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July 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Dumb, dumber, and Davis
The irony in this story is so thick I may need a spatula to complete it.
Here's a lesson in how not to do business on the Internet:
a) Start a company that guarantees your customers never have to worry about having their identity stolen;
b) Publish your own Social Security Number on your company's Web site, to show just how foolproof your service is;
c) Allow a mentally retarded person to steal your identity, using the SSN you've just broadcast to the world;
d) Send thugs to his home to wring a confession from him, making the crime impossible to prosecute.
The party in question: Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock (SSN# 457-55-5462, for all you identity thieves out there). For $10 a month, his company offered to maintain a fraud alert on your accounts with the three major credit bureaus by calling them every 90 days to renew the alert. That's it. That's what you got for your $120 a year. But even that wasn't enough to keep Davis from being touched for $500 by a Texas grifter with a double-digit IQ.
As told by Wired News reporter Kim Zetter, the story gets even stranger. Turns out Davis's former partner in LifeLock, Robert Maynard Jr., resigned last month after stories surfaced that alleged he was himself an identity thief. (And no, he was not the mentally disabled guy who stole Davis's ID, though that would certainly add a nice TV Movie of the Week twist to our saga.)
After authorities identified the man who misappropriated Davis's identity, the idiot sent employees to the guy's house with a typed confession and a video camera. Yes, they got the confession they sought. And then the local DA dropped the case, because that confession would never stand up in court.
"Here at LifeLock, We Guarantee Your Good Name.
No one else does because no one else can."
Maybe they should have called it BrainLock instead.
Got more tales of high tech stupidity? Share them below or email me here. Top tipsters qualify for cool swag (SSNs not required).
Posted by Robert X. Cringely on July 26, 2007 12:12 PM
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actually, this is called 'editorializing.' this is an opinion/gossip blog, not a news report. the rules are different.
but please tell me, how else would you report this? what defense would the man have, besides severe mental incapacity?
rxc
Posted by: cringe at July 26, 2007 06:29 PMhaha great way to sum it up. well said. the company is a joke and their well-known investors should do a little due diligence before taking out their check book.
Posted by: Chris at July 29, 2007 08:22 PMif Mr. Davis, if indeed that IS his name now, wanted to prove his point, he should have gotten a SSN for his dog, and posted that.
a note for the files, folks: it is a well-known procedure that for every "foolproof" security scheme, nature rapidly provides a better fool. anybody who thinks that they can bank on One Magic Bullet (tm), or any other brilliant idea on the table that renders everything else obsolete, can also take solace in the saying that a fool and his money are soon parted.
Posted by: swschrad at July 30, 2007 11:52 AMTHIS POOR GUY GOT SHARFTED. IF I HAD SOME GUYY STEAL MY SOCAIL SECURITY NUMBER I WIULD GO TO HIS HOUSE WOITH MY BIG RATWEILER AND WE WOULD HJAVE A CHAT. HAHAAHHAA
Posted by: JIM at July 30, 2007 01:42 PMSome 20+ years ago, (back in my days in the durable goods industry) I coined "Everhart's Law": "The development of more sophisticated fool-proof systems stimulates the evolution of more sophisticated fools."
Since then, the premise has remained unshaken - the increasing speed of technological progress continues to be matched by the equally rapid manifestation of corresponding foolishness (and, too frequently, an attendant malevolence).
The technology question of the day is no longer the vapid, "Where do you want to go today?" But rather, "It's painfully clear where we're going; so, what color handbasket would you like to travel in?"
The recently passed Ingmar Bergman may have the final word on our society:
"The world is a den of thieves and night is falling. Soon it will be the hour for robbers and murderers. Evil is breaking its chains and goes through the world like a mad dog... So it shall be. Therefore let us be happy, let us be kind, generous, affectionate and good. Therefore it is necessary, and not in the least shameful, to take pleasures in the little world, good food, gentle smiles, fruit-trees in bloom and waltzes"
--excerpted from Fanny & Alexander by Ingmar Bergman.
Posted by: Mark Everhart at July 30, 2007 02:07 PMI work for a company that provides data backup and recovery, ID Theft Insurance from AIG and a ID Vault service that is meant to act as a LifeLock type service. The thing is we do not charge for the Lifelock service as any one given the proper information can do this for themselves 4 times a year and with a total time of about 5 minutes. We also recommend that you keep all your personal information guarded closely. We sometimes wonder how any one uses lifelock service.
Thanks for the info - I was searching for information on the life lock compnay when I found your posting.
Posted by: bill at November 12, 2007 11:10 AMthat's funny, just saw their ad in the WSJ today and was wondering when someone would use that SS#
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