Wikinvest Wire

An "ad-lock" for LifeLock?

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Maybe this Associated Press report detailing pending lawsuits and something less than "comprehensive protection" for its founder will result in some sort of an "ad-lock" for one of the most annoying promotional campaigns in recent memory.

Hi, my name is Todd Davis and I have a virtually unlimited advertising budget that has enabled me to claim the title "most irritating pitchman in 2008".
Really, how many full page ads in newspapers and magazines can one start-up company afford? It's clear that, in order to be successful in the consumer products business, promotion is much more important than product (this is a shining example), but don't radio stations limit how often the same ad can be repeated?

Hi, my name is Todd Davis and my social security number is ...

The AP report provides the details:

Todd Davis has dared criminals for two years to try stealing his identity: Ads for his fraud-prevention company, LifeLock, even offer his Social Security number next to his smiling mug.

Now, Lifelock customers in Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia are suing Davis, claiming his service didn't work as promised and he knew it wouldn't, because the service had failed even him.

Attorney David Paris said he found records of other people applying for or receiving driver's licenses at least 20 times using Davis' Social Security number, though some of the applications may have been rejected because data in them didn't match what the Social Security Administration had on file.

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.
According to one of the interview subjects in the story, LifeLock charges $10 per month to set up alerts with credit bureaus, something that consumers can do for themselves at no charge.

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