Using Own Social Security Number in Ads Turned Out Not to be a Good Idea After All!



Bad Idea: Telling strangers your social security number.
Really Bad Idea: Broadcasting it nationwide to advertise your fraud-prevention company.
Neatorama Worthy: Getting burned because your identity actually did get stolen!

Here’s the story of Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock, who used his real social security number in TV and radio ads, and how he’s being sued because his company failed to protect his own identity:

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.

Link - via Boing Boing


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Posted on May 22, 2008 at 2:03 pm by Alex
Category: Advertising, Crime & Law

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16 comments to "Using Own Social Security Number in Ads Turned Out Not to be a Good Idea After All!"

  • SenorMysterioso
    May 22nd, 2008 at 2:08 pm

    Ha, he basically dared identity thieves to try. Is ad ended up giving him bad publicity.

  • twodollars
    May 22nd, 2008 at 2:21 pm

    Yes! Every time I see those commercials, I think to my self “Man that guy is stupid, I dont care how good the service is, its never gonna be foolproof and hes gonna get burned”

  • CheeseDuck
    May 22nd, 2008 at 2:24 pm

    SWEET! SWEET! IRONY!

  • Michelle
    May 22nd, 2008 at 2:36 pm

    Hahaha, that’s awesome.
    I feel bad for the people he seemed to have duped into purchasing his flimsy product. Where are their brains anyway, though?

  • Tweeker
    May 22nd, 2008 at 4:54 pm

    All these problems with identity theft would be cut by over 90% if the burden of identity theft was on credit issuers rather than consumers. See how quickly credit card issues are dealt with for an example.

  • Church of Dim Sum
    May 22nd, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    I don’t have a number and I do alright. Did you know you can get a US credit card without a social security number?

  • Vako
    May 22nd, 2008 at 10:10 pm

    I work in the technical side of radio, and the very first damn time my co-workers and I heard that Lifelock guy, we all looked at each other and thought the exact same thought… “Suckers…”.

  • Thomas
    May 23rd, 2008 at 1:58 am

    Knew it was only a matter of time.

  • MoonCake
    May 23rd, 2008 at 7:47 am

    totally sent you that link yesterday! oh well.. glad it made it on here.

  • Domz
    May 23rd, 2008 at 11:41 am

    Unless I misread it, out of 87 attempts, only 1 succeeded. I think that’s a damn good job.

  • L
    May 23rd, 2008 at 1:36 pm

    I don’t know much about SSNs, but why aren’t they like credit card numbers? Why can’t a new one be issued if the old one is compromised? If the government issues a new number and cancels the old one, it seems to me that the problem of identity theft would become a little less of a problem.

    Or is that too simple a solution?

  • renderanything
    May 23rd, 2008 at 4:14 pm

    Did anyone else read the Phoenix New Times article about this guy? Not that they’re the best source, but he’s been up to his eyeballs in financial problems for a long time. Apparently (as I recall) he didn’t pay back bookies in Las Vegas, was arrested, and stole money from his father. Then he began one or two other companies which ended in failure or bankruptcy before founding his Lifelock business. Their main center of operations was just down the street from where I used to work. I even gave a ride to a woman going there for an interview, but she had never heard of any of these things before meeting with them. You’d have to look at what their actual services are before signing up for their services, because they can only do so much.

  • whantmoore
    May 28th, 2008 at 10:35 am

    I think its too funny you dont dare hackers to try to mess with you its like poking a tiger just not a good idea

  • SeismicMike
    July 17th, 2008 at 3:55 pm

    Actually, this is a false rumor. He really didn’t get his identity stolen. One guy tried to take out a $500 payroll advance in his name and got busted for it. So yeah… the system worked.

  • SeismicMike
    July 17th, 2008 at 3:58 pm

    Correcting myself: Actually I’ve double checked the facts and as of a May 29th interview, Davis had had 88 attempted thefts of his identity. Only one of which was even close to successful - the $500 pay day advance loan. Every other attempt failed. What is more, the only reason the pay day advance loan didn’t fail is because the guy who worked at the place didn’t due his due diligence to confirm the guy’s identity.

    Don’t believe me? Listen to the interview at the link I posted as my “website”

  • believer
    July 17th, 2008 at 8:52 pm

    People, this guy advertised his SS# to millions of people. after 200 KNOWN attempts, his identity was stolen ONCE!!! that’s still a pretty damn good record. He didn’t keep his promise, that’s obvious, but lookat the hurdle he set for himself. If I say I’m going to jump to the top of mount everest and I only get halfway up that’s still like 3 miles. All I’m saying is that he shouldn’t have said it was impossible, but aside from that, the service is probably good. Has anyone that is sueing him actually had their identity stolen? Or are they just tryting to cash in

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Neatorama » Blog Archive » Using Own Social Security Number in Ads Turned Out Not to be a Good Idea After All!
   
     
   
   

Using Own Social Security Number in Ads Turned Out Not to be a Good Idea After All!



Bad Idea: Telling strangers your social security number.
Really Bad Idea: Broadcasting it nationwide to advertise your fraud-prevention company.
Neatorama Worthy: Getting burned because your identity actually did get stolen!

