identity theft and, you know, someone living an alternate life and taking over, and i was scared. she had my home address, she had my telephone number, she had my social security number, and she was able to make a purchase for $8,000. >> someone got ahold of my driver's license number and obtained tickets pretending to be me, giving my information to the police officer. my employer told me that i had seven days to clear it up or i would be unemployed. i had to prove tt i was innocent because, to them, i'm looking guilty as if have something to hide. >> in my early days with the fbi, the crooks would go into a bank with sunglasses and a hat, rob the bank, they'd probably get caught, face 10 years in prison. now they steal our identities. >> annouer: 1 in 4 people have experienced identity theft. your age and your income don't matter to identity thieves. just having a social security number makes y a target. >> crime is changing. criminals have moved into cyber crime because they know the

payoff is much higher. >> announcer: over 100 million americans have had their personal data exposed, and there's a new victim of identity fraud every 2 seconds. >> we're all vulnerable to identity theft, unfortunately. for savvy consumers who really want to safeguard their overall financial wellbeing, you have to be proactive and take steps to guard against this problem. >> announcer: in the digital age, our information is everywhere, making us all more vulnerable to identity theft. that's why millions of people have become members of lifelock. it's the best identity-theft protection available. >> it was a very empowering experience for me to have lifelock on my side. >> they're helping protect my accounts and my social security number. >> lifelock made it so i can go back to my life. >> i feel safe. lifelock's there. >> i don't need to worry about this now. i can't tell you how happy that made me. >> announcer: stay tuned and meet top experts in the field of identity theft. learn some of the tricks identity thieves do to steal

>> so this is how easy it is to skim this card. >> announcer: and learn more about how lifelock detects fraud and helps protect you from identity theft. >> detecting fraud is a lot like squeezing jell-o. as soon as you stop it at one place, it squirts out somewhere else. and we've really devoted the last decade of our research specifically tidentity fraud protection. >> announcer: find out more about what a lifelock membership means to you and meet some of the lifelock identity protection agents ready to answ your questions, to help resolve identity-theft problems, and to keep watch over your private information. >> you have this whole team of people on your side, and you know that you don't have to go it alone. i don't know what i would have done without lifelock. >> when i first got the alert from lifelock, my reaction was actually, "ha ha, i got you." since i'd been alerted and lifelock was helping me resolve the issue, whoever was doing that wasn't going to be able to benefit. >> i was a victim of identity theft, and it wasn't fun. i was on my own.

and it was a terrible feeling. but it wasn't as bad as when it happened to my daughter, who was 7 at the time. somebody had stole her social security number. i was furious. i was concerned about her future. and so i contacted lifelock because i had heard about them. i looked into what they offer, and it was the best thing i ever did. >> announcer: now let's join lifelock member tom jourden to learn more about identity theft, the fastest growing crime in americ with tom is former fbi agent and renowned speaker jeff lanza, an expert in fraud, cyber crime, and entity theft. >> jeff, thanks for being here. >> you're welcome. >> you know, 10 yes ago, i didn't even think about identity theft, but then, unfortunately, i became victim. and now we hear that it's the fastest growing crime in america. why is that? >> a couple of reasons why it's the fastest growing crime in america -- number one, it's easy

the second reason is, it's very lucrative. so once they get your information, especially your social security number, then it's easy to convert that into cash, to monetize that information. and once tt happens, the victim is left with a lot of problems. >> i think most people think if they have a problem, their bank or credit card company will just take care of it for them, right? >> well, it depends on what the problem is. if the problem is credit card fraud, someone used your existing credit card number or cloned your card, yeah, the bank will take care of that. but that's just one part of the problem of identity theft. there's a much broader problem, and that is when someone steals your identity entirely. they've got your i.d., they've got your social security number, they apply for these accounts in your name. you don't even know it's happening. you may not figure it out until you get a call from a bill collector, a credit card company that says you're past due on a credit card that you don't even know you had. >> so when you're on your own, you're kind of just blind that this is happening 'cause there's no one out there looking out for you. >> that's exactly right. you know, we have our jobs, we have our family, we have our life. do you want to take hours out of

