This is why the Wired article seems a little exaggerated to me. 1) He will never be responsible for any of these claims from merchants ("seller beware") 2) Any

This is why the Wired article seems a little exaggerated to me. 1) He will never be responsible for any of these claims from merchants ("seller beware") 2) Any major transaction would not go through since they'd pull a credit report and see his profile is frozen (I believe LifeLock just freezes credit for you on your behalf) Given the above, it seems like this is a trade-off between the time spent getting this stuff off your credit report (I think you would just file an error with the bureau, but perhaps it's more involved), vs. the benefit gained by the marketing tactic.