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Sean Matteson on Feb 27, 2007

I used to be a PPL associate and since I've left can see this from your point of view. When I was in, I thought the Identity Theft Shield was the best thing since sliced bread, but now that the blinders have been taken off I feel different. Please don't be offended. They really are good people trying to change their lives for the better and help others at the same time.

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Sean,

I am offended when people forget generally accepted rules of etiquette and professionalsm. You are a nice guy. However, you talk about "people trying to change their lives". You are talking about the PPL associates. What about the public? You have PPL associates scaring the hell out of people with false stats about ID theft (YEARS OLD data) and selling them a service that is over kill. And the PPL model is to sign people up forever for identity shield. I don't like that idea--telling people they will be paying a fee for the rest of their lives to be safe?! And if you are not a member? Sorry, we can't help you. That doesn't work for me, sorry.

--Tom
CEO, Truston

Sean Matteson on Mar 19, 2007

I agree with you Tom. Now that the blinders are off I see things a bit more clearly. Looking back I was "brain washed" along with thousands of other folks. You'll hear some people spouting off statistics like "one in four will have their identity stolen this year". While I don't know the real numbers, I'm sure it's not even one in four hundred. Thank you for your reply.

susan tjernlund on Jun 15, 2007

Hey Tom, Sean and readers,

Identity theft isn't any more scary than getting sick or hurt without medical coverage, or accidentally wreck someone’s new Mercedes without auto coverage. If you have insurance, you're prepared and not devastated financially. Does your philosophy also include ignoring getting oil changes, virus software, the symptoms of pneumonia, do you never get your teeth cleaned--just take a chance that the restoration of your car, computer, body, or teeth will be something you'll pay full price for when something goes wrong?

I don't think I'd want you to be MY advisors on how to protect my identity, based on your attitude that Pre-Paid Legal's powerful alliance with Kroll Worldwide is "overrated". I’d be glad to tell you about my research if you’d be interested in hearing what I’ve learned. Now health and auto insurance I could see deserve more of a rap if any kind of coverage these days, because those are certainly services that are high-priced and sometimes dubious fulfillment. There are more ID’s being stolen than either of those types of incidents, hence having some coverage just makes common sense—not based on your “feelings” that the service is “overkill”. Who’s getting killed here—I think it’s your readers that are being hurt!

I urge you to try this: Do a google search on "Fake ID's" and you'll see over 4 million sites listed to sell you one. Go to www.privacyrights.org and look at current data breaches: the fact that over 500 major data breaches have been reported over the last two years, involving 153 million Americans personal information (that's half the population), and check out USA Today’s article about Cybercrime from expert at Edentify.us where he said he believed there would be a 20 fold increase in ID Theft over the next 24 months. Are you basing your experience on your own or the experts whose job it is to study the trends, and the 10 million (reported) people who's lives were turned upside down last year by fraud and crimes they are being blamed for?

So, do you really want to be responsible for telling people they can handle their ID theft issues themselves? That’s really considerate of you knowing that the FTC says the average person spends over 600 hrs, or fifteen forty hour work weeks, to restore their information and 1 out of 4 say that after many years they cannot get it restored after spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars, enormous time, and lost wages, lost sleep, etc. That's right, tell folks to listen to you instead, not to worry because it's not that big of a deal, much less consider having protection from Pre-Paid Legal that for a dollar a day gives your family 24 hr access to top national legal network, 24 hr monitoring with the best risk management company in the world, and their highly qualified criminal investigators doing the work, and cleaning up the data bases the public doesn't even have access to.

Think it’s not a well spent investment? I’ll bet you spend more money on bottled water or Starbucks a month and take your risks to save a few bucks a month, because YOU can handle a big loss if you become a victim. Am I supposed to be impressed? All I know is, be careful everybody who you take advice from!

Anyway, thanks for a blog that offers a forum to share and learn from. You are going in the right direction in that respect.

