After a massive data breach in June 2007, the State of Ohio chose technology developed by Debix, Inc., as the sole solution for over 1.3 million potential victims of identity theft resulting from the breach. This technology is the same technology used by LoudSiren, consumer-direct marketing partner for Debix.com. By September 2007, over 210,000 Ohioans had registered to use Debix’s identity theft protection service. Read about it here.

The State Comptroller of Connecticut also chose the identity theft protection technology developed by Debix to protect state residents following a data breach in that state. The Attorney General of Connecticut praised the move and urged Connecticut ’s Department of Revenue and Yale University to utilize the same technology to protect over 100,000 taxpayers and students whose private information had also been stolen. Read about it here.

The fact that states are choosing the identity theft protection technology developed by Debix as their identity theft solution is a significant endorsement of Debix’s product, and the direct-to-consumer product available through LoudSiren. Clearly, state officials believe in the technology behind these products and the people behind the technology.

If you recognize this number -- 457-55-5462 – you already know that LifeLock is a marketing machine. However, in a business where trust is your “stock-in-trade,” there may be cause for concern if you are about to turn over your personal financial information to this company. Among them is the sordid history of LifeLock’s founder and marketing genius, Robert Maynard. In recent years, Maynard has been:

• Bankrupt,
• The subject of state and federal investigations resulting in the forced closure of his credit repair business due to “false advertising and deceptive practices”
• Banned from being in the credit repair business forever
• Arrested and put in jail on charges related to gambling debts
• Accused of stealing his own father’s identity and running up over $150,000 in credit card debt

Even Maynard’s much publicized reason for starting LifeLock – his own experience of having his identity stolen – appears to be untrue.

In an apparent attempt to distance itself from Maynard’s troubled past, in mid-2007 LifeLock announced that Maynard had resigned his position as an officer of the company. Nonetheless, Maynard continues to market the product as an outside consultant and he retains an ownership interest in the company.

Read the Phoenix New Times story here.

People concerned about protecting their credit rating are often confused about the best way to do it. For most people, the best option is to use a fraud alert.

A Fraud Alert is essentially a notice placed with the three major credit bureaus which alerts a potential creditor that you may be the victim of identity theft and imposes a legal duty on the creditor to contact you to confirm your identity before granting credit in your name. This protects you if a thief is trying to access your credit and steal your identity. It does not, however, shut down your access to credit. Fraud alerts must be renewed every 90 days, and many people retain a service to place and maintain their fraud alerts for them. The two principle consumer-direct services are LoudSiren.com and LifeLock.com

A Credit Freeze is a mechanism which blocks your credit report from being seen by anyone. This means that you will not be able to obtain consumer loans or access your own credit unless you first have the credit freeze lifted. There is typically a fee for placing a credit freeze on your accounts. Currently the rules on credit freezes vary from state to state so you will need to check your state’s rules for availability and costs.

So you are worried about identity theft and want to know your best option to
prevent harm to your credit. What should you do? Most folks are best served with a Fraud Alert.

A Fraud Alert is essentially a notice placed with the 3 major credit bureaus which alerts a potential creditor that you may be the victim of identity theft and imposes a legal duty on the creditor to contact you to confirm your identity before granting credit in your name. This protects you if a thief is trying to access your credit and steal your identity. However, it does not shut down your access to your own credit. Fraud alerts must be renewed every 90 days. Most people now retain a service to place and maintain their Fraud Alerts for them. The two principle consumer direct services are Loudsiren.com and LifeLock.com

A Credit Freeze is a mechanism which blocks your credit report from anyone seeing it at all. This means that you will not be able to obtain consumer loans or access your own credit unless you have the Credit Freeze lifted first. Currently the rules on Credit Freezes vary from state to state so you will need to check your local rules for availability and fees.

If you recently bought a subscription to LifeLock, you are probably aware of LifeLock’s $1 million service guarantee -- but do you know what it covers? Apparently not as much as it used to, and probably not as much as you might think.

LifeLock’s “old” guarantee would reimburse you for “any losses you incur” as a result of a covered identity theft. The current guarantee (October 2007) seems to limit reimbursement to certain expenses and fees for professionals that LifeLock chooses for you. It does NOT appear to reimburse you for the amounts stolen from you by a thief. Moreover, the expenses that are reimbursed are limited:

LifeLock’s guarantee is not “insurance” issued by an insurance company. Rather, it is an agreement by the company to pay your costs and fees if its product does not protect you the way it should.

Other companies such as LoudSiren (LoudSiren.com) offer traditional insurance that covers customer losses in the event they occur. LoudSiren’s policy (underwritten by AIG) not only covers fees for professional services, it covers lost wages and provides customers with access to an identity theft specialist to help overcome the damage caused by identity theft.

Unlike other companies, LoudSiren assigns each customer a unique “Safe Number” as part of its fraud alert management system. How does this work?

When you enroll, LoudSiren will automatically assign you a unique LoudSiren Safe Number. This number is filed with the credit bureaus when LoudSiren places your fraud alerts. On any future credit applications that you complete, you list your LoudSiren Safe Number as your telephone number on the application. Whenever a creditor seeks approval to grant credit in your name they will call the LoudSiren Safe Number, which connects them with LoudSiren. LoudSiren then electronically transfers the call to you at up to three numbers that you choose in the order that you choose, and keeps a record of your response.

Why is this better?

1. This process keeps your personal telephone numbers (whether cell, home, or work numbers) private from past creditors, bill collectors, or anyone else accessing your credit report.

2. When a creditor seeks to approve a transaction in your name and calls the LoudSiren Safe Number in your file, the LoudSiren interface will instantly forward the creditor’s request to you for your approval at multiple numbers that you have on file with LoudSiren. In other words, you can be sure a creditor’s request will be forward to you quickly at a number you choose, which prevents fraudulent credit transactions and prevents any delay in completing legitimate credit transactions.

3. LoudSiren keeps a record of the creditor’s request and your approval or denial of all credit transactions, which protects you if the creditor wrongly grants credit in your name or otherwise violates your rights.

• In 2006 there were approximately 15 million victims of identity theft (or about 1 every 2 seconds).
• About 7.2 million households are affected by identity theft ever year
• Victims per capita are highest in these states: New York, California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, Texas, Hawaii, Illinois, Oregon, Michigan, Florida, Georgia and Colorado
• Most people say they don’t know how to proactively protect themselves from identity theft
• Almost 80% of identity theft reports involve “true name fraud” where the thief misappropriates the victim’s name and identity for purposes of opening accounts
• $100,000 per minute is stolen in the US by means of identity fraud