weeks at a time, to try to figure out how to correct the problems that the identity thief caused? if you were gonna do all that, i don't know how much time it would begin to do that. do that. >> so, in general, the advicee you would give -- what can we do to protect ourselves? >> the earlier identity theft gets detected, the sooner you can address the issues and stop it from getting worse, and that's where lifelock comes in. they deal with this every day. >> when jennifer learned a fraudulent accou was opened in her name, she thought she could easily deal with it on her own. >> so here i am trying to call and prove that i'm the real jennifer, and they just don't believe me. i probably talked to six or seven people. each time i'd have to repeat my story. "i did not sign up for this credit card. i don't owe you any money." that person says, "well, i can't help you, but let me transfer you to this person," and it's just so aggravating. it's like, "just send me to the right person." i almost got to the point where i was like, "let me pay for this $400 and just close the account and let's be done," but the thing is, there were other

you just don't know how deep it goes. when my lifelock agent got involved, somehow she knew exactly who toalk to. i never figured out that, but she knew exactly who to talk to. and she helped me take care of it. >> we work, shop, even pay bills almost anywhere. it's great, but it can also make us more vulnerable to identity theft. jim stickley is paid to think like a hacker. he's been featured on investigative reports revealing where we're the most vulnerable to cyber crime. >> no one thinks they're gonna fall victim to identity theft, but check this out. in a caf\ like this, you know, people have this idea that they're safe when they're online. they feel it's being provided by the local caf\ here, so it should be safe. the reality is, though, that something like this -- this is a wi-fi device -- can be brought to a local caf\, set up right here in front of people without them even knowing it, and instead of them connting to the wi-fi in the organization, they'll be connecting to this wi-fi device instead. what if they type in login credentials? i've got them.

got it. if they type in credit card information, i'll get that, as well. all of this information can be captured by the criminal, and then they can use that information to commit identity theft. i do these scams to show people what's going on out there. criminalare continually finding new ways to rip people off. and the bottom line is, you need somebody in your court. that's why lifelock makes so much sense. >> these real lifelock members all volunteered to share their experience in this show. stay tuned to hear more true stories, learn more about how identity thieves work, and find out how lifelock can help protecyour identity. >> announcer: identity theft is the fastest growing crime in america. are you risk? you could be if you bank or shop online, have health insurance or fill out medical forms, if you have a smartphone or use public wi-fi, even if you file your taxes online. no matter how careful you are, your social security number and

is out there out of your control. just detecting the problem is not enough. how do you resolve an issue if you have one? >> i signed up for lifelock. we have someone in our corner to help fight that fight. >> announcer: a lifelock membership means you have a whole team of lifelock identity-protection agents ready to answer your questions, resolve identity-theft problems, and to keep watch for threats to your identity by monitoring more than a trillion data points a day. that's why millions of people have become members of lifelock. it's the best identity-theft protection available. the minute you become a lifelo member, you have exclusive members-only protection services, including 24/7 access to u.s.-based identity-protection agents, real people with experience and identity-protection knowledge to answer your questions, proprietary lifelock identity monitoring with a technology that detects threats to your identity, plus dedicated lifelock restoration specialists to immediately get on the case

and to work with you to set things right, all backed by our $1 million total service guarantee. >> every lifelock membership comes with a $1 million total service guarantee. that means if your identity is ever stolen, lifelock will spend up to $1 million on experts to help set things right. >> announcer: lifelock memberships start at only $9.99 per month. and listen to this. through this special tv offer, when you call right now, you can get your first month free. you'll get 24/7 accesso u.s.-based identity-protection agents, proprietary lifelock identity monitoring, dedicated lifelock restoration speclists, the $1 million total service guarantee, and so much more. >> i feel like not having lifelock is kind of like not wearing a seatbelt in a car. why would you do it? >> announcer: join in minutes. protection starts immediately. use promo code "free" to get the first month of your lifelock membership free. as an extra bonus, call right

shredder -- a $29 value -- as our gift. so don't wait until someone uses your identity for their benefit. get your first month free when you become a member today. with memberships starting at only $9.99 per month, there is a plan for everyone. >> with lifelock, i wanted to have somebody on my side who was helping us be proactive and protect our identity. >> announcer: or visit golifelock.com. use promo code "free" to get your first month free, and a free shredder with annual membership. join now. protection starts in minutes. >> so, you might think that your credit card is safe if it never leaves your sight, but the reality is, in the wrong hands, all it takes is a second for it to be stolen. that'll be $7.49. >> great. >> skimming is when a criminal will take your credit card and they'll run it through a device... so, this is how easy it is to