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susan,

thanks for commenting on our blog.

i agree with you susan. i guess i was having a bad day when i wrote that blog post! nothing wrong with pre-paid legal or anyone else offering a monthly subscription service to help you prevent or recover from id theft. after all we do soemthing along those lines too. the kroll part is very good i am sure and there are lots of people who need someone to take care of everything for them. i think there is room for both approaches and i appreciate pre-paid legal for offering a service backed with some good recovery aid. again, i think pre-paid legal is a fine service that fills an important need.

best,
tom

Brenda on Jun 15, 2007

I am stunned at your remark about people paying forever for an identity theft plan.

As a CEO of a FOR PROFIT company, comments about paying for on-going identity theft coverage makes about as much sense as saying you should not pay for on-going medical insurance or car insurance for the rest of your life... or even paying for your service to learn what people can learn for FREE through any number of sources including the FTC. That is, if they want to invest the HOURS it takes to resolve the issues themselves. You can instruct people on what to do but they still have to; take time during normal work/business hours; lose time off their jobs; possible loss of income if they use personal during work hours; call all the possible nooks and crannies their information may be affected; spend the money getting legal help when the problem requires quick action for things only LAWYERS can get resolved when damage surfaces you can't possible resolve on your own etc.

What how does your self-help for a FEE guide for $19.95/month address the emotional toll it takes on a person and their family?

And for your "cancel at anytime" policy. If you are "logging their recovery steps" , recovery can take weeks, months, and even YEARS,... how can you do all this logging if they cancel? Wouldn't you agree that making this "opt-out" offer, you are simply offering an on-going service if your service has any value over and above the steps your provide for a FEE, which again includes instructions they can get for FREE in any number of places?

We will be exposed to identity theft for many years to come and certainly for my lifetime. There are breaches and identity theft happening at a rate that forces us to have some level of assistance with protecting our sensitive information. As long as companies do a less than adequate job in providing consumers with proper information security, this problem will continue to escalate I don't care HOW the data is sliced! We need to do what we can to protect ourselves because we surely can't rest at night knowing our info is secure everywhere it resides.

As as for your claim of "preventing" identity theft... and for FREE no less, you can no more do this than I can cure cancer. You are reckless in telling people you can do such a thing. NO ONE can prevent identity theft -- not the FBI, CIA, FTC, law enforcement, laws, bills etc. Your false claim is no better than you bashing identity theft plans and credit monitoring. They offer their services for a fee, and you offer your FREE info for a FEE.

I first became a victim of identity theft TEN years ago and even as recent as Feb. 2007, I still fighting problems resulting from the theft. Wouldn't have been nice is all I had to do was follow your simple $19.95 do-it-yourself guide... for TEN YEARS while you logged my recovery steps?

Shame on you for trying to make people feel they are not smart to pay for services yet you ask for $19.95 a month service for something they shouldn't have to pay for.

I read about your company in an article about LifeLock and thought you might have something of value to me and my clients. But after reading your product offering, I was tempted into reading your Blog. And in doing so I found your comments UNPROFESSIONAL for someone at the CEO level. With that being said, I think I'll pass.

BTW, I have no dog in the identity theft plan business fight. I'm just a recovering identity theft victim... as are millions of other people worldwide. ;-)

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You make good points Brenda and I agree with you. Nothing wrong with pre-paid legal or any other identity theft service offering an ongoing subscription to help prevent or recovery from identity theft. i must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed that day. i will say we never claim to prevent identity theft in every way, shape or form. there are so many different types of id theft that it's not feasible to say you can prevent it entirely, for everyone.

brenda, i did notice that you are CEO if an identity theft education company, http://www.idtheft.gov/comments/071.pdf . continued success with that business.

thanks for commenting.

--tom

Tom Fragala on Jun 22, 2007

Brenda and Susan,

I see your points and i agree there is nothing wrong with offering a monthly subscription service to help prevent identity theft and deal with the clean up afterwards. There are many different ways to offer help in this area and in some respects, the more the better, as the market will filter out any that aren't working well. I was surprised to go back and read my comments in the original blog post. I guess I was peeved at the time after receiving so many aggressive emails and spam blog comments from folks about ppl. i'm sure it's a fine service. i have nothing against pre-paid legal.

Also, we say we offer a prevention service. We never say we absolutely or conclusively prevent it. we have never said that or even implied it. there are so many ways you can fall victim, it's not feasible to say there is 100% sure way to eliminate every threat of ID theft. we offer one way to HELP prevent id theft.

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