Legal Requirments Relating to ID Theft

 

Businesses Must Provide Victims and Law Enforcement with Transaction Records Relating to Identity Theft

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) spells out rights for victims of identity theft, as well as responsibilities for businesses. Identity theft victims are entitled to ask businesses for a copy of transaction records — such as applications for credit — relating to the theft of their identity.
Indeed, victims can authorize law enforcement officers to get the records or ask that the business send a copy of the records directly to a law enforcement officer. The businesses covered by the law must provide copies of these records, free of charge, within 30 days of receiving the request for them in writing. This means that the law enforcement officials who ask for these records in writing may get them from your business without a subpoena, as long as they have the victim’s authorization.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, enforces the FCRA including this requirement, which is known as Section 609(e). Here is some additional information to help your business comply with this provision of the law:
Q. Who must comply with Section 609(e) of the FCRA?
A. The law applies to a business that has provided credit, goods, or services to, accepted payment from, or otherwise entered into a transaction with someone who is believed to have fraudulently used another person’s identification. For example, if your business opened a cell phone account in the victim’s name or extended credit to someone misusing the victim’s identity, you may be required to provide the records relating to the transaction to the identity theft victim or the law enforcement officer acting on that victim’s behalf.
Q. What documents must my business provide?
A. Your business must provide applications and business transactions records, maintained either by your business or by another entity on your behalf, that support any transaction alleged to be a result of identity theft. Records like invoices, credit applications, or account statements may help victims document the fraudulent transaction and provide useful evidence about the identity thief.
Q. What are the procedures for requesting these materials?
A. Requests for documents must be submitted in writing. Your business may specify an address to receive these requests. You may ask the victim to provide relevant information, like the transaction date or account number, if they know it. You also can require that victims provide:
1. proof of identity, like a government-issued ID card, the same type of information the identity thief used to open the account, or the type of information you are currently requesting from applicants; and
2. a police report and completed affidavit. Victims can use the FTC’s ID Theft Affidavit, available at ftc.gov/idtheft, or another affidavit you accept.
Q. Is it ever appropriate not to provide documents?
A. You can refuse to provide the records if you determine in good faith that:

• you cannot verify the true identity of the person asking for the information;
• the request for the information is based on a misrepresentation; or
• the information requested is Internet navigational data or similar information about a person’s visit to a website or online service.

Your business may not deny disclosure of these records based on the financial privacy provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (see Subtitle A of Title V of Public Law 106-102). Nevertheless, you may refuse to disclose them if state or another federal law prohibits you from doing so.
Q. Are there recordkeeping requirements of Section 609(e)?
A. Section 609(e) does not require any new recordkeeping procedures for your business.



Richard Figley
Independent Associate
614.395.2313

 www.ID-TheftProtection.com
 www.richardfigley.com

Learn the Signs of Scams

By ELISABETH LEAMY (@elisabethleamy), ABC NEWS Consumer Correspondent
I have some con artists to thank for today’s column. Yes, you heard that right. This week’s topic arrived by mail—in the form of a classic come-on. My husband received a $3,850 check in the mail. It looked awfully official, complete with “security features” and bank account numbers. I’m going to dissect if for you, to show all the tip-offs to a rip-off. Here’s a picture of the “check.”:

(Image Credit: Elisabeth Leamy)

Your heart DOES do a little pitter pat at first, eyeballing a substantial sum like that. However, the accompanying letter gives the ploy away. The crooks have managed to roll two oldies but baddies into one: the foreign lottery scam and the check overpayment scam.
Click here for the letter.
The letter announces “Cash Prize Notification” and goes on to say, “…you are one of the winners in the “CONSUMER PROMOTIONS SWEEPSTAKES DRAWING.” Pretty thrilling, right? But here’s the clue: “…this draw was held in the United Kingdom.” It’s actually illegal for Americans to participate long-distance in foreign lotteries. Therefore, if you’re ever told you have won one (especially one you never entered!), it’s a scam. Period.
There’s another clue, too. The letter informs the recipient that the prize winnings will be delivered by a courier company. The bad guys try to avoid sending their correspondence by U.S. Mail, because they don’t want to be subject to U.S. mail fraud laws. I suspect that if my husband had fallen for this plot, future correspondence from the crooks would have, indeed, arrived via a private courier.
In a sick sort of way, you have to admire the crooks’ handiwork. They even managed to use postage that looks like it’s from a foreign country. Wow! It came via the “Royal Mail!” Actually, it’s quite possible the letter WAS sent from another country, because often con artists prey upon Americans from beyond our borders, knowing it’s very hard for US authorities to prosecute them. I took a picture of the postmark too:

