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Archive for August, 2010

Credit Reporting Services- Are Paid Options Better Than A Free Credit Report?

Any smart consumer will monitor their credit standing. Since it doesn’t take much to make a credit score plummet, it’s wise to check your credit report at least yearly.

Everyone is entitled to a free credit report once a year, or anytime credit has been denied. But what about the paid options? Are they worth it?

FICO Scores
A free credit report won’t show you what your actual score is. Rather it will show you all the items that are reflected in the report. The scoring system is done by a private organization with data gathered from your credit bureau reports.

Paula de la Torre Editor of the “Best Credit Reporting Services” website — http://www.CreditReportsAndScores.biz — pointed out;

“… These scores are what many lenders use to determine your credit worthiness. If knowing your score is important, then you will need to utilize a paid service…”

Credit Monitoring
Many paid services will monitor your credit report on your behalf. If anything changes, something is added or dropped, or there is unusual activity, you will be notified. This can help prevent identity theft. Dealing with potential fraud early on will help to correct the situation without ghastly consequences.

Disputes
Disputing items found on your report is relatively simple. If you have numerous items that need to be disputed, a paid service may benefit you. Some paid services will offer to dispute multiple items for you. Since they handle these types of problems daily, they will have all the information needed to start a dispute.

“… A service doing this on your behalf you won’t face as many delays in getting items removed from the report…” P. de la Torre added.

Whether a paid option is right for you or not will depend on several factors. If you want your score, are concerned about theft, or have a lot to fix on your reports, then a paid service can save you valuable time.

Further information about how to get a detailed credit report including scores and as often as you want by visiting; http://www.CreditReportsAndScores.biz

Identify and Avoid Phishing Credit Card Scams

“Phishing” pronounced “fishing” occurs when spurious sites or emails capture your credit card or bank account details. Emails are sophisticated, and sites look genuine so it’s very difficult, almost impossible, to catch phishing. So see if these tips help you avoid getting caught in a phishing scam.

Phishing Scams ask for your Username / Passwords

Banks will almost never ask you for your banking details via email. Any email you get with such a request is phishing. Never reply to such an email, never click any links inside it. Immediately delete it. It might be marked urgent, and might come with exciting offers; it might look as if your banker has himself sent it, however, if it asks for any credit card or bank details, its phishing. Simple.

Phishing Scams use Redirected Sites

If you click a link in a phishing email, watch your browser address field very closely. It might look as if your bank, card, or merchant site is opening. However, you will notice that suddenly a new URL has replaced the original one and you are being re-directed to another phishing site. Solution – never click a link in an email, always type the URL manually.

Always Use https Sites

The most secure sites begin with https://, not http://. Never enter your credit card details or password at a http site because it may be phishing. Similarly, never fill out forms in an email because it maybe phishing.

Use Anti-Phishing Toolbars and Browsers

Google and other reputed toolbars, as well as browsers such as Internet Explorer 7 and Mozilla’s Firefox 2+ come installed with anti-phishing software. Installing and using these are your best protection against phishing.

Keep your PC Updated

Regularly update your operating system, for example, Windows. Similarly, update and apply security patches for MS Office or OpenOffice because that’s a good way of remaining protected against the latest phishing scams. You will find most of these at the vendor’s website. Use and update your anti-virus as well as anti-spyware regularly.

Other Measures

Keep a strict check on your bank accounts and online transaction statements. Keep changing your password regularly and always use passwords which can’t be easily guessed. Keep an offline bank account whose details must never be used online and keep most of your money in this account. Also, use only one low-limit credit card for online transactions. If you see any suspicious activity, alert your bank and card company immediately. They will block your card and that will lower your risks substantially. Be alert, be suspicious, and remain on your guard at all times.

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How Thieves Steal Identities Legally

So, there you are sitting at home, work or who knows where patting yourself on the back because you think you know everything there is to know about protecting your identity.  You brag to your family and friends you know all the tricks of the trade associated with criminal identity theft.  That’s right, your not going to become a victim because you know all about the scams and tactics such as Dumpster Diving, Retrieving, Stealing payment or identification cards, Phishing, Changing Your Address, Pretexting, Remotely reading information, Advertising bogus job offers, Browsing social networks, Old-Fashioned Stealing, Keylogging and a 100 other things.  Well, all your knowledge is great for the 20 percent of your personal information you actually have control of!

