About a month and a half ago, I did an Interview with Lifelock. Since that interview, a lot of people have asked me for my opinions about Lifelock. They have also wanted to know about Lifelock promotion codes and how to get a discount code for purchasing Life Lock service.

Personally, I'd rather listen, but you can read the Interview below.
(If you would like to do both, just click the red play button below.)

Download the MP3 Here

This is Identity Theft Secrets and I am here today interviewing Mike Prusinski of Lifelock.com.

Identity Theft Secrets: How are you doing today, Mike?

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): I am doing great Jonathan, thanks for having me.

Identity Theft Secrets: Absolutely. Lets jump right into this, can you tell me a little bit about the background of Lifelock?

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): Well, we have been incorporated since April 2005. Our company came to existence when our co-founder, Robert Meader, actually spent seven days in jail here, just outside of Phoenix, for a crime that somebody else committed pretending to be him. So, they went to Las Vegas, opened up $16, 000.00 worth of credit accounts in one of the casinos, and walked it. A couple of weeks later, about five Maricopa County Sheriffs showed up at his door steps on a Saturday, knocked on the door and said, Robert, you know, we have a warrant for your arrest, took him off in handcuffs in front of his family. So, Robert fought extradition to Las Vegas and long story short, his lawyer basically told him, listen is going to be easier for you to pay this out then it is to fight it. The casino just wanted their money back. So, he fought extradition, paid the cost of about $16,000.00, but then still for several years after the fact he still had problems, continuous problems. So, Robert, his background is, he started one of the first internet companies in the US, called Internet America out of Dallas so, he has some strong background in internet providers and got together with some of his buddies and knew that there had to be a way that they can make this not happen to other people, and so, this is how we came into existence. He got with some of his friends, created a systems that proactively places fraud alerts on credit reports and that is where we are today.

Identity Theft Secrets: Wow. So, I understand too, I remember reading about that story. That is just kind of creepy. So, basically he said, look I do not want anybody else having to go through this, you know paying the $16,000.00 and fighting extradition and everything else, so, that is really what started it, right?

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): Right, and because on top of that, you know, once his identity was stolen, that individual sold it to other individuals. So, there was a gentlemen; a criminal down in Texas that went and committed some crimes. There was one in Minnesota, there was one in Ohio. You know, he was labeled as a sex offender; he was not able to coach his daughter's soccer team. I mean, this created all kinds of hassle for him. So, he said, there has to be a way to stop this from happening, you know at the time, but you think back several years ago, three, four, five years ago identity theft really was not even on the radar. You know...

Identity Theft Secrets: Right, people did not even know what it was.

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): Right, you did not hear people talking about it, and it was one of those things that if you did talk about it, there really was not much information out there so. At that time was, hey just pay it out, make it go away but the thing was that it never went away.

Identity Theft Secrets: Yeah, so, there needed to be a service in placed to help them fix that problem. Now, I saw on your website that Todd Davis, who is actually your CEO, posted his social security number, right online, right on the front page of the LifeLock website. Can you talk about why he feels confident in having his social security number posted publicly and how...you know that is just a very kind of bold statement...how that came to be?

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): Well, people tend to think that is a publicity stunt but it is not. We go around the country preaching prevention of identity theft. You know, there are steps that you could do as a consumer to stop this from happening to you. You can choose a company like Lifelock, but you do not have to. There are steps that you probably know that you could do. You could place the fraud alert. You could remove yourself from junk mail and offers for instant credit. You can take yourself off the phone call list. But, what we did, we actually, this came all about when a reporter asked us: One, how sure you are about your company and the fact that you can stop this from happening to you? And so Todd said, I will show you. And as a matter of fact, I will do it right now. My (Mike Prusinski) social security number is: 343-56-0357. And the reason I can do that is because: One, my information is everywhere. It is posted on public websites. You know, you can go to Google. Chances are somebody else already has it and have tried to use it. So, whether it is through a hospital, doctor, dentist, where I went to school, my information is out there and anybody can get to it just about anytime. I am just one of those people that, you know, any moment I am going to get a letter in the mail saying, my data is lost. You know, 110 million people since 2005 have received letters just like that. So, it is just a matter of time before I am going to be one of those individuals. I decided that I did not want to do this myself. I signed up for Lifelock, and you know what, even if I was not employed by the company, knowing what I know about the crime now, I probably would do it anyways because you know what, I do not have the time to deal with it, on the forefront or even afterwards. I am one of those guys that kind of like, I rather have someone to do it for me, whether it is take care of my pool, taking care of my grass, changing the oil on my car. Straight down the line, I rather pay for the convenience of having someone do it for me.

