LifeLock: CEO Gives Away Social Security #

Todd Davis, CEO of LieLock, had an inspiring marketing idea that would prove just how effective his company was at protecting people from identify theft.

The plan was simple: Expose his actual Social Security number on the company website, and painted on the side of a van to show how safe LifeLock's services actually are.

Almost immediately, identity thieves managed to take small loans out in his name, as well as create several wireless internet accounts.

In fact, his identity was stolen a total of 13 times!

So, not only did Todd's identity get stolen, but his company's reputation was catastrophically damaged.

However, it wasn't over there...

The Federal Trade Commission then fined the company $12 mil for fraudulent practices and false advertising.

FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz was quoted as saying: "the protection they (LifeLock) provided left such a large hole. you could drive a truck through it.”

What the FTC found was that companies like LifeLock monitor large credit bureaus for client activity; however, criminals use other, smaller databases that are less secure to commit fraud.

This reminds me a lot of McDonald's & the 1984 Olympics, where a company made a promise based on a situation they really couldn't control.

However, while McDonald's clearly couldn't control how many medals America won, LifeLock could have easily advised customers to never share their Social Security number, versus putting in on the side of a truck!

[sb name="newsletter"]