When a criminal gets your Social Security number, name, date of birth, etc. it is like handing them a bar of gold and it is all over but the shouting in there minds eye.  Do you really have control of company or corporate Phone lists, Memos, Policy manuals, Calendars of events, System manuals, Print outs, Disks, Organizational changes and everything else that (despite laws to prevent improper disposal of information) – ends up in the trash and dump sites constantly.  Face it you do not!

So, now you already have two strikes against you.  One – you can control personal information on the home front so you think but that home front information has more leaks than you think and two – unless you liquefy everything leaving every business in the United States, you have personal data out in the public domain waiting for criminal harvest as well.  This country has done and continues to display your personal information everywhere despite our knowledge that identity theft is the number one white-collar crime plaguing its citizens.

Yes, we are making progress with laws, security measures, counter-measures and consumer awareness programs but, your Social Security number is still out there and can be obtained legally by the average person and professionally by criminals, investigators, journalists and about every other source you can think of.  Following are just a few examples on how your SSAN is exposed by public and private records;

Driver License abstracts – in some states the SSAN is used for the license number or is listed as well as the license number.  Some states allow the use of a SSAN to be optional but despite this, only 15 percent of applicants request a non-SSAN drivers license.

Income Tax Records – Tax records are sometimes made public (commonly in divorces where there are issues of alimony, child support/custody, property division, etc. where tax returns are case filed as key evidence, disputes with the IRS eventually find their way to Washington where the IRS Form 7249-M can list detailed info about a subjects’ salary, income streams, assets and other liabilities, a person involved in a civil litigation could find their personal tax records enclosed in publicly available documents attached as pre-trial discovery or evidence at a trial.)  Anyway, your tax documents contain your SSAN/TIN taxpayer identifier number.

Application for Jobs, Housing and Court Records. – Name, date of birth, SSAN is almost always required information to obtain a bank account, apartment, job, loan , mortgage or credit card.  It is not at all difficult for law enforcement, lawyers, investigators, journalists (people posing as same) to get access/copies of apartment rentals or job applications.  Apartment applications are common civil court records normally found attached to recorded landlord/tenant cases or personal bankruptcy files and criminal court files as an exhibit to a motion or affidavit.   

Voter Registration Records – Voter registration records in some areas are maintained at the local board of elections and are almost always made public record.  Many contain the SSAN to preclude voter fraud.  This inclusion of the SSAN has declined over the years but was commonly listed on older records still available.

Military Records – Military members are identified by their SSAN and despite the fact that the Privacy Act of 1974 prevents the government from releasing the SSAN a request for a persons service record could find that SSAN listed on discharge papers (DD Form 214) filed at the county courthouse.

These are but a few examples of some accessible public methods to dig up pieces of persons present or past records of their SSAN, date of birth, full name and other data that is leaked to the public.

I am not trying to be a fatalist but rather; a realist. If you do not have the time or expertise to put measures in place to protect you and your family’s identity consider visiting a credit protection service that can put the appropriate measures in place to preserve your good name, credit and assets readily available to criminals.  Like it or not a good measure of your identity is in fact a matter of public record or a result of computer hacking, unlawful or failed disposal of employee records and company or corporate information.  You can find some highly recommended criminal detection services at www.registryfixing.com under the Identity Theft, FREE People Search or Child Safe Surf Navigation Buttons.

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Loan Bad Credit- Interesting Guide Regarding Apply Credit Card

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Online mode is the best way to get these types of loans right away. You just have to fill an online loan application form with private information and loan requirement. Nonetheless , there are some terms which you wish to have to keep in gourd while applying: you have to be 18 years or above residents of UK. You must have a fixed source of income with an active valid bank account. After meeting these terms, you’ll get speedy approval of your loan application.

Medical Identity Theft Could Mean Life or Death to Its Victims

In the event that life threatening medications or prescriptions are prescribed to the imposter, these medications could later be given to the victim who might have an allergic reaction that could end with fatal results.

Medical identity theft is generally done to obtain medical care, services, medications, equipment or other false claims. This type of fraud results in erroneous entries being added to the medical history of the medial identity theft victim. These types of additions, modifications or removal of information can lead to disastrous health ramifications for the victim.

