In the news today, Lifelock has agreed to settle claims brought by the Federal Trade Commission and 34 state attorneys general. The feds and states alleged that Lifelock misrepresented its ability to protect your credit, in particular because Lifelock's services (the suit said) couldn't help prevent fraud on existing accounts. (Lifelock also was alleged to not handle customer information in the way it promised, possibly placing your private information at risk.)
Lifelock agreed to pay $12 million to settle the case. You probably won't get any of that: $11 million goes to the FTC, and $1 million will be split among the states.
Wisconsin didn't bother going after Lifelock -- possibly because the agency (DATCP) and legislators who oversee it are openly dismissive of consumer protection -- so you Wisconsinites wouldn't have gotten any money anyway. (I don't know why Wisconsin didn't join in to the suit; they could've just copied the pleadings, jumped in there like the other states, and gotten some money from Lifelock for doing very little work. Isn't that the definition of government?)
If you did buy into Lifelock, you may still have a remedy: Section 100.18, one of my personal favorite statutes, would let you bring a claim if Lifelock falsely represented what they could do, and you'd be entitled to get your money back plus your attorney's fees. While nothing's guaranteed in this life (other than the guarantee that DATCP won't do much to help you as an individual), it seems likely you'd win, given that deceptive practices are exactly what the feds, and 34 states -- but not Wisconsin -- have alleged Lifelock did.
In fact, beyond the section 100.18 remedy, you may even be able to sue for three times your losses (plus attorney's fees), as Wisconsin provides a triple-damages remedy for victims of certain kinds of identity theft or mishandling of personally-identifiable information (via section 895.446, Wis. Stats.)
Equally important: Why did you buy Lifelock in the first place? They wouldn't do anything you couldn't do, for free, by accessing your free credit reports annually at annualcreditreport.com.
Annualcreditreport.com is the government run website that lets you access a free credit report, once a year, from each of the major credit bureaus. All you have to do is go get one every four months, and you'll be constantly monitoring your credit for nothing. So go today and get Trans Union's report. Then, in July, get Equifax's, for free. Then, in November, get Experian's. Then, next March, start over with Trans Union's.
There you go: In one blog entry, I've given you two different remedies for identity theft, and a way to avoid having it happen in the first place, all for free.
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