(Image Credit: Elisabeth Leamy)

So how were the thieves going to profit? Let’s go back to the letter. The “company” has sent my hubby a check for $3,850 and says that’s to cover the “Tax Clearance Fee.” But here’s the trick. The tax clearance amount is NOT “$3,850. It’s $1,950! The company has overpaid my husband! Why? The crooks want their victims to deposit the $3,850 check in their accounts and forward them $1,950 of their own money. By the time the victims find out that the $3,850 check is bogus, their OWN money is long gone.
That, my friends, is the latest example of the “Check Overpayment Scam.” It comes in many forms. The classic is that if you are selling something, like a used car, a stranger may send you a check for more than the asking price and ask you to forward them the difference, while they arrange to have the car transported to them. The crooks have a million excuses for why they’ve sent too much money and why you need to forward them the difference. Never, ever do it. If a stranger overpays you by check, it’s a scam. Period.



Richard Figley
Independent Associate
figleyr@legalshield.com
www.800-DO-A-WILL.com
www.ID-TheftProtection.com.

---

Health Care & Data Breaches

Healthcare industry CIOs, CSOs must improve security

By Thor Olavsrud, CIO |  Security, health IT Add a new comment

March 06, 2012, 9:39 AM — Protected health information (PHI) data breaches are growing in frequency and magnitude as the healthcare industry moves to adopt electronic health records (EHR), say a group of standards and security organizations. The healthcare industry must take action to better defend PHI if it wants to keep the public's trust, they say.
The Identity Theft Prevention and Identity Management Standards Panel (IDSP) of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), in partnership with The Santa Fe Group/Shared Assessments Program Healthcare Working Group and the Internet Security Alliance (ISA), on Monday unveiled a report, The Financial Impact of Breached Protected Health Information: A Business Case for Enhanced PHI Security, at a press conference kicked off by White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard A. Schmidt. The report is intended to help CIOs, CSOs and IT security, privacy and compliance staff create a compelling business case for enhanced security to present to business executives.
"When it comes to cybersecurity, we all have a role whether we're a consumer, the executive of a company or a political leader," Schmidt says. "By working together, we can make sure we make the improvements that ensure the balance between privacy rights and security. While we can't solve all the problems in the world when it comes to cybersecurity and privacy, we can affect those parts we're responsible for."
Privacy Protections Critical to Trust
Joe Bhatia, president and CEO of ANSI, added, "Privacy protections are absolutely critical to maintaining consumer trust in this information age. In the U.S., the healthcare delivery system is founded upon trust. This trust, as we all know, is now being severely tested."
According to the 67-page report, which involved a cross-section of more than 100 healthcare industry leaders from more than 70 organizations, nearly 39.5 million EHRs were breached between 2005 and 2008. In addition, within the past two years, the health information privacy of nearly 18 million Americans-a number roughly comparable to the population of the state of Florida-was breached electronically.
The data points don't end there. Between September 2011 and November 2011, a government benefits program suffered the theft of EHRs of 4.9 million military personnel, the health information of 4 million patients of a reputable West Coast healthcare system were stolen electronically and a major academic medical center inadvertently disclosed the EHRs of 20,000 of its patients. In November of last year, Ponemon Institute completed a survey of 72 provider organizations and found that 96% of respondents reported at least one data breach in the past 24 months. On average, Ponemon Institute found that health organizations have experienced four data breach incidents over the past two years.
"Healthcare is one of the most-breached industries," says Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of Ponemon Institute. "Healthcare providers and supporting organizations don't currently have sufficient security and privacy budgets, including adequate processes and resources, to protect sensitive patient data."
"The entire healthcare delivery system depends upon a single transaction: your willingness to share the most intimate details of your personal information with your physician," adds James C. Pyles, panel member and principal with Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville PC. "You have to trust that the information won't be used to harm you or your children. If you're dealing in this business of handling health information electronically or any information electronically, you're touching on a very tender nerve that people have."
Pyles added, "It's more than breaches, it's also understanding, as a business, the expectations of your customers. If you frustrate those expectations, I promise you, you will be sued."
Part of the problem, says Catherine Allen, chairman and CEO of The Santa Fe Group, is that the financial incentives are on the side of those who seek to steal medical records. Allen said medical records go for $50 a record on the underground market, making them much more lucrative than even financial information. "It's very valuable data," she says.
Evaluating the Cost of Data Breaches
The new report is intended to be a tool to help organizations quantify overall potential data breach costs and to provide a methodology for determining an appropriate level of investment needed to strengthen privacy and security programs and reduce the probability of a breach.