When a victim of medical theft identity discovers that their medical reports have been compromised, it is important that the false information be removed as quickly as possible. If the information goes undetected or left uncorrected, the falsified information within the medical records can be a major cause of financial and medical problems for life.

How Many Discover That They Have Been A Victim Of Medical Identity Theft

One method of discovery that provides relatively immediate notification to the medical identity theft victim is the “explanation of benefits” that is send out by the private or public health care provider. This detailed listing of all recent medical activity provides dates of service, charges for medical service, payments made by insurance company and the co-pay or balance due by the individual. By reviewing this document promptly and overseeing that the charges are accurate, you can pro-actively monitor your medical records.

If you believe that you are a victim of medical identity theft, it is imperative that you review all medical billings, statements and explanation of benefits to evaluate if any of these services have charged you for medical attention or services that you did not receive, office visits you did not make or medical equipment and supplies that you did not receive.

In the event that you do discover an error, respond promptly by telephone the medical facility or doctor that performed the procedure or service and notify them of the error. A prompt response could prevent further charges and problems from appearing in the future.

Make sure that you request a copy of your corrected records to insure that the falsified information has been removed entirely from your record. Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), you have a right to receive a full copy of your health records from every health insurer that maintains a personal file of your medical history.

The Importance Of Comprehensive Identity Theft Protection

Identity theft is a serious problem in the world today. Therefore, you need to be certain that you have the most appropriate identity theft protection plan and program in place. In short, it is important for you to have a identity theft protection plan that is thorough and comprehensive. Through this article you are provided pointers on devising a comprehensive identity theft protection plan.

You need to understand that in this day and age you can be hit with identity theft from all angles. You can become the victim of identity theft in the brick and mortar world; you can become the victim of identity theft on the Internet and World Wide Web. Therefore, any comprehensive plan of action when it comes to must address the threat to you from both of these areas.

In the real world, when it comes to identity theft protection one of the fundamental considerations that you need to keep in mind involves protecting documents that include vital personal or financial information about you. In this regard, you need to take affirmative action in two specific areas:

1. You need to protect both incoming and outgoing mail when it comes to identity theft protection. The fact is that with a great deal of regularity, your personal and financial information is being sent through the mail in the form of bank statements and related materials. Many identity thieves engage in mail theft as a means of misappropriating identities from their victims.

2. In addition to guarding your mail, you also need to take care in the manner in which you dispose of documents that contain personal and financial information. The fact is that many identity thieves obtain the basic information that they require to steal an identity through a person’s garbage. Dumpster diving or trash mining is prime avenue through which personal and financial information can be obtained.

On the Internet and World Wide Web you also need to vigilant. In this regard, when it comes to your comprehensive identity theft protection plan you need to concentrate on:

1. Avoiding phishing and other schemes through which an identity thief will attempt to steal your personal or financial information.

2. Always protect your passwords and change your passwords with regularity.

3. Only do business online with merchants and service providers that have a solid reputation, that have a track record for trustworthiness.

In the end, by developing and maintaining a comprehensive identity theft protection plan you will be in the very best position to protect against becoming a victim of identity theft today and into the future.

Know How You Can Make Money In The Prepaid Legal Services Business

People are now searching for money making opportunities that can be found outside of the traditional working environment.  The best opportunity for these individuals to proceed is to look toward the financial abilities found within the work from home business.  One of the options that are available to home business owners is found with the selling of prepaid legal services.  Prepaid legal services represents a selling plan where an individual markets the services of a prepaid legal company in exchange for a monthly fee.  The service employs individuals with at least ten years of experience within their specific fields so signing individuals do not have to be concerned with getting fresh out of school attorneys.  The prepaid legal services cover a wide variety of legal fields so that the service can apply to almost every individual who you market the service to.

When you make the decision to pursue a home based business involving prepaid legal services it is important to identify your clientele.  Now prepaid legal services do offer services that can be applied to any individual’s situation but targeting a specific group or two is advised.  When you utilize the targeting method you can build a reputation with those clients as well as set realistic marketing goals.  

Also the many experiences that you will have with the client’s in this group will help you to develop answers to questions or concerns that you know your future clients will have.  For the average family the services are useful since they offer another line of protection for their family in regards to legal matters.  Issues involving lawyers are rarely planned out and when you are surprised by an event you can easily lose thousands of dollars just in legal expenses.  The prepaid legal services offer an inexpensive solution to prevent the tremendous expense of future unexpected events.