Here’s the story of Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock, who used his real social security number in TV and radio ads, and how he’s being sued because his company failed to protect his own identity:

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.

Link - via Boing Boing


Previous Post
Get Neatorama by RSS or email
 Next Post
this post? Please email a friend  +reddit  +SU 
Posted on May 22, 2008 at 2:03 pm by Alex
Category: Advertising, Crime & Law

From our new online store:
» More fun T-shirt designs at Neatorama Online Store

16 comments to "Using Own Social Security Number in Ads Turned Out Not to be a Good Idea After All!"

  • SenorMysterioso
    May 22nd, 2008 at 2:08 pm

    Ha, he basically dared identity thieves to try. Is ad ended up giving him bad publicity.

  • twodollars
    May 22nd, 2008 at 2:21 pm

    Yes! Every time I see those commercials, I think to my self “Man that guy is stupid, I dont care how good the service is, its never gonna be foolproof and hes gonna get burned”

  • CheeseDuck
    May 22nd, 2008 at 2:24 pm

    SWEET! SWEET! IRONY!

  • Michelle
    May 22nd, 2008 at 2:36 pm

    Hahaha, that’s awesome.
    I feel bad for the people he seemed to have duped into purchasing his flimsy product. Where are their brains anyway, though?

  • Tweeker
    May 22nd, 2008 at 4:54 pm

    All these problems with identity theft would be cut by over 90% if the burden of identity theft was on credit issuers rather than consumers. See how quickly credit card issues are dealt with for an example.

  • Church of Dim Sum
    May 22nd, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    I don’t have a number and I do alright. Did you know you can get a US credit card without a social security number?

  • Vako
    May 22nd, 2008 at 10:10 pm

    I work in the technical side of radio, and the very first damn time my co-workers and I heard that Lifelock guy, we all looked at each other and thought the exact same thought… “Suckers…”.

  • Thomas
    May 23rd, 2008 at 1:58 am

    Knew it was only a matter of time.

  • MoonCake
    May 23rd, 2008 at 7:47 am

    totally sent you that link yesterday! oh well.. glad it made it on here.

  • Domz
    May 23rd, 2008 at 11:41 am

    Unless I misread it, out of 87 attempts, only 1 succeeded. I think that’s a damn good job.

  • L
    May 23rd, 2008 at 1:36 pm

    I don’t know much about SSNs, but why aren’t they like credit card numbers? Why can’t a new one be issued if the old one is compromised? If the government issues a new number and cancels the old one, it seems to me that the problem of identity theft would become a little less of a problem.

    Or is that too simple a solution?

  • renderanything
    May 23rd, 2008 at 4:14 pm

    Did anyone else read the Phoenix New Times article about this guy? Not that they’re the best source, but he’s been up to his eyeballs in financial problems for a long time. Apparently (as I recall) he didn’t pay back bookies in Las Vegas, was arrested, and stole money from his father. Then he began one or two other companies which ended in failure or bankruptcy before founding his Lifelock business. Their main center of operations was just down the street from where I used to work. I even gave a ride to a woman going there for an interview, but she had never heard of any of these things before meeting with them. You’d have to look at what their actual services are before signing up for their services, because they can only do so much.

  • whantmoore
    May 28th, 2008 at 10:35 am

    I think its too funny you dont dare hackers to try to mess with you its like poking a tiger just not a good idea

  • SeismicMike
    July 17th, 2008 at 3:55 pm

    Actually, this is a false rumor. He really didn’t get his identity stolen. One guy tried to take out a $500 payroll advance in his name and got busted for it. So yeah… the system worked.

  • SeismicMike
    July 17th, 2008 at 3:58 pm

    Correcting myself: Actually I’ve double checked the facts and as of a May 29th interview, Davis had had 88 attempted thefts of his identity. Only one of which was even close to successful - the $500 pay day advance loan. Every other attempt failed. What is more, the only reason the pay day advance loan didn’t fail is because the guy who worked at the place didn’t due his due diligence to confirm the guy’s identity.

    Don’t believe me? Listen to the interview at the link I posted as my “website”

  • believer
    July 17th, 2008 at 8:52 pm

    People, this guy advertised his SS# to millions of people. after 200 KNOWN attempts, his identity was stolen ONCE!!! that’s still a pretty damn good record. He didn’t keep his promise, that’s obvious, but lookat the hurdle he set for himself. If I say I’m going to jump to the top of mount everest and I only get halfway up that’s still like 3 miles. All I’m saying is that he shouldn’t have said it was impossible, but aside from that, the service is probably good. Has anyone that is sueing him actually had their identity stolen? Or are they just tryting to cash in

Want your own avatar? Get one for free at Gravatar!


Neatorama Comment Policy
You don't have to register or login to comment, but it's easier if you do so. We don't censor comment based on your point of view but comments that are abusive, use excessive profanity, or contain off-topic links may get edited or deleted. On some posts, it may take up several minutes for you comment to show up.


Stay updated on the comments in this post with Comment RSS