"No organization can afford to ignore the potential consequences of a data breach," says Rick Kam, president and co-founder of ID Experts and chair of the PHI Project. "We assembled this working group to drive a meaningful dialogue on appropriate levels of investment to better protect healthcare organizations and PHI."
He added, "One of the things that we realized as we started to work through this process is that the chief information officer, the chief security officer, they're essentially getting outgunned by the criminals. It's not that we don't have the technology or processes or people to deal with this problem. It's that we don't have enough focus and investment from the executives."
The report provides a five-step method, the PHI Value Estimator (PHIve), for estimating breach costs and what needs to be done to protect organizations. The PHIve provides detailed information about each of the steps, which include: conducting a risk assessment, determining your security readiness score, assessing the relevance of a cost, determining the impact and calculating the total cost of a breach.
"Cybersecurity is not an IT issue," says Larry Clinton, president and CEO of the Internet Security Alliance. "It is an enterprise-wide risk management issue that needs to be addressed in a much broader sense."
Thor Olavsrud is a senior writer for CIO.com. Follow him @ThorOlavsrud.

Identity Theft Shield

Richard Figley

 614-395-2313
www.800-DO-A-WILL.com

Business Identity Theft

You wouldn’t know it from reading the news, but business identity theft is becoming an increasingly large concern for small business owners, according to a report filed by NPR’s Yuki Noguchi today on Morning Edition.
Noguchi tells the story of Scott Burnett and the Memphis-based company he and his family have operated for the last 40 years or so, AAA Termite & Pest Control. Burnett claims that when he opened the Yellow Pages last year, he was dismayed to see that there were three “me-too” listings affiliated with his business.
None of those numbers were actually affiliated with Burnett’s businesses. When he looked up their addresses they either pointed to vacant lots or gas stations. When Burnett called the numbers and asked to speak with a manager, the person on the phone hung up.

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So, Burnett hired a lawyer, but the phone company reportedly refused to divulge any information about who was behind the fraudulent listings. He then called the National Pest Management Association, but they didn’t know what he should do. Apparently the only person Burnett could find that knew anything about business identity theft was a local locksmith who was also the victim of business identity theft. This is the problem: business identity theft, despite the fact that it could be quite commonplace, is so obscure that no one knows what to do about it.
Colombia University’s Hugh Thompson (also affiliated with the RSA Conference), however, does know about business identity theft and he says it is severely under-reported. Among the reasons this sort of identity theft flies under the radar, Thompson claims, are the facts that there are no federal or states stats or tracking of the problem and, as is the case with data breaches, companies don’t want to report for fear of besmirching their brand.
Things may be turning around though. North Carolina secretary of state and chair of the National Association of Secretaries of State, Elaine Marshall, says the number cases like these involving falsified documents in her state is increasing.
The sophistication of many instances of business identity theft has led Thompson to suspect that organized criminal syndicates may be responsible for these scams.
AAA isn’t alone. In fact, Noguchi claims that 103 phony pest control businesses popped up last year.
It is unclear whether these are pure scammers, masquerading as legitimate companies to steal credit card information from consumers or if they themselves are offering a service and are merely piggybacking on the success of already established businesses. The fake-businesses could even be attempting to steal the identity of the legit ones in the way cybercriminals steal an individual’s identification. It appears as if no one really knows.

For individual and spouse Identity Theft Shield go HERE.

