[Dead] Wow: 120x Membership Rewards points at LifeLock (buy at 0.8cpp)

Update: Wow, that died fast. Down to 80% now — no longer a deal.

As reported by WallersWallet, Rakuten (formerly Ebates) is offering 120% cash back today at LifeLock, which is part of the 3x cash back event that Stephen reported here at Frequent Miler late last night. Those who have their Rakuten accounts set up to earn American Express Membership Rewards can alternatively earn 120x in Membership Rewards points. That’s a potentially great deal as you can essentially buy points at a cost of 0.8c per point (eight tenths of a cent per point) with what may then feel like a free LifeLock membership thrown in for good measure. With some other Manufactured Spending techniques drying up for Amex, that’s not a bad price for buying Amex points. Of course, the last time we broke a story about something this crazy, the portal involved backtracked a few days later (and I thought that coverage in the Wall Street Journal probably ensured we wouldn’t see such a deal again), but I think it’s more likely that this one will go though.

The Deal

• Get 120x / 120% back at LifeLock with Rakuten (formerly Ebates)
• Direct link to this deal

Key Terms

• Cash back is not available on free trials and automatic renewals.
• Cash Back is not available when using coupons/promotional codes not found on Rakuten.
• Cancelling a subscription within 60 days of sign up will void Cash Back.

Quick Thoughts

This could be yuge, or at least pretty big. That’s because by purchasing an annual membership, this becomes a good opportunity to buy Membership Rewards points.. If you see the Wallers Wallet YouTube video, he references earning 35,628 Membership Rewards for a ~$296.90 LifeLock membership. That’s based on buying a LifeLock Ultimate Plus subscription and choosing to be billed annually rather than monthly. That comes out to eight tenths of a cent per point in cost. Our Reasonable Redemption Values (which were updated recently), you can expect 1.55 cents per dollar for your Membership Rewards points without too much effort at maximization — again making this a potentially great deal.

That of course assumes that you have your account set up to earn Membership Rewards. Alternatively, you could be earning 120% cash back — which still comes out to a win of almost $60 on an annual subscription, so this could be free money if you have your account set up that way.

Keep in mind that it’s possible that this one gets walked back in a day or two, though I doubt it as this deal is quite a bit different from the Match.com deal (where many people violated the terms of Match.com’s service). I actually expect that this deal will get honored and could therefore be a cheap way to buy yourself a ticket to just about anywhere in the world with a subscription. That said, I doubt this will last for days on end — so if you’re interested, consider it sooner rather than later. I’d bet on this getting pulled.

Also remember that cancelling your LifeLock subscription within 60 days of signing up will void your cash back, so don’t do that. Be sure to choose the annual billing, otherwise I imagine you’ll only earn 120 points per dollar on the first payment.

Overall, this could be a good way to generate some easy points. If you have a good use in mind for the points, this could certainly be worth going after; if you value the LifeLock membership at greater than zero, the deal likely looks even more attractive. Beware that I have no idea how hard it is to cancel a LifeLock subscription, though I imagine it’ll involve saying “no” to several phone reps to get that done. It’s probably worth the time investment, but be sure to set a reminder so you don’t pay for this again next year if you don’t want it.

H/T: WallersWallet

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.