'Seinfeld' star John O'Hurley on his new tech venture and how he helped buy the J. Peterman Company IRL

Susan Watts/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

With online fraud a multibillion-dollar threat to our connected world, a new company says it has what it takes to keep crooks from stealing your identity.

The Q5id app uses a biometric verification process that takes minutes to perform, but leads to a lifetime of protection, according to its new partner, John O'Hurley.

If the name sounds familiar, he's the Seinfeld and Dancing with the Stars veteran who, as it turns out, really knows his stuff when it comes to online security.

"Now nobody has a better sense of identity theft than I do because I took J. Peterman's identity and I'm not giving it back," he joked to ABC Audio.

"That being said, this company Q5id has, I believe, the best idea -- and it's creating a personal ID for you that you control."

He explains you provide Q5id with a palm print, your government-issued ID, a voice sample and a retinal scan, "creating a depth of information that is absolutely irreplaceable."

"The failure rate in this technology is one in 933 billion. So it is absolutely perfect," he says.

Hurley later explained how his most famous role blurred the line between fantasy and reality. After Seinfeld ended, the actual J. Peterman Company expanded too rapidly and hit the skids, financially.

"They went into Chapter 11," O'Hurley explains.

"And about six months later, I got a call from John Peterman. He said, 'I have some investors and I'd like you to come on board with me.' ... and so I did. And so I was on the board and also an owner of the company, as well."

He says with a laugh, "I liked the role so much I bought the company."

Friday, August 26, 2022 at 4:38PM by Stephen Iervolino Permalink