Richard Figley
Independent Associate
614-395-2313

140,000 Identity Theft Frauds against Children each year

February 27, 2012


Would it surprise you to know that almost every child born is a potential victim of identity theft? A Chicago Tribune article in January reported “there are 140,000 identity frauds committed against children per year in the United States.” While it’s not something for parents to obsess about, there are steps you can take to prevent identity theft from happening to your child.

Protect that social security number

Last year, the Social Security Administration began issuing random social security numbers, however, anyone born before that most likely has a sequential number based on their geographic location. Most identity thieves have caught on to taking the social security numbers of children and using them to access multiple lines of credit because no one checks a child’s credit report. In fact, it’s difficult to access a report based solely on a social security number.
While you can check a credit report for free each year, there are other things that can tip you off to a potential breach in identity: receiving credit offers in your child’s name, receiving documents pertaining to jobs your child has never had, or being denied credit due to poor credit history.

Why worry about identity theft?

When your child is 6 or 7 years old (or younger!) you may not even be thinking about credit opportunities or loan issues. But many families will find themselves relying on financial aid for college after their children graduate from high school. If a parent can take the time earlier on to check for any red flags or indications of identity theft when their child is still high school, they will have given themselves the time to correct anything that’s incorrect. A clear credit report will make securing college monies much easier down the line.
While identity theft of children isn’t an epidemic, more and more children are creating online identities earlier and younger. Gaming, school requirements, and the prevalence of tablets and smart phones make capturing an unsuspecting child’s identity possible. Taking a few steps and being vigilant with your child’s information can save you worry and trouble in the long run.


Richard Figley
Independent Associate
614-395-2313
Obtain ID Theft Restoration HERE

 

Not even kids safe from identity theft

When children are victims, crime can go undetected for years, experts say 

 

By Joseph Ruzich, Special to the Tribune

January 25, 2012

Millions of cases of identity theft are reported in the United States each year.
And although most of the victims are adults, children are not immune to having their identities stolen.
Indeed, according to experts, children often make easier targets for several reasons, including the fact that the identity theft can go undetected for years.
"Almost every child is a potential victim," said Gabby Beltran, victim adviser with the San Diego-based Identity Theft Resource Center. "All thieves need to do is to obtain a child's Social Security number. It can be devastating for them (children) later in life."
A financial identity theft against a child occurs after someone uses the child's Social Security number and name to establish new lines of credit. There are 140,000 identity frauds committed against children per year in the United States, according to a study by ID Analytics Inc., a consumer risk management company. The study also found that thieves open up credit cards and are involved in wireless financial activities about 60 percent of the time.
So just how do thieves acquire a child's Social Security number? The process is often easy for them.
Since the 1980s, most children have been issued Social Security numbers at birth as a way to stop thieves from applying for a child's Social Security number before they do. The new safeguard, however, had an opposite effect on stopping fraud, some experts say.
Many thieves have been able to figure out a Social Security number using a government-issued sequence based on when and where the child was born, said Beltran.
The good news is that the Social Security Administration started issuing random numbers last year, but those born before the new initiative are still at risk.
And thieves still can steal identities by hacking into computers or snatching Social Security cards.
Thieves also have the upper hand because the age of the applicant cannot be verified by credit issuers based on the Social Security number alone. Thus, they can put any age they want on a credit application. And the age on the first credit application becomes that person's "official" age in terms of credit history, according to experts.
Beltran said a child's credit history can go undetected for years, since children should not have credit reports and parents would not expect a problem.
"By the time accounts go into collection (agencies), it could take several years … from the commission of the crime," said Beltran. "There are some 16-year-olds who can't get a job, for example, because they learn they have a criminal history (report on the number) or bad credit. That should be a red flag."
She said other red flags may include getting calls from collection agencies or receiving bill notices and offers from credit card and loan companies.
Chaplin said another common way thieves steal children's Social Security numbers is through parents simply losing the cards.
"Never carry their card with you," he said. "Put it in a safe place."
He suggests giving out a child's Social Security number only sparingly and to ask why it is necessary.
Beltran said parents and relatives may use a child's identity thinking that the act is harmless. One example may be parents who don't have Social Security numbers, such as undocumented immigrants, who sometimes use their child's identity to apply for loans or to turn on utilities.
"They (parents) may have good intentions of paying (their bills) … but it is still illegal" to steal your own child's identity, said Beltran.
Tom Joyce a spokesman with the Better Business Bureau in Chicago, suggests that parents check their child's credit report around their 16th birthday. Joyce said this will leave sufficient time to fix errors and other activity before the child goes to college and tries to obtain financial aid.
The process for obtaining credit reports for children is different from the process for adults. Parents must work directly through the credit reporting agency, such as TransUnion, and include a copy of the parent's identification, a copy of the child's Social Security card and a copy of the child's birth certificate, among other things.

