Identity theft prevention service LifeLock is not as pristine as its reputation claims after all. The company agreed to pay out $12 million to settle charges with the Federal Trade Commission and 35 states, which had said that LifeLock’s identity-theft-prevention claims were false and that the company actually made its own customer data available and unsecured from theft. As it turns out, there is no way to fully guarantee that identity theft won’t happen, no matter what someone puts on the side of a truck.

LifeLock has made a name for itself as the go-to service if you never want to have any part of your identity stolen, ever. The company claims to proactively protect your information against fraud, alert you to any kind of shady activity, and reduce credit card offers for $10-15 per month. Those who have seen LifeLock’s trucks driving around their cities know that the company used to slap its CEO Todd Jones’ social security number on the side of the vehicle along with a number of claims guaranteeing that its customers won’t fall victim. (As an aside, Jones’ identity allegedly ended up getting stolen in 2007.)

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