Lifelock Identity Protection Senior Review

LifeLock offers identity theft monitoring with email, text or phone alerts and 24/7 customer service. Unlike most other providers, LifeLock offers a plan designed just for seniors.

LifeLock is a good option for seniors looking for a service designed specifically for them to combat identity theft. The LifeLock Senior plan is one of the several available plans and includes unauthorized activity alerts, ‘dark web’ internet surveillance, fictitious identity monitoring and an alert system to inform subscribers of data breaches. LifeLock Senior includes lost wallet coverage so that seniors who lose a wallet can quickly and easily replace the bank cards and other cards in their wallet. Its unique permission system allows both aging seniors and their adult children to receive and respond to alerts. LifeLock also provides live 24/7 customer service to help users resolve identity theft issues.

Grandfolk Scoring

Price 10/10

Contract Obligation 10/10

Risk-free Trial Period 10/10

Cancellation Process 9/10

Fraud Detection 9/10

Internet Monitoring 10/10

Insurance 10/10

Credit Card Monitoring 8/10

Credit Score 10/10

Price Monthly fee	$10-$30
Contract Obligation Commitment length	Monthly or annually
Risk-free Trial Period Trial period for refund	30-Day Free Trial
Cancellation Process Cancelation ease	Requires a call to customer service or visiting LifeLock website
Fraud Detection Detection availability	Yes
Internet Monitoring Monitoring availability	Yes, ‘dark web’ monitoring is available
Insurance Coverage availability	Yes
Credit Card Monitoring Monitoring availability	Yes
Credit Score Periodic review	Yes

Age Score:

50-64 Years

65-74 Years

75-84 Years

85-Older

LifeLock, especially LifeLock Senior, is ideal for a senior of any age because it does not require much action except to read occasional identity theft alerts by phone, text message or email and respond to them. Identity theft protection is particularly important for seniors, who are frequently targeted by scams. Older seniors who are not computer-savvy may find it difficult to take full advantage of the online monitoring services, so LifeLock has 24/7 customer service to help resolve any issues or to ease the concerns of a nervous senior. However, unless an aging senior can respond to alerts received of potential intrusions, this vital protection cannot be effective. Therefore, LifeLock Senior has a unique permission system under which both the aging senior and caregiver children can receive and respond to suspicious activity, whether criminal or financial.

Health Score:

Poor Health

Fair Health

Good Health

Great Health

A senior’s health condition does not really affect the value of the LifeLock service. The service is meant to monitor a variety of sensitive personal information automatically so, in general, no involvement by the subscriber is required, except to read alerts and take action in instances of identity theft exposed by the service. The electronic monitoring services and the web-based nature of this service may pose a challenge to seniors whose health precludes them from reacting to an alert. However, because seniors are so often targeted by fraud and scams, LifeLock Senior may be an important service for seniors, regardless of health problems, so they do not add one more stressor to their condition.

Pros:

LifeLock offers LifeLock Senior, a plan designed specifically for seniors, which is pricier but provides many critical services targeted at their vulnerabilities, including their retirement accounts and home titles.
LifeLock Senior allows seniors to sign up with an adult child, under a special permission, so both receive alerts, and so the adult child can monitor the effective use of the service.
LifeLock has a mobile app that enables users to receive notifications and alerts regarding their personal data security and privacy. They can also receive alerts by phone call or email.
LifeLock offers 24/7 customer service to help customers deal with identity theft occurrences quickly.
LifeLock plans include U.S.-based legal and restoration help if such help is necessary to resolve a case.
Consumers have reported satisfaction with the LifeLock service, particularly their interactions with customer service and the help they received in instances of identity theft.

Cons:

LifeLock does not have a family plan, so covering all family members could become an expensive proposition.
Consumers have complained that LifeLock requires users to enroll themselves, which could be problematic for seniors in poor health or without computer skills. This concern may have been resolved with the new senior service whereby seniors and an adult child are both linked to the senior’s account.
Consumers have complained that the signup process is long and the website is outdated.
Consumer Reports states that when LifeLock finds a user’s information on the ‘dark web,’ it simply notifies the user rather than taking action to delete the information it has located. If true, some of the advertised services may not be as effective as they seem.