While we can't stop your identity from being stolen, we can make your life easier  with our Identity Theft Shield from LegalShield

Richard Figley
Independent Associate

614.395.2313

www.800-DO-A-WILL.com

 

Healthcare Fraud....A $234 Billion a year problem

 

A glimpse inside the $234 billion world of medical ID theft

February 08, 2012 | Rick Kam, President and CEO, ID Experts and Christine Arevalo, director of healthcare identity management, ID Experts

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Healthcare fraud is costing American taxpayers up to $234 billion annually, based on estimates from the FBI. It’s no wonder that a stolen medical identity has a $50 street value, according to the World Privacy Forum – whereas a stolen social security number, on the other hand, only sells for $1.
One form of healthcare fraud, known as medical identity theft, has its own staggering statistics: 1.42 million Americans were victims of medical identity theft in 2010, according to a 2011 study on patient data privacy and security by the Ponemon Institute. The report estimates the annual economic impact of medical identity theft to be $30.9 billion.
[See also: How politics distort Americans' perception of health reform.]
Medical identity theft occurs when a person uses someone else’s medical record to obtain medical goods or services or to bill for medical goods and services that the patient did not receive. Thieves will also use a person’s social security number to obtain medical services or health insurance.
The harm medical identity theft causes patients
With its serious health risks, medical identity theft is far more dangerous than the more well-known consumer or financial identity theft. When a victim’s records are merged with a thief using the same identity, for instance, that record becomes “polluted,” and the victim may be denied treatment or be misdiagnosed based on this inaccurate information. In addition, patients may be denied life insurance or billed for services not rendered. A few real-world examples illustrate the dangers:

• In Oregon, a pregnant woman delivered a baby addicted to crack using another woman’s social security number—and then abandoned the baby. Police arrested the victim and put her children into protective custody.
• A hospital’s billing department notified a pregnant woman in Washington that someone had used her social security number to be treated for a crack overdose at the ER of the same facility where she was about to deliver her baby.
• A patient in Texas used a California man’s medical identity to obtain radiation treatment and other care. When the thief’s records and the patient’s records merge, healthcare providers will think the patient has a condition he doesn’t have.
• One woman used her sister’s medical ID to receive treatment for a serious sports injury. When chronic problems arose, she was denied coverage for further treatment because there was no record of her initial treatment.
• Another woman couldn’t get physical therapy following neck surgery because a Miami clinic that she had never visited claimed her insurance benefits had been maxed out.
• A teenager was denied the opportunity to give blood because the Red Cross flagged her social security number as belonging to a person who had tested positive for HIV. Another person had used her social security number at a free AIDS clinic in another state, and the clinic did not ask for physical copies of identification.

Data breaches — A major source of medical I.D. theft
Whether caused by theft, loss, human error, or hacking, data breaches put patient data at risk for medical identity theft. The number of healthcare data breaches has risen dramatically, increasing the likelihood for medical identity theft; in 2011, more than 18 million patients were listed on the HHS’ “Wall of Shame” as having their protected health information (PHI) breached. Tighter privacy laws, increased scrutiny from the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and the potential for costly fines make medical identity theft a problem for all healthcare organizations.
[Q&A: How a health 'data spill' could be more damaging than what BP did to the Gulf.]
Three tips for protecting patient data 
Preparation is the best defense for mitigating the chances of a data breach and the costly consequences of medical identity theft. To start preparing now, we recommend that healthcare organizations:

1. Take an inventory of PHI/PII. An inventory provides a complete accounting of every element of personally identifiable information (PII) and PHI that an organization holds, in either paper or electronic format. It helps determine how an organization collects, uses, stores and disposes of its PHI. By revealing the risks for a data breach, a PHI inventory helps an organization protect PHI data and best plan for a response based on real information.
2. Develop an Incident Response Plan (IRP). An IRP is an effective, cost-efficient means for helping organizations meet HIPAA and HITECH requirements and develop guidelines related to data breach incidents. The IRP designates roles and provides guidelines for the response team's responsibilities and actions.
3. Review contracts and agreements with business associates. Business associates are a growing cause of data breaches. These contracts authorize and define business associates' use of the PHI they share with healthcare providers. Keeping these contracts up-to-date demonstrates compliance to regulators and helps maintain consistency in how PHI is managed in a healthcare ecosystem.