sorry about that. ...and then that device is gonna record everything that was on your card. they can then use that information to go out and shop online or even make their own credit cards to make purchases in the next store they go to. i do these scams to show people what's going on out there. criminals are continually finding new ways to rip people off. >> it's something that's out of control. i can't protect my identity all the time with everything that i do. bad people are gonna get your information whether you want them to or not. i have really a teammate in lifelock knowing that they're keeping an eye out for things, things that i couldn't do myself, and having them on my side, and it really is that [sighs] i can just relax and take one worry off my plate. >> the technology behind cyber crime is extensive, but what about lifelock's technology to protect you? well, dr. stephen coggeshall, lifelock's chief analytics and science officer, is here to explain how lifelock's proprietary technology is

dr. coggeshall, thanks for being here. >> my pleasure. >> tell me about lifelock's proprietary technology. >> well, we do a variety of things. and what we do is really cool. we go to our more than a trillion data elements in our data bank. we'll look at all the other things it's connected to in the world, all the other applications we see, we look at what's going on at the address, has anybody else used that social security number, is there something strange about that e-mail? and we gather all that information together and put it through some pretty complicated mathematical formulas, and we come up with a probability score, the likelihood that that's a fraud attempt. >> and then you alert me as a lifelock customer if you see something out of the ordinary? >> that's correct. if a member gets an alert, they have the opportunity to say, "oh, yeah, that's me." but if it's not them, if they're sitting home watching tv and they get one of these alerts, they can press a button and contaclifelock, and we start the process of shutting that fraud attempt down. lifelock started from the very beginning specifically to protect our members from identity fraud. that's our reason for existence.

past 6:00 a.m. and it's a text alert from lifelock. someone attempted to use my name and social security number to open a credit card. they filleout an application online with a $10,000 limit. lifelock caught it, notified me, and we were able to stop that credit card from ever being issued because we caught it early enough in the processing phase. >> when your identity's been stolen, you want a knowledgeable, trusted friend on your side to get you out of the mess, and this is the big difference between monitoring your own credit and lifelock. a lifelock membership means you have a whole team of identity-protection agents ready to watch for threats to your identity, to answer your questions, and to help resolve identity-theft problems. lifelock members like me get a dedicated agent based right here in the u.s. to help resolve any threats to your identity. meet identity-protection agents daniel, pua, and sarah. they're part of a team of agents who address identity threats and help lifelock members if an

what happens when a member gets an alert? work? >> once our members notify us that it was not them, that they believe it's identity theft, is when we get started. then you'll speak to somebody like me, and i'll call you and i'll assist you through the whole process. >> we know who to call, what documents are needed, and we get it done much quicker than a member ever could on their own. >> i know the questions to ask, i know the people to talk to, i know the numbers to call, and i for you. and i'm also willing to stay on hold for you if you need. >> wait a minute. say that again? >> yeah, i'm willing to stay on hold as long as it takes on your behalf if necessary. >> 'cause that is the worst part -- staying on hold. >> it is. [ chuckles ] t i'm happy to do it. >> you're happy to do it? >> yes. i am. >> now, sarah, i know that you are a veteran. you, i assume, work with a lot of veterans and people in the armed services. >> i do. up until a couple years ago, social surity number was on identification cards. it's sad that people fighting for our country have to worry

happy to help and see them through it, to carry the burden, and that way they can focus on the mission, and that's why i love what we do. >> and when you go home, sarah, at the end of the day, what day"? >> i love when i close a case. i love it. and every time i close one and i can't wait to call my member, it really is just gratifying knowing that taking the burden and helping them through the process and being able to make that phone call, "hey, your case is closed" is priceless. i love it. >> what's impressed me most about lifelock is they're also gonna be there to help you afterwards if something happens. the credit monitoring agencies, they're just gonna go, "no, you had an issue. it's on you." whereas lifelock says, "let us help you." >> every single time the lifelock agent, if we've had to stay on the phone too long with the other company, the agent will always say, "let me take this, angela. i'll call you back when i get them back."

respected my time and me. >> they know everything that there's no way i could know. i don't have to think about, "how do i fix this?" i turn it over to lifelock, and they'll help me. >> announcer: identity theft is the fastest growing crime in america. are you at risk? u could be if you bank or shop online, have health insurance or fill out medical forms, if you have a smartphone or use public wi-fi, even if you file your taxes online. no matter how careful you are, your social security number and your other personal information is out there out of your control. just detecting the problem is not enough. how do you resolve an issue if you have one? >> i signed up for lifelock. we have someone in our corner to help fight that fight. >> announcer: a lifelock membership means you have a whole team of lifelock identity-protection agents ready to answer your questions, resolve identity-theft problems, and to keep watch for threats to your identity by monitoring more than a trillion data points a day.