Identity Theft Secrets: So, then how many people does Lifelock serve? You mentioned you would be a client regardless. So, how many people do you guys currently have as part of the service?

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): Well, we are a private company so we do not really tell people what our numbers are, but let me tell you this. We are signing up several thousand a day and have been since the middle of last year. It is one of those crimes that people just do not, you know, (and again, you know this really well), there is a lot of miscommunication out there, a lot of things that people do not know. A lot of stories go around, a lot false numbers, and so, people do not know where to turn, who to trust or where to go. And, I think that we kind of hit a nerve. We told people, we know how to stop it. We encourage people to take the other steps, whether it be shredding, removing your self from the list, doing this yourself, or signing up with Lifelock. And, I think people really connected with that.

Identity Theft Secrets: Well, I definitely can see that. This has gotten some really big publicity from the things that you have been able to do for individuals. I mean, I have seen you featured on CNN and a variety of different media outlets.

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): And, I think that a lot of reason for that is because you hear people talking about credit monitoring all the time, you hear about them fixing it after the point. All the breaches you see these companies reporting. You see them offering a free one year credit monitoring. Well, the facts are the facts. You know, credit monitoring does nothing from stopping you in becoming a victim. It is only going to tell you when somebody is out there using it. So, in some regards, there are some companies that they will tell you that they will help you fix it, but they will just give you a list of things that you need to do. So, I think what makes us unique is that we are on the forefront telling people hey, you can stop this, you can take control, you can make it so it never affects you.

Identity Theft Secrets: So, what portion of Lifelock service then is it that actually creates that? What is it that makes it so much different then the other services that are out there?

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): Well, it is that we have taken that preventive step. We have placed the fraud alerts for you. A fraud alert is something that goes on your credit report on your personal information that says that anytime that somebody goes to open a line of credit, change an address; they would need to be contacting you first. So, you would have to be giving your approval. It is one of those steps that you would think that it is really easy, and it is; you could be doing yourself, but it is very time consuming because fraud alerts, you know, fall off every 90 days so, you really need to stay on top of that. So, it is much as the same with the mail or the offers of instant credit. You know, you can call and have your name taken off these lists but, as soon as you take a magazine subscription or you buy something on line or you get a magazine, you know, those people are out there selling your data. So junk mail is going to start coming again. Credit bureaus they are out there selling your data as well, that is how they make your money. I think last year or the year before they made somewhere in the neighborhood of 151 million dollars, selling your own data. So, you know, the credit bureaus are a strong component of fraud alerts. They do not want to do anything; that is why they fight the state freezes so much. They do not want to do anything that is going to limit them from selling your data.

Identity Theft Secrets: So, you actually go in and set up the alerts? You do that every 90 days for them so they wouldn't have to do that so they will not fall off?

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): We actually do it every 70 days so they never fall off. The only way a fraud alert is going to fall off is if you call us and say, listen I do not want this service anymore for some reason. But other than that, every 70 days we are going to renew that. We are going to re add your name for stopping the junk mail and offers of instant credits, and then, you know you will get the credit report, but probably the best two things: One, if you have any problems at all, lets say that you are a client of us and you want to go buy furniture or get that big screen in time for the super bowl, you know, you just call us and we help you walk through the process, but really, it is not too much of an inconvenience. Perfect example, the other day, I actually had to do that. I always wanted a big screen TV so, I said, you know what? This year I am going to go out there and get one. So, I went to Best Buy and went through the whole process of filling out the form for instant credit. But what happened was their analyst right there at Best Buy handled me the telephone, I talked to their financial advisor, he asked me about four different questions, that really only I knew, and I barely knew them, and I got approved. Now, if at any time I wouldn't have gotten those questions right, the transaction would have stopped right there.

