LifeLock Comes to the Rescue

My wife and I recently received calls and letters regarding accounts that we have not requested to be opened. Fortunately, we have been signed up with a company called LifeLock which protects our identity. Overall, I would have to say the LifeLock has been a blessing in disguise and I highly encourage others use its services, or those offered by a similar company.

I am happy to say that the applications for credit did not go through, so being pro-active about protecting our identity has definitely paid off thus far. There are a lot of people who do not take measures to protect themselves until after they are victims of fraud and identity theft.

I do have three items of advice for consumers looking to protect their identities:

1. Check your credit reports at least once every 90 days. The three main credit bureaus are Experian, Trans Union and Equifax.
2. File a police report as soon as you find out you may be a victim of fraud and/or identity theft.
3. Closely monitor your credit reports.

Now this is a marketing blog. And I'm sure everyone has seen the commercials featuring the social security number of LifeLock's CEO, Todd Davis. Indeed, those are somewhat memorable. Personally, I find LifeLock's commercials easy to understand and quick to the point. The message is simple: Get LifeLock to protect your identity.

And while I speak highly of LifeLock's television commercials, PR strategy (i.e being featured on the NBC News Today Show and its services, I feel LifeLock could truly benefit from a really good social media campaign. I have several suggestions which LifeLock may want to consider if they want to improve customer service and awareness.

First, LifeLock should take advantage of social media by setting up a corporate blog covering issues and topics relevant to identity theft. Many consumers are constantly seeking information about identity theft and how to prevent it. A corporate blog would provide an excellent platform for LifeLock to communicate with consumers online.

Second, the CEO, Todd Davis, could post quarterly infomercials on its website and video content sites such as YouTube to get information out to consumers. Many CEO's are finding YouTube to be the ultimate place to reach out to consumers.

Third, LifeLock really needs to incorporate a good "Live Chat" function on its website. It may already have "Live Chat" features in place, but they are hard to find. A "Live Chat" feature should be readily visible. An alternative to providing a link may be to have customer service representatives (CSR's) monitor consumers visiting LifeLock's website. The CSR's could initiate discussion by having a "Live Chat" dialogue box pop-up on a consumers computer if they have been on LifeLock's site for an extended period of time. Some financial institutions currently do this. Bank of America comes to mind in this instance.

Below is a graph highlight discussion about Fraud, Identity Theft and LifeLock over the past 2 months. As you can see, discussion about Fraud and Identity Theft on consumers blogs is on the rise.



Note: The trend graph does not include discussion about Fraud and Identity Theft on discussion boards or Usenet Groups.