Bottom Line:

LifeLock, and particularly LifeLock Senior, is an ideal plan for a senior because it provides services that would be useful to an older person who is frequently the target of identity theft and scammer activity. LifeLock also offers several other plans, including a plan for children, and has received many awards. LifeLock received the International Stevie Award in 2014 from the Eighth Annual International Business Awards and was named to the Online Trust Honor Roll in 2016 for its excellent privacy and security practices. For seniors looking for a comprehensive plan with many relevant features, LifeLock can provide the much sought-after peace of mind.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Does this company have a mobile app? LifeLock offers a mobile app on both the App Store for Apple iPhones and Google Play for Android devices.

What should I do if my personal information has been compromised or stolen? Customer service agents are available 24/7 to assist subscribers with identity theft.

Does this company offer a free trial? LifeLock offers a 30-day free trial.

More Information:

Product Details

Overview: LifeLock offers a variety of plans with a range of identity protection services, including a plan designed specifically for seniors. All plans include black-market website surveillance to patrol the dark web for a subscriber’s data; Lost Wallet protection; an alerting system through text, email or phone to notify the subscriber of identity theft; stolen funds reimbursement; credit monitoring; and, if necessary, help from customer support and legal experts to resolve an identity theft case.

Package Details:

LifeLock Standard costs $9.99/month or $109.89/year, and includes the LifeLock Privacy Monitor tool to help keep personal information private; black-market website surveillance to patrol the ‘dark web’ to see if your data is listed; lost wallet protection; LifeLock identity alert system through text, phone or email; stolen funds reimbursement; credit monitoring; address change verification; and, if necessary, legal experts to help resolve an identity theft case.

LifeLock Advantage costs $19/month or $219.89/year, and includes all of the services available in the Standard plan, plus credit card, checking and savings account activity alerts; court records scanning; identity restoration support from one of LifeLock’s identity restoration specialists; data breach notifications when a company has been hacked; fictitious identity monitoring; and a credit score report.

LifeLock Ultimate Plus is $29.99/month or $329.89/year, and includes all of the services in the Standard and Advantage plans, plus checking and savings account application alerts; bank account takeover alerts; investment account activity alerts; file-sharing network searches; sex offender registry reports; and the ability to the skip to the front of the line when calling LifeLock customer service.

LifeLock Junior is designed for children under 18 and has a monthly fee of $5.99 or $65.99/year. The LifeLock Junior Membership includes text, phone or email alerts regarding any instance of identity theft; black-market website surveillance; lost wallet protection; stolen funds reimbursement; credit monitoring; file-sharing network searches; customer service to help restore the child’s identity; and, if necessary, legal experts to help resolve an identity theft case.

LifeLock Senior is a plan designed specifically for seniors and costs $19.99/month. LifeLock Senior features bank and credit card activity alerts; bank account takeover and new account alerts; investment/401(k) account activity alerts; home title monitoring; address change verification; ‘dark web’ website surveillance; a telephone, text or email alert system to inform subscribers of information breaches; fictitious identity monitoring; court records scanning; and reduced pre-approved credit card offers. LifeLock Senior offers round-the-clock customer service, as well as a Million Dollar Protection package which provides up to $100,000 in stolen funds reimbursement, up to $100,000 in personal expense compensation and up to $1 million to cover lawyers and experts.

Additional Company Details

Contract Details: LifeLock’ services run month-to-month and can be canceled without penalty. Cancel a LifeLock subscription by telephone or through the member portal on the LifeLock website.

Warranty: On annual (prepaid) LifeLock memberships, the annual membership is eligible for a refund under its 60-day Money Back Guarantee if the request is made within 60 days of the date of purchase. There are no refunds on monthly memberships.

Accreditations: LifeLock is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, but the company has earned an A- rating on the BBB website. Its parent company, Symantec Corporation, is not accredited either but holds an A+ rating with that website.

Company Details: LifeLock was founded in 2005 with the mission of protecting individuals’ personal information. LifeLock was recently acquired by Symantec, a virus software company, for $2.3 billion, forming the largest identity and data security company in history. After the acquisition, Moody’s downgraded Symantec to the very lowest investment grade: Baa3. Standard and Poor’s and Fitch downgraded it to below-investment grade over concerns of its ability to absorb the acquisition successfully.

Contact:

LifeLock
60 East Rio Salado Parkway, Suite 400
Tempe, AZ 85281
Phone: 800-543-3562
Website: http://www.lifelock.com
Email: N/A

Sheeva Azma - Senior Advisor

Sheeva is senior researcher with Grandfolk® providing in-depth product and service reviews to empower senior buying decisions.