have become members of lifelock. it's the besidentity-theft protection available. the minute you become a lifelock member, you have exclusive members-only protection services, including 24/7 access to u.s.-based identity-protection agents, real people with experience and identity-protection knowledge to answer your questions, proprietary lifelock identity monitoring with a technology that detects threats to your identity, plus dedicated lifelock restoration specialists to immedtely get on the case if your identity is ever stolen and to work with you to set things right, all backed by our $1 million total service guarantee. >> every lifelock membership comes with a $1 million total service guarantee. that means if your identity is ever ston, lifelock will spend up to $1 million on experts to help set things right. announcer: lifelock memberships start at only $9.99 per month. and listen to this. through this special tv offer, when you call right now, you can

you'll get 24/7 access to s.-based identity-protection agents, proprietary lifelock identity moniting, dedicated lifelock restoration specialists, the $1 million total service guarantee, and so much more. >> i feel like not having lifelock is kind of like not wearing a seatbelt in a car. why would you do it? >> announcer: join in minutes. protection starts immediately. use promo code "free" to get the first month of your lifelock membership free. as an extra bonus, call right now and get this document shredder -- a $29 value -- as our gift. so don't wait until someone uses your identity for their benefit. get your first month free when you become a member today. with memberships starting at only $9.99 per month, there is a plan for everyone. >> with lifelock, i wanted to have somebody on my side who was helping us be proactive and protect our identity. >> announcer: or visit

use promo code "free" to get yourirst month free, and a free shredder with annual membership. join now. protection starts in minutes. >> nearly 50% of american adults have been affected by data breaches. if you're nofied of a breach, you're nearly 6 times more likely to be a victim of identity fraud than those who are not notified. and once your information is out there, it's out of your control. that's why you need protection. >> younow, i've always heard of these data breaches at retailers. you always think it doesn't happen to you. and it did. my information, as well as that of many others, had been breached during a christmas shopping season by this major retailer. and that's when i said, "i have to protect my family." i called lifelock. it was so simple, and i actually was kicking myself that i didn't do it earlier. sometimes i even like hearing the ding, knowing there's an alert. lifelock makes me feel safe

about my future and that of my children. >> you know, jeff, last time i was part of a data breach, i got this letter, and they offered me identity-theft protection. i mean, what do you think about that from the company that just got breached? >> well, by the time you got the letter, it's already days or weeks have gone by since the company even realid it happened, and they don't usually realize it's happened until well after the breach has occurred. so the point is, it's too late. i mean, you've already had your information out there. it could already be a big problem. the point of identity-theft protection is being proactive. that's what lifelock does. it helps you figure out if someone's trying to steal your identity, and then if it does happen, they help to resolve it. >> i went to the doctor, and they told me -- i got a letter that there was a breach and that my information may have been compromised. i was very relieved that i had already signed up for lifelock. >> so, here's one scam that criminals will do. they'll buy an 800 phone number, which will actually forward to their cellphone, and then they'll call up and leave a

there's a problem with your banking account. they'll leave that 800 number in hopes that you'll call them back. so you should have received a security i.d. when you got your voicemail. so, once they answer the phone, the first thing they're gonna want to do is they're gonna want to verify that you are who you say you are. for secuty purposes, i just need to verify your social security number. people are very used to that, so they'll say, "sure, my social security number is" whatever it is, and just like that, they have that before people even have a chance to think, "maybe i shouldn't have given that out." yeah, no problem at all. you have a great day. thank you. bye-bye. and just like that, we have her social security number. >> protecting your identity is a smt financial move. personal finance expert, best-selling author, and journalist lynnette khalfani-cox helps her clients with their financial portfolios. here's what she had to say about identity-theft protection. >> you might be doing a lot of things right. you might be saving, planning for the future, investing. all of those things are great. but if you haven't taken time to protect yourself against the