With its combined financial and health risks, medical identity theft has greater consequences for victims than more traditional forms of identity theft. Healthcare organizations, therefore, have a greater obligation to step up their privacy and security efforts to safeguard their patients’ health information. Protecting a patient’s physical – and financial – well being is, after all, the best form of caring.

Rick Kam, CIPP, is president and co-founder of ID Experts. Rick is also chairing the “PHI Project,” a seminal research effort to measure financial risk and implications of data breach in healthcare, led by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), via its Identity Theft Prevention and Identity Management Standards Panel (IDSP), in partnership with the Shared Assessments Program and the Internet Security Alliance (ISA).
Christine Arevalo is director of healthcare identity management and a founding employee of ID Experts. She has experience managing risk assessments, complex crisis communication strategies, and data breach response for healthcare organizations.


Richard Figley
Independent Associate

www.800-DO-A-WILL.com

IRS Stops $1.4B ID Theft of Tax Refunds

 

ID theft investigation stops $1.4B in tax refunds

Internal Revenue Service seeing rise in fraudulent returns being filed 

 

By Nanette Byrnes

updated 1/31/2012 1:55:18 PM ET

 

A U.S. government crackdown on suspected identity thieves filing false tax returns stopped $1.4 billion in bad refunds from being sent out in calendar 2011, the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service said on Tuesday.

The IRS and the Justice Department together stopped 260,000 bad returns last year, IRS Deputy Commissioner Steve Miller said.
"There is no doubt in the last couple of years this rate of fraud has gone up," Miller told reporters.
A national sweep by the two agencies over the last week targeted 105 people in 23 states and led to 939 criminal charges in 69 indictments related to identity theft. Some of the investigations stretched back years.
Arrests were made last Friday in Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey and New York, where three employees of JPMorgan Chase Bank were charged by the Manhattan U.S. attorney with taking kickbacks in a $4.8 million tax refund scam that used the identities of Puerto Rican citizens.
Law enforcement agencies said other schemes involved stealing the identities of dead taxpayers and mentally disabled people.
The IRS also went to numerous check-cashing operations across the country to ensure that they were not involved with refund fraud and identify theft.

Richard Figley
Independent Associate
614 395 2313
www.800-DO-A-WILL.com

 

 

ID Theft and the IRS

Identity Theft Issue Goes Unnoticed Until IRS Bills Victim

Social security number stolen for employment

Friday, December 30, 2011

One Nebraska resident didn't know his social security number had been compromised until he recently received a bill from the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid taxes.

Longtime Omaha, Nebraska, resident Jose Sanchez told WOWT-TV that the letter from the IRS notified him of more than $4,000 in unpaid taxes for his work at a local painting company in 2010.

However, Sanchez has never worked there. His family told the station they believe his personal information was used by an undocumented immigrant to apply for the job. The owner of the painting company told the source he was unaware of the issue.

"Somebody else was working with his social security [number]," his daughter Elena Sanchez told the news source. "We think it's somebody who doesn't have papers."

While the station says he's filed a claim with the IRS and likely won't have to pay the bill, he will be taking extra care to protect his identity in the future as he approaches retirement.

For ID Theft Coverage go HERE


 Richard Figley
1-800-DO-A-WILL
www.800-DO-A-WILL.com

Just When You Thought it Couldn't Happen to You

MANSFIELD, OHIO -- A Mansfield city councilwoman had her email address list hacked by scammers hoping to trick friends and acquaintances into "rescuing" her by wiring money to them through Western Union.

Ellen Haring, who is running for the Ohio Senate next year, believes the fake messages claiming she was stranded in London with her credit cards and cash stolen, went out to several hundred people. As far as she knows, no one took the bait.

