News

Arizona State Offers Identity Theft Protection Service

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 06/26/09

Arizona State University has begun offering identify theft protection services for a fee to its campus community. The services are provided by LifeLock.

LifeLock performs follow-up services with credit bureaus and related companies after the subscriber reports a suspicion that he or she may be the victim of identity theft. The company sets fraud alerts with the credit bureaus and requests free credit reports with them; requests name removal from lists of pre-approved offers for credit cards and/or insurance, which can be a source for identity theft; notifies the customer when it detects a new address for that person in case a criminal has changed the address in order to steal mail; and scours known criminal Web sites for the trading or selling of the customer's personal information.

In the event that a customer has lost a wallet or purse, the company will contact all credit card, bank, or document issuing companies; cancel affected accounts; and complete the paperwork and steps necessary to replace the lost documents, including credit/debit cards, driver's license, social security card, insurance cards, and checkbook.

"Identity theft can be extremely damaging, and we recognize that the college age demographic group is frequently targeted," said SunCard manager Andrew Perkins. "We hope this program offering provides a level of security for our participating students."