Identity Theft Secrets: So, just preventing anybody from being able to access your credit period. Do you find that this has been an inconvenience for people? Or, is there anybody who has had a problem with it? I mean, I imagine that with our society, the I want it now society, you know, sometimes people are like that? I mean, do you guys find that to be a challenge with people at all?

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): You know, just the opposite of that, we have had individuals that have given us their cell phone numbers as the number that they are supposed to have contact, they have gone to a place to buy furniture and forgot their cell phone. Well what has happened is that they get a phone call at their cell phone, they are not there and the transaction has been denied. So, you would have thought that they would have been angry because they would have felt, oh, you stop me from doing something. It has been the opposite, they have said, you know that is exactly what I paid you for, for no one to use my information. Another great example is, we are doing advertising now with Rush Lindbaugh, and Rush got an email shortly after the ad started running at his station from someone that said, I heard your ad, I could not believe the service, I went and signed up, less than a week later I had someone trying to open an account on my name at a different state for $12,000.00. So, because of you, I was able to fight this off. So, it is those types of stories that we hear quite often. We do not hear anybody calling saying oh, you have been a big headache. You stopped me from buying a car, getting into a house, or furniture. It is just the other; they are paying for us to make sure that no one can use their information. The thing is, you can. If you do estate fees or some of the other things, they are paying you for using your own information. Here, you get to stop it, but still use it when you want to.

Identity Theft Secrets: So, I guess that kind of just leads to the question of how much does the service cost?

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): We are $110.00 a year or $10.00 a month. We have the nation's only child program, which is...

Identity Theft Secrets: Yah, I was going to say that I saw that it even cost less for kids, right?

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): Right, it is only $25.00 per year or $2.50 per month and that is actually up from when we started it. We had it at $10.00 per year, but the things that we are doing to protect children is costing us a little bit more money so, obviously the cost is going to go up. But, still at $25.00 a year to protect what is now the fastest growing segment of this crime is something that again, parents generally do not really think about why would I protect my child? Well, when you think about illegal immigration, and meth use, and criminals knowing that they can get a child's social security number, who may be three or four years old, and use that until they are 16 or 17 or 18 years old, criminals know that. So, that is a very valuable commodity because they can take that information, that social security number and use it over and over and over. If you steal a car, you know, you can sell it that one time. Criminals are smart enough to know that if they get a social security number they can sell that over and over and over. And, the main reason for that, I am glad you asked that Jonathan. The main reason for that is that there is no check and balances for social security numbers. So, that is the gray area in the system that allows social security numbers to be used back and forth because if you are a three year old girl in South Carolina, and lets say that somebody in San Diego wanted to use that social security number to gain employment, open an account, they go do that and it can be used over and over again until someone actually tells Social Security Administration that that number does not match. So, what we do as a company, is we go out there and we watch for those things. We make sure by checking with the Social Security Administration, with the Credit Bureaus, etc., that no one is out there using that information. So, that is what we do on the children side and that is why we encourage parents all the time that if you have decided for yourself to protect yourself, you need to protect your children.

Identity Theft Secrets: I saw in a press release that people who are subscribing to Lifelock are reducing their risk of having their identity stolen by more than half. That seems like a really bold claim to me, but could you talk about the study a little bit? Maybe how it was conducted, if you know, and how they came up with the results that they did?

