RALEIGH -- A company that promised to safeguard a person's identity must give refunds and restate its advertising claims after a judgment filed Tuesday in Wake County Superior Court.
The state Attorney General's Office said LifeLock, based in Tempe, Ariz., owes $11 million in refunds after the agreement reached with North Carolina, 34 other states and the Federal Trade Commission.
"Identity theft is a serious crime," Attorney General Roy Cooper said, "and criminals aren't the only ones trying to make money off of it."
LifeLock sells identify theft services for $10 a month or $110 a year. In past advertisements, the company claimed a guarantee that personal information would be protected. Some ads even included the Social Security number of company CEO Todd Davis.
About a year ago, prosecutors in several states began looking into the company after complaints about misleading statements in LifeLock's ads. The Attorney General's Office said North Carolina and Illinois officials led the probe.
According to the settlement, LifeLock:
Can no longer say it provides complete protection against all types of identity theft.
Cannot claim that its services eliminate the risk of identity theft.
Can't say that the company can prevent unauthorized changes to customer's address information or say that it can constantly monitor activity on each of a consumer's credit reports.
Must not overstate the risk of identity theft.
Owes $11 million in refunds to customers who signed up and paid for LifeLock services between April 1, 2005, and March 30, 2009. The FTC will handle consumer claims.
Will pay $1 million to the states, which includes $100,000 to North Carolina for investigative costs.