The small business owner is another group that you can pursue with prepaid legal services.  These owners deal with legal issues on a regular basis, normally guessing at the path they should follow regarding these issues.  This is a dangerous prospect considering a legal error can jeopardize their entire business.  A feature of the prepaid legal services that may capture the attention of the small business owner can be found in their contract services.  

The contract service in the prepaid legal services allows any member to contact a prepaid legal lawyer in that specific field the contract relates to and discuss the various situations that may relate to the business and the contract.  In addition, the attorney will read the legal contract to make sure the document is legitimate and is in the best interests of your business.  This is a tremendous help considering all of the legal jargon that is often found in these contacts, leaving business owners who are unfamiliar with this jargon scratching their heads and signing without fully understanding the script.  With the tremendous amount of small businesses opening up every day an individual pursuing prepaid legal services sale to this grouping has a very great opportunity.

Don’t be Victim of Escrow Scams: How to Lose 0,000 in a Hurry

The con artist’s credo: The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing; if you can fake that, you’ve got it made This is closely adhered to in escrow scams. It makes the perfect vehicle.

A time back a St. Louis man, operating out of Europe, juggled four balls in a con man escrow scam that reads like it was taken directly from the pages of a legal thriller novel. In a perfect timing maneuver he pocketed some 0,000 in one week, by steering four large escrow scams into coming to a head in this timely fashion. Included in his loot were the proceeds from the sales of such non-existent items as a BMW car, a rare coin collection, uncut diamonds, and a European real estate development participation. All contacts were originally made through Internet bulletin boards and chat rooms.

He followed the ancient Con Artists’ Axiom: The Gods of war allow the aggressor early victory, setting him up for a worse defeat later on Otherwise, his operation was typical, His “pitch”–which included all of the usual moves–was indeed inviting. Prices were mouth-watering, terms attractive, and ease of transfer–both money and goods–made dealing with him seem like a simpleton’s delight. They included: on-paper-only escrow company image, phony references and credentials, and adroit, step-by-step steerage of the “marks” into dealing with him.

Only difference from the norm was the simultaneous perfection of his scam–which made it better than the average scam–bringing all four deals to climax within days of each other. This made it easy for him to get up and go, fold the tent quickly, walk away, and put good distance between himself and the law before his marks “wised up.”

To fall off a turnip truck you must first get on. Here are a few hints to help you steer clear of such form of offered transportation when dealing with any kind of escrow: the con artists involved.

1. On the internet, and elsewhere, never deal with anybody who does not list their full address and phone number. Check it out. You’d be surprised at how many do not. It all starts here with an absence of full identification.

2. Does either the buyer or seller (whichever you’re dealing with) refer you to a specific escrow service? If so, this is not a yellow light situation, it is a big, flashing red light. Drop this person like the proverbial “hot potato” and search elsewhere.

3. If, when attempting to contact the escrow company’s customer service department by phone, you find it impossible to get past the robot brigade–to talk to a real live human being–hang up and and walk off into the sunset, in search of a different service.

4. When Western Union or Money-Gram money transfers are suggested, the shock should be something similar to what it would be seeing the SWAT team pull up in front of your house. No person-to-person transfers of any kind, if you are treating you wallet with respect. Only bank transfers–you to corporate entity–and have your bank report to you as to where the funds were transferred. And, use this method only in rare, thoroughly-investigated instances.

5. Check out the long list of known fraud sites at Escrow Fraud. com Imperative for discovering fraud and con artists’ shell games.

6. If an internet transaction, check out how long the suspect escrow company’s domain name has been in operation. You can do this at Register.com

7. Offers, with no negotiation at all, to pay for shipping and insurance should be received by you like finger nails being scraped across a black board. These “generous” offerings are usually made to disguise transactional hanky-panky. If you want it all, and want it delivered, this is not the way to go about it.

There you go. You need not be taken in by the accepted gibberish of the escrow money transaction.