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): Well, Javelin Research which is one of the leading research organizations did a study on our client base. They went in and looked at a random sampling, it was, I think it was about 5,000 individuals, and they asked them a series of questions and came to find out that our customers had less incidents with identity theft then the national average and that we were two times better at stopping identity theft then credit monitoring. And, they based that number off of their long history of watching the industry. As a matter of fact, they are getting ready to announce their national study on identity theft, identity fraud, and I think that comes out next week, late this week or early next. They will talk about the national numbers and the tendency in the crime of identity theft. So, that is something for you to look out for, but they compared what they found in our client base to the national number that they know and came out on record and said that we were more effective in stopping identity theft then credit monitoring. And, that is a huge statement to make. Since it seems like the thing that everybody goes for first is credit monitoring. They want to keep a watch on who is using their information instead of paying attention in maybe stopping it from anybody using it.

Identity Theft Secrets: Obviously, if you could do something on the front end, there is this saying that always "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): We like to use the statement, I know a lot of people that can fix my car if I get into a wreck, but why would I want to get in one in the first place. Or, what is the old saying, you know; "is like closing the barn door after the horses have already left."

Identity Theft Secrets: Right. Well, the info is already out there. I mean, you know, when it comes down to it, ultimately all of our info, like you said in the beginning of the call, is already out there. So, having something that prevents that information from being used seems like it would be useful. I mean, part of the reason for the interview here is that I wanted to let people know that this is available.

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): Then again, then again Jonathan I want to stress over, and over again, is the same thing we stress everyday, we do not care if you use a company like Lifelock or not; take the steps to prevent anybody from using your information. Now, you are going to have critics out there that are going to say oh, wait a minute fraud alerts are not 100% effective. And to that we say you are absolutely right, they are not. I mean, if you have an inside job, whether it may be a family member, you know, that knows everything about you going to take your information and using it, you are absolutely right, the fraud alert could fail, but that is why we have that million dollar guarantee in place that says "if anything ever happens to you as a client of Lifelock, we will go fix the problem, 100% for as long as it takes, doing whatever it takes." And, that includes going and bailing you out of jail, getting you a lawyer, doing all the investigative work, spending all the time, all the money so, you do not have to do a single thing. And, somebody that follows identity theft, like you; you know that the biggest problem is the time and frustration that somebody has to go through to try and fix the problem.

Identity Theft Secrets: Well, and the hours behind it. You know, ultimately what it comes down to it is that even if you have a monitoring service or some of these things out there that call themselves kind of a restoration or resolution type service; a lot of times really what they are doing, like you said, they are sending you the FTC's book, that you can get for free yourself, and maybe, they put somebody on the phone on the other side but who knows if that person is actually operating out of this Country. It might be an outsourced call or something like that too, where you are calling India and they are reading the book to you on how to get the issue resolved.

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): Absolutely, and you know, the thing with that is that they claim, and you hear the numbers all the time, identity theft is not a big problem if you catch it early. Well, to us identity theft is not a problem if you catch it before it happens.

Identity Theft Secrets: Right, there is no problem at the point. It just is basically you have taken care of it before it has become an issue. Was there anything, I mean, some of the prevention steps, and you said that you do not care if people sign up for the service, I mean, you obviously would like them to, but what kind of prevention steps you would recommend just as a kind of practical thing for people to do on their own? You know, out of, two or three things that you would recommend people to do, what would those things be?

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): Well, number one is, place the fraud alert. You can contact any one of the three credit bureaus and tell them that you want to place a fraud alert and they will place it on your account for 90 days. Now, you have to understand again, that after 90 days or in 90 days they are going to drop off the alert and you are going to have to call them again and place that again. If you live in a state that allows you to do a credit freeze, especially if you are elderly or senior citizen, we recommend that you do that. You know, that age group, they are not out there buying, you know, opening accounts for credit, not buying big screen TVs. They still may occasionally buy a car or look to buy a house, but if you are in that age bracket and you live in a state where you are allowed to do a credit freeze before you are a victim, by all means, take advantage of it. Now, the bad thing with that is that you are not going to be able to use your information without thawing it out and then refreezing it. There are charges to that; there is paperwork to that so, then again, it depends on what you plan to and how active you plan to be in the marketplace in using your information to make purchases. You can make that decision by yourself, and then, the last two things; one, obviously buy a shredder, use a shredder, use it all you want. The survey found, the Javelin survey found with our customers, and we do not really recommend this to them, but they feel so safe with our service that a lot of them stopped shredding, and we do not want that, we still want them to shred that information so no one can get a hold of it. And, the last thing is, remove your self from junk mail and offers for instant credit. Your mail box does not need to be that cluttered, and you really do not need them. Now, there are people that want certain things. They want catalogues, or they want certain flyers, you can do that. We are not going to limit you from doing business with people that you are already doing business with; it is just be those unwanted ones that you would get.

