The CEO of America's leading identity theft protection service says the evidence is clear

TEMPE, AZ - For the past two years LifeLock CEO Todd Davis has been giving out his real Social Security number to anyone who would listen. On TV, radio, in print - even for this story.

"It's 457-55-5462," Davis said in an interview from the headquarters of America's leading identity theft protection service. "Of course, you should only share your Social Security number when completely necessary, but I give mine out because of my total confidence in LifeLock's ability to guarantee my good name."

LifeLock became the industry leader in identity theft protection by taking proactive steps to keep identity thieves from being able to use their members' identities, even if their members' personal information gets in the wrong hands.

What LifeLock doesn't stop, they fix at their expense up to $1,000,000.

But how well does the LifeLock system work? Davis says look at the facts:

• Last year alone, 3 percent of all Americans, that's 8.4 million people, were victims of real identity theft.
• Analysts at LifeLock, which protects the identities of over a million members, statistically would have expected to see 10,000 of its members experience identity thefts in just the first four months of 2008.
• However, only 105 LifeLock members in the history of the company, or just over .01 percent of those protected by LifeLock, have ever reported their identities stolen - and LifeLock 's $1 Million Total Service Guarantee completely covered every one of them.

Davis is quick to add that even he, the man with the most famous Social Security number in the world, has looked to LifeLock for protection after an identity theft…but only once, and LifeLock was there to help.

A year ago, a Texas man used Davis' Social Security number to get a $500 payday advance loan. Davis points out that the check cashing company made no attempt to verify the identity, which he believes would have stopped the theft cold, but says that's not the important part of the story.

"What's important is the whole incident proves that LifeLock works, because I was never out a dime of my own money or a minute of my own time." Davis says. "LifeLock protected me and the other 104 victims exactly as they promised."

Davis is clearly passionate about his company and its message.

"No one can stop all identity theft, and don't believe anyone who says they can, but look at what we've done. Our proactive approach has resulted in successfully protecting over 99 percent of our members. That's unprecedented. And the less than 1/10 of 1 percent that did fall victim to identity theft were completely covered by our guarantee."

So how big of a problem is identity theft? Again, the facts tell the full story:

• Identity theft has topped the Federal Trade Commission's list of consumer complaints for seven years, and according to the FTC's latest survey, over 8 million Americans were victims of identity theft just last year. That's another stolen identity every 3 to 4 seconds, at an annual cost of over $50 billion.
• Identity theft victims can spend hundreds of frustrating hours talking to credit card companies, banks, police and credit bureaus repairing the damage.
• When you factor in that thieves may hold onto information for six months before using it, and that a single stolen identity may be used up to 30 times, the full weight of the crime really begins to take shape. You could already be a victim many times over, but might not know it for months.

No one is immune from identity theft. Here are just a few real identity theft horror stories, told by victims that later became members of LifeLock:

• Before becoming a member of LifeLock, one victim had two homes purchased and furnished using her name and personal information. Then, to add insult to injury, the thieves took out second mortgages on both homes as well.
• Another had his identity stolen at age 7, but didn't find out until ten years later when he was denied a student loan and a job due to poor credit. He was 17 years old and $40,000 in debt because someone had purchased a houseboat in his name. He struggled for 10 years to clear his name.
• One victim even had his identity stolen by a man who went on to commit rape and murders using the victim's name.

LifeLock's proactive approach to identity theft protection and $1 Million Total Service Guarantee helps reduce the risk of members becoming victims of those exact scenarios, as well as the money and time used to restore their good name.

Davis acknowledges that the FTC and federal government have already taken great strides toward guarding consumers.

"The FTC's site (www.ftc.gov/idtheft) does a great job of educating consumers with their "Deter, Detect, Defend" campaign, and Congress passed laws several years ago allowing consumers to get free annual credit reports from the three major credit bureaus (TransUnion, Experian and Equifax) so you can see exactly what is happening with your credit history."

The government also allows consumers to place free fraud alerts on their credit reports if they have been victimized or believe they have been or are about to become a victim of identity theft. Fraud alerts can make it more difficult for someone to get credit in someone else's name because it tells creditors to use "reasonable policies and procedures" to verify the consumer's identity before issuing credit in their name.

Consumers can request their annual credit reports by going to www.annualcreditreport.com. The site also has information on how to request free fraud alerts. LifeLock also facilitates requesting both the fraud alerts and credit reports on behalf of their members as part of their service.

As the industry leader, LifeLock remains tenacious and undeterred in its constant efforts to protect its members, pushing for tighter federal protections against identity theft and constantly fighting to protect the consumer.

"We're working round the clock monitoring criminal web sites for the illegal selling and trading of our members' information," Davis said.

LifeLock also notifies members when a change of address is made in their name to make sure it's not an identity thief rerouting the mail to the thief's address. They also help get members' names taken off of junk mail and pre-approved credit card lists because they're just two more avenues thieves can use to get someone's personal information.

"Of course, no system is perfect," he adds, "which is why our $1 Million Total Service Guarantee is so important."

Davis cites LifeLock's industry leader status as the reason for several law suits recently filed against the company. "Obviously, I can't comment on ongoing legal matters, but this is what happens when you're the leader in your field. It's to be expected."

LifeLock has already asked the federal courts to have the cases thrown out.

"We knew this would happen," Davis said. "We were ready and believe the suits will be proved to be without merit because we follow the law and do exactly what we say we do. I don't see where anyone has come even close to proving different or doing the job better."