If Lifelock were to ever consider giving a senior discount, this would be a good time to do it. Why? In today’s news it was reported that police are looking for a third suspect in the identity of theft of a…(wait for it)…96 year old man. The victim, John Oatman might have thought he’d seen it all while serving in World War II but little did he know there was more to come; he was taken advantage of by his housekeeper and her daughter for over $40,000 that they used to pay bills from his personal credit and debit cards. The police are currently trying to track down a third accomplice who they believe had purchased three cars in his name. Call me frugal, but personally I don’t have enough money accessible in my credit and debit cards to even be able to pay for $40,000 AND three cars.

The company that employed the thieves was Girling Health Care has already fired the two suspects in custody and has “assured” (some assurance) those involved that they perform “a thorough credit check on all employees and found nothing in the women’s criminal records that sounded the alarms.” While that may or may not be true, does it even matter? While of course these women should be put in jail for a long time, I think the company is at least partially to blame for enabling this to happen by putting them to work in his home. I’m not one for the enlargement of lawsuits most of the time but in this particular case I think Girling Health Care needs to should a lot of the blame. So what’s the moral of the story? That you’re never too old for Lifelock.

According the article, the lesson to be learned from the story is that you never need to share any financial information with your health care provider or caregiver. I suspect when you’re in a vulnerable position though that’s easier said than done. I think a better plan is just to sign up with Lifelock (for only $9/m) and let the criminals do their best. That might be more along the lines of a devil-may-care attitude but that’s what Lifelock’s service is for–the peace of mind backed up by real protection against people who want to steal your identity (and money).