Identity Theft Secrets: Well, obviously if people want more information, we will post some information on the website where they can get more info and actually a link directly to Lifelock.com and I appreciate you taking a couple of minutes today with us to talk about Lifelock with Identity Theft Secrets.

Mike Prusinski (Lifelock): Any time Jonathan, and thanks for having me.

Hopefully the guy who emailed me to say how much of a scam this was will at least take the time to read the interview. If he still feels the way he did, so be it.

Here's a TV Interview about LifeLock.

Lifelock Dude Gives Out Social Security Code On Television News Promotion

Once again, you can get to Lifelock's website by clicking here. And just in case you decide to try the service, using the link below will give your computer a promotion code (the word IDENTITY), which I think saves you 15% on your service.

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Lifelock promotion code: IDENTITY
(Saves you 15%)
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If you find that your identity has been stolen, it's a good idea to run a search report on yourself. This way, if the person who stole your information has been using it and has received anything in the mail, you can find the addresses used. It's well worth the few bucks for the report!

From this article = http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2007-06-21/news/slapstick-scammers/

"The Tempe-based anti-identity-theft firm LifeLock was the subject of a recent New Times cover story exposing Maynard's duplicitous past ("What Happened in Vegas . . .," Ray Stern, May 31). See, Maynard Jr. was the frontman for a deceitful credit-repair firm in the mid-'90s that obtained customers' checking account numbers and used them to steal their scrilla. As a result, he's been barred for life from the credit-repair biz.

Maynard's not the only deadbeat dumbass at LifeLock. Davis filed for personal bankruptcy in 2000. And blog.wired.com recently reported that Davis, who stupidly gives out his Social Security number in company ads, has been jacked by an identity thief. Seems someone used his data to get a $500 loan, despite LifeLock's vaunted guarantee."

And another one = http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2007-05-31/news/what-happened-in-vegas/2

"American Express sued Maynard's father in 2005 for $154,000 in unpaid bills. But Dr. Robert J. Maynard Sr., a prominent local eye doctor, denied he ordered the card.

Records show that someone with Maynard Sr.'s personal information ordered the card. But that someone didn't have the bills sent to Maynard Sr.'s home. Instead, the bills went to a company called Netshield, at a Phoenix address used by one of Maynard Jr.'s former firms.

Though Maynard Sr. says he never asked for the card, he settled with the company. Coincidentally, Maynard Jr. has $170,000 in debt to American Express listed on his 2005 bankruptcy paperwork ? and his father is named as a co-debtor.

If Maynard Jr. ordered the card using his dad's data, without his dad's knowledge, that would make him ? you got it ? an identity thief."

http://www.latimes.com/business/custom/admark/la-fi-lifelock12jun12,1,1305266.story?coll=la-headlines-business-advert&ctrack=1&cset=true

""Just like we have with mine, LifeLock will make your personal information useless to a criminal," Davis writes on the site, adding that LifeLock's protection is guaranteed to as much as $1 million in losses and legal expenses.

But LifeLock spokesman Mike Prusinski confirmed Monday that Davis' name and Social Security number were inappropriately used to get a $500 loan in Texas. The incident could adversely affect Davis' credit rating.

Prusinski said that no company could stop all incidents and that LifeLock was investigating the case, which was reported by Wired.com."

"In an interview Friday, Maynard said his past problems, including two personal bankruptcy filings, the last in 2005, stemmed from bipolar disorder diagnosed in 2001. Maynard said he was being treated and had cleaned up his act."