Identity Theft Hits Lifelock CEO From His Own Ads

In response to dares posed by the CEO of Lifelock, an Arizona firm which has run ads featuring his Social Security Number (SSN), an instance of identity theft fraud was successfully perpetrated against Todd Davis . "Davis acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press that his stunt has led to at least 87 instances in which people have tried to steal his identity, and one succeeded: a guy in Texas who duped an online payday loan operation last year into giving him $500 using Davis' Social Security number. Davis learned about the fraud in Texas when the payday- loan outfit called to collect on the loan, he said. He didn't get an alert beforehand because the company didn't go through one of the three major credit bureaus before approving the transaction." The article further illustrated the danger in deliberately provoking identity thieves to use his widely available Social Security Number (SSN) as a publicity stunt in promoting his company's fraud prevention services in newspapers, on billboards, radio, & even MTV: "Davis said it's possible driver's licenses have been issued to other people in his name because of the widespread availability of his personal information — and because of what he described as the flimsy mechanisms in place to report that kind of fraud ." Look - anyone who's been involved with studying identity theft from more than just a cursory perspective would readily understand that identity theft fraud comes in many forms and there are several very serious types of identity theft that no credit bureau's profile report was ever set up to catch - let alone alert you to : Medical ID Theft - where someone uses your name and SSN to obtain medical care often times in a busy hospital emergency room. Besides the medical insurance problems this can create for you, even worse your life can be put in peril as the identity theft fraudster will cause your blood type, medicine interactions, and allergies to be listed incorrectly on your medical records. SSN Fraud - where someone uses your social security number to illegally work within the U.S. which as a result you run the potential to have the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) send you a delinquent tax payment demand due to supplemental income not reported on your annual tax filings. With penalties and interest, you could easily be looking at a 15% - 20% incremental tax bill. Ask the lady in California who was served a demand to pay a $1,000,000 back taxes bill. Criminal Arrest Identity Theft - where a criminal uses your name and SSN upon their arrest to avoid any prior offenses from showing up. The result of this fraud perpetrated against your good name, though, is you now have just entered the vast criminal information network. Any unpaid parking tickets or failure to appear in court notices listed under your name will lead to a potential arrest warrant that can easily render you time in jail and job loss . One of our long time editors, took the proactive step to check his public information profile and was alarmed to find out a convicted felon in Ohio shared the same first and last name (different middle initial). He could have easily been mistaken for the criminal who had been convicted of assault and battery, but had skipped his bail hearing and was eventually apprehended. So, our tip for today is twofold. Unlike the CEO of Lifelock, remove your social security number from your wallet or purse to eliminate the potential for an identity thief to gain easy access. Secondly, get your public information profile (pip) and review it for any instances of whether an identity theft fraudster has already committed acts against your good reputation and social security number with medical or criminal identity theft. These simple, effective steps will immeasurably lower your potential for identity theft. PS: Make sure to tell a friend about this important development in the war against identity theft scams and credit fraud. This article may be published in it's entirety on your site. Article courtesy of

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Identity Theft Hits Lifelock CEO From His Own Ads is an episode from Identity Theft Secrets.

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This episode was published on May 27, 2008.

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