”
Can’t you request an annual free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus? If you work it right, you can get one every quarter.
My Ideaa of fixing Identity Theft is simple
1. Any person who is a victim of Identity Theft that can show to a Reasonable person that a Government Agency knew or should of known that a Social Security number being used did not match name and Birthdate, residence..... Said Victim Shall be Exempt from all Taxes, Fees, Assessments for a period of 5 Years.
2. Any Credit Reporting agency that issued credit report to a creditor that turns out to be related to Identity Theft, Shall be Liable for ALL costs.
3. The Burden of Proof Shall be on the Government to show they had NO RECORD of SS number in any Agency.
Problem Solved
Game Over
Eyeamok
Depending on the definition of ID theft, the total could be much higher. If check fraud and use of stolen credit cards and SS# is included, the numbers approach 10% of the population.
Ohhhhh, no. I have Lifelock.
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