The purpose of a fraud alert is for creditors to confirm that the person using your name is actually you. With your fraud alerts in place, creditors, lenders, or other prospective users of your consumer report must take steps to verify your identity before they can:

• Issue new credit
• Increase credit lines
• Arrange loans
• Create new accounts for such things as utilities and cellular phones

After a fraud alert has been placed in your credit file, any creditor using that credit file to grant new credit or an extension of credit in your name should take reasonable steps to verify your identity and confirm the credit application is not the result of identity theft. This can be done by contacting you by phone, via the mail or by using other methods to verify the application is legitimate. Most of the time, when someone else is trying to use your identity to get credit, the fraud alert will stop them cold. We say “most of the time” because nothing is perfect. That’s why you also have our $1 Million Total Service Guarantee.

Read Kim's story for an example.

"I saw in the news about a company called LifeLock that protects families from identity theft. My husband was skeptical, but I signed us up, and forgot about it. A couple of months later, on a family vacation, my husband received a phone call asking if he was applying for a new credit card. Someone was trying to steal his identity. LifeLock had stopped the thief cold. We continued on with our vacation knowing we were safe."

Kim Barnes

Usually within an hour of your enrollment as a member of LifeLock, we request alerts be set on all of your credit reports at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Within a week or two after enrolling, these major credit bureaus will send you credit reports showing your alerts are in place.

You'll also see a dramatic reduction in pre-approved credit offers in the mail and in your junk mail load. These are not only annoying, but also a common way thieves get your identity. Most LifeLock subscribers feel this alone is worth our fee.

Even more valuable to our members is our $1 Million Total Service Guarantee, which is effective and in full force from the moment you enroll.