Lifelock

Thanks Lynn. I don't worry about my cc cards. THe thing I do have a concern about is someone getting my social security number and starting up accounts.

Hi, Scottie and Lynn!

We've chosen not to pay for LifeLock and to keep up with alerts and reviews ourselves, but it's definitely a personal choice. Here's one opinion from Consumer Reports:

Is your identity safer with LifeLock?
It doesn't really dismantle sites that sell stolen IDs
Consumer Reports Money Adviser: June 2013

"The Bottom Line: Protect yourself for less. Monitor your financial statements and credit reports for suspicious activity that can lead to identity theft (link goes to article detailing steps to take to protect yourself*).

If your credit cards are lost or stolen, you don’t need LifeLock to notify your financial institutions to cancel and replace them. If your Social Security number is out there, we suggest that you put a security freeze on your credit reports at the big three credit bureaus–Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. That will prevent creditors from accessing your file if a crook tries to open a new account in your name. Without access, creditors are likely to deny a credit application. If you’re not yet a victim of identity theft, you might have to pay $3 to $20 (depending on where you live) to freeze your accounts at each bureau. When you apply for new credit, insurance, or utility service, there might be similar fees to remove the freeze.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2013/06/id-theft-protection-review-lifelock-consumer-reports/inde...

~~~~~~~~~~~

(*Don’t get taken guarding your ID: Do-it-yourself safeguards are just as effective as paid services -- http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2013/01/don-t-get-taken-guarding-your-id/index.htm)

This is a good review that includes specific comparisons and steps you can take yourself:

Should you Pay for LifeLock when you can Prevent & Monitor Identity Theft for Free? A LifeLock Review

December 30, 2013

"...before signing on to LifeLock, realize that there are plenty of solid ways to protect yourself from identity theft that are absolutely, 100% free and legit. In many ways these free identity protection measures go above and beyond the paid services, such as Lifelock, that are out there. Let’s take a look at what Lifelock will do for you (for $10 per month), and how you can achieve the same results for free on your own. But if you’re forgetful and lazy like me, you might find Lifelock to be exactly what you need...

(here in the body of the article it compares and explains what LifeLock does and what you can do yourself)

...The bottom line is that LifeLock is not a scam, it’s just that you can do a lot of what they do for free. LifeLock might be worth it if you have the attitude “well, I could do this stuff for free, but I don’t want the hassle, and I’ll probably forget, so I’ll just let someone else handle it for a small price”."

http://20somethingfinance.com/lifelock-review/

I have thought about signing up for LifeLock. But I hate the thought that I have to pay for a service because other people are out to rip me off. My credit card number was stolen a few years ago -- I had my card the whole time. The bank caught it and put a stop to it. I was not responsible for any of the charges. So I guess the only thing I would really worry about is someone somehow taking money out of our accounts. We don't use debit cards, so I don't know how they would do that. I guess they could open up accounts in our names too. I would hope that would be easy to prove that it was theft of our information, if that ever happened.

good one. thanks for sharing