Now, consider this, a fact we feel should be a kind of cathartic shock for, even, the brain-dead:

Online escrow service, Auction Pix, a long established firm, estimates that a ratio of 10 to 1 exists, fake to legitimate internet escrow sites. Yes, this is such an important fact that it bears repeating for emphasis: this means 10 times as many phony escrow sources as legitimate ones.

Think of it! That’s staggering. It’s meaning is simple: escrow fraud is epidemic. It should, then, be clearly indicative that a careless approach to these business transaction”intermediaries” could be as dangerous as going rock climbing while drunk.

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These are my lyrics: Fraud, Social Security fraud Disability fraud! I was never given a diagnosis or allowed to know results! When asked, I was informed it was NOT my business to know! Social Security took my adult life away and forced me to have a payee! I tore my Medicare Card to pieces on my 40th birthday! How can Social Security explain this abuse on me! Dennis Wittern said no one ever gets Disability the first try! He said that I will collect because of a scheme! This cannot be repaired, the damage has been done to me! Imagine the emotional scars that will haunt me! Dennis Wittern said no one ever gets Disability the first try! He said that I will collect because of a scheme! Just imagine the emotional scars because of this! He said that I will collect because of a scheme! What is horrifying is not knowing what they wrote about me that has haunt me! Not permitted to know is cowardly and sick. The despicable act of “PAYEE” to undermine my authority is not acceptable! The unknown is criminal! From some office on Townsend St/James St area in Syracuse, NY I reported for a hearing.The only information I ever got was from a blond, ugly douche bag alleged SS Dr in 2002 saying I was suicidal. That was too my face. I have carried that phrase all these years haunted by what she wrote. Then to top it off, the suicide statements written to me on topix or death threats from youtube. I said I want to know what would be in the report. She said it was not my business. I told her …

Fraud in Social Security

Social Security Fraud refers to the act of dishonestly claiming of benefits. Due to the increasing number of fraudulent claims, the US government enacted a law that will protect individuals from these illicit conducts.

What constitutes Fraud under the Social Security Act?

The Social Security Act provides an outline for actions that are considered fraudulent. Some of those acts are the following:

• Knowingly and willfully makes or causes to be made any false statement or representation of material facts in the application for benefits under this title;

• Knowingly and willfully makes or causes to be made any false statement or representation of a material fact for use in determining any rights to the benefits;

• Having knowledge of any event affecting

o His  or her right to the benefit

o The initial or continued right to the benefit of other individual in whose behalf he or she has applied for or is receiving benefit

o Having made an application to receive any of such benefits for the use and benefit of other and having receive it, knowingly and willfully converts the benefits for the use other than for what is intended

Information needed in filing Social Security Fraud

When planning to file a Fraud complaint, you need the following data:

• Name

• Address

• Social security number of the person you are reporting.

• Description of potential fraud incident

In cases where the Social Security number is not known, you need to secure his or her date of birth, age and the name of the parents. However, if you are reporting a concealed activity you need the name of the employer and its address and phone number.

How to report Social Security Fraud incident

The Social Security Administration takes seriously any report regarding Social Security Fraud. The Office of the Inspector General is the one who investigates incidents of Social Security Fraud. If you have any knowledge regarding these incidents, you can report it immediately by:

• Calling the Social Security Office hotline number

• Use the on line fraud reporting form

• Write to Social Security Office.

Yet, if you have been the actual victim of a fraudulent act, seeking legal assistance from a competent Social Security Fraud attorney is advisable. An attorney with sufficient in handing these cases can help you prosecute the law violators.

What is the Office of the Inspector General?

The Office of the Inspector General is the one directly responsible for meeting the statutory mission promoting economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the administration of Social Security programs. It is also responsible for preventing and detecting fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement in such programs and operations.

OIG also searches and reports systematic weaknesses in SSA programs and operations and make recommendations for improvements and corrective actions.

Penalties for the violation of the Act

Any person found guilty for Social Security Fraud shall be:

• Fined under the United States Code

• Imprisoned for not more than five years or both

The federal court in sentencing the defendant may in addition to any other penalty order restitution.

When can there be restitution?

The court orders restitution in any of the following instances:

• The Commissioner of Social Security order payment that should not have  been made

• An individual suffers financial loss due to defendant’s violation of this Act.

Our Los Angeles attorneys are proven experts in handling Social Security Fraud cases. For free evaluation of your case, log on to our website and contact our legal staff.