very real risk of identity theft, then you haven't really secured your family's finances in a way that's smart. identity theft is a threat to your financial wellbeing because it not only affects your credit rating and impacts your ability to get loans, it could also hamper you in eveday life, and doing things like renting an apartment, getting a mortgage, or even getting a job that you might need. the people who get financial help for any aspect of their lives, whether it's taxes, whetheit's managing credit card debt, whether it's planning for retirement, they actually tend to do a lot better in reaching their goals, and likewise, the people who have expert help to deal with the problem of identity theft, those folks also fare so much better because they have a team of experts who know the groundwork, who know what to do in a way that the typical person just doesn't know. lifelock helps alert you about potential identity-theft problems, and that early alert is crucial because you can tak

immediately to prevent the problem from getting worse. >> i've been a lifelock member now since 2008, and i can't imagine being without lifelock any more than i can imagine racing down a highway without a seatbelt. i mean, if somebody breaks into your house, you can get a new lock. if your car is stolen, you can get a new car. but you only have one identity. you're not gonna be able to replace it. so protect it with the best. >> when your identity is stolen, you just feel so violated and just so helpless. but knowing that you have lifelock, it just -- you have this whole team of people on your side, and you know that you don't have to go it alone. >> we feel protected, and we feel like there's almost like a blanket of security around us. >> it's just really great to know that they are there and we can call on them whenever we need it. >> i would compare lifelock to having that big older brother walking side by side with you on

everyone knows "don't mess with him." >> choosing lifelock to protect our identity was one of the best decisions we've ever made. >> this is financial protection that you can't afford not to have. it's kind of like the people who say to me, "uh, i'm too cash-strapped and i can't afford to save." i say, "you can't afford not to save." likewise, you can't afford not to protect your credit health and your identity. >> the value of lifelock to me -- it's priceless. what's the value of your credit? what's the value of your family's credit? >> i've been attacked seven times since 2011. and each time, lifelock was there to help me. i'm gonna be a lifelock member for life. >> what is more important than making sure the only you out there is you? >> announcer: identity theft is the fastest growing crime in america. are you at risk? you could be if you bank or shop online, have health insurance or fill out medical forms, if you

wi-fi, even if you file your taxes online. no matter how careful you are, your social security number and your other personal information is out there out of your control. just detecting the problem is not enough. how do you resolve an issue if you have one? >> i signed up for lifelock. we have someone in our corner to help fight that fight. >> announcer: a lifelock membership means you have a whole team of lifelock identity-protection agents ready to answer your questions, resolve identity-theft problems, and to keep watch for threats to your identity by monitoring more than a trillion data points a day. that's why millions of people have become members of lifelock. it's the best identity-theft protection available. the minute you become a lifelock member, u have exclusive members-only protection services, including 24/7 access to u.s.-based identity-protection agents, real people with experience and identity-protection knowledge to answer your questions, propetary lifelock identity

that detects threats to your identity, plus dedicated lifelock restoration specialists to immediately get on the se if your identity is ever stolen and to work with you to set things right, all backed by our $1 million total service guarantee. >> every lifelock membership comes with a $1 million total service guarantee. that means if your identity is ever stolen, lifelock will spend up to $1 million on experts to help set things right. >> announcer: lifelock memberships start at only $9.99 per month. and listen to this. through this special tv offer, when you call right now, you can get your first month free. you'll get 24/7 access to u.s.-based identity-protection agents, proprietary lifelock identity monitoring, dedicated lifelock restoration specialists, the $1 million total service guarantee, and so much more. >> i feel like not having lifelock is kind of like not wearing a seatbelt in a car. why would you do it? >> annncer: join in minutes.

use promo code "free" to get the first month of your lifelock membership free. as an extra bonus, call right now and get this document shredder -- a $29 value -- as our gift. so don't wait until someone uses your identity for their benefit. get your first month free when you become a member today. with memberships starting at only $9.99 per month, there is a plan for everyone. >> with lifelock, i wanted to have somebody on my side who was helping us be proactive and protect our identity. >> announcer: or visit golifelock.com. use promo code "free" to get your first month free, and a free shredder with annual membership. join now. protection starts in minutes. the preceding was a paid presentaon for lifelock. (banjo)

i hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow and each road leads you where you want to go and if you're faced with a choice and you have to choose i hope you choose the one that means the most to you and if one door opens to another door closed i hope you keep on walkin till you find the window if it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile but more than anything more than anything my wish for you is that this life becomes all that you want it to your dreams stay big, your worries stay small you never need to carry more than you can hold and while you're out there gettin where you're gettin to i hope you know somebody loves you

yeah, this is my wish