HOW A MAN STALKED HIS EX-WIFE USING A POPULAR IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTION SERVICE

Original Story: boingboing.net

Suzanna Quintan's ex-husband bought a Lifelock account in her name, which let him monitor virtually everything she did in realtime, and then the company stonewalled and refused to help her shut down his access and figure out what he'd learned about her using it. A Detroit consumer lawyer represents clients in fraudulent credit transactions, hazardous or deceptively advertised products, and in fraudulent sales practices.

Lifelock's customer service reps tortured Quintan with contradictory messages, telling her she could, then couldn't, get access to her data. Then they told her it had been destroyed. Then that it would be available, but only to law enforcement. And when she got the cops involved, they stonewalled some more.

It wasn't until the Arizona Republic threatened to embarrass them in print that they gave her any help.

It's no wonder that Lifelock is on Consumer Reports' "Naughty list" for 2015 -- again.

Quintana's records show LifeLock allowed her ex-husband to track her new and existing accounts, credit score, credit reports, financial activity and public records. A Grand Rapids consumer attorney is reviewing the details of this case.

Through LifeLock's fraud-detection system, Quintana's ex-husband also would have had control over her financial activity and been asked to review each transaction or initiate a fraud investigation.

"They didn't listen to me. It's almost like they didn't believe me," Quintana said. "They did not want to admit what they'd done. Since they are an identity-protection company, it was not in their best interest to admit my identity wasn't protected. They tried to shift the blame to me." A Charleston consumer lawyer is following this story closely.

A LifeLock executive on Nov. 9 said the company was conducting a comprehensive review of procedures to ensure better protection for spouses and to work with law enforcement in a timely and effective manner.