Haring filed a report with Mansfield police. The Mansfield city councilwoman will run in 2012 against two other candidates for the newly organized 22th Ohio Senate District seat.
The email message, sent a few days before Christmas, featured more accurate spelling and better grammar than most phishing emails. In part the message read:

"I am presently stuck in London, United Kingdom for a short vacation unfortunately i was mugged at the park of the hotel where i stayed, all cash, credit card and cell were stolen off me but luckily for me i still have my passports with me," the message said. "I've been to the embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and my flight leaves in less than 6hrs from now but am having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let me leave until i settle the bills."

Haring got immediate feedback.

"The phone calls started at 7:30 in the morning and continued for several days. So many concerned people called to inform me and to express concern over the situation," Haring said. "Some called just to find humor in the whole thing. It was a lovely Christmas present to know so many people cared!
"Every person with whom I have had email contact over the past decade probably received one! I would estimate several hundred, maybe more."

Haring's private AOL email account was involved. Her City of Mansfield email account was not affected. No damage was done to her computer, but all of her email contacts on AOL were wiped out."They are definitely trying to make money. The message was all about money and how to wire it," she said. "If unwitting respondents sent money (hopefully not), the hackers could walk into any Western Union office in the world and retrieve it."

Mansfield police Detective Cecil Burton said no suspects have been identified.
The city councilwoman reported having a purse stolen, but "as far as I could tell, that information did not result from that theft," he said. While this particular type of scam is not often reported to Mansfield police, identity theft is common.

"This time of year, a lot of people try to take the easy way out to get access to money," Burton said. "If you know your way around a computer, you can maneuver around and get access to all kinds of things."

Haring said she's still working to repair the damage."I tried to close AOL, but ... I cannot," Haring said. "Another victim I know did not change her password soon enough and lost all her addresses and stored emails, too.
"I did not lose any of my emails, nor were other email accounts touched."

 Read about how to protect yourself here

Richard Figley
Independent Associate
1-800-DO-A-WILL
www.800-DO-A-WILL.com

Looking for a Home Based Business for 2012?

A LegalShield Home Business Overview That Everyone Needs

by Jerry Vinson on December 28, 2011

A LegalShield home business overview is something that can be helpful to anyone who has ever considered looking into it. This is a company that has been around for 40 years. One will be able to help with legal services that are part of their contract if they find themselves in legal trouble.

This is not something that is super pricey either. Basically one just pays a small fee each month. In addition if one is in legal trouble and needs another type of attorney they can choose from one of the hundreds that are working with the company and get a discounted rate.

These lawyers offer a great discount on normal services that are not in the contract. This means that no matter what happens where one might need legal representation. This really is a huge advantage if one has ever been faced with unexpected legal expenses because the discount pays off quite nicely in the long run.
Then if one is wanting to they can make a lot of money through this company.

One just has to choose a lawyer that is part of the network and they will be able to get a discount on legal services. The company has been around for many years and has a strong history so one does not have to worry about stability.There is no shortage of what one will be able to get help with but the covered services in the contract include defense trials, motor vehicle problems, and IRS audits. When comparing this to other options based out of the home one will find that it is much better than most.

There is a one time fee that is required to get started and includes access to team building tools. There is even a comprehensive model that will help to make sure that one is going to be successful. A LegalShield home business overview is something that can quickly show one how to earn back their initial investment within the first 30 days. The service is something that others are constantly searching for since so many people already have it. One has to keep in mind that it will take some time to find success and it is not something that will happen immediately

Richard Figley
Independent Associate
figleyr@legalshield.com 
1-800-DO-A-WILL
www.800-DO-A-WILL.com

Data Breaches Skyrocket

Jeff Blumenthal

Philadelphia Business Journal 

Staff Writer

The number of reported data breaches have skyrocketed since numerous states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, adopted new data breach notification laws in 2005 and 2006.
Companies have found themselves dealing with ensuing class-action litigation from consumers victimized by the breaches as well as credit-card companies and banks.

According to the Open Security Foundation, a Virginia nonprofit that collects information about data breaches, there were 61 reported breaches combined between 2001 and 2004. But those numbers shot up to 141 in 2005 and have exceeded 500 per year since 2006, with 252 reported so far this year.

Data breaches cost their companies an average of $204 per compromised record, up from $138 per compromised record in 2005, according to a 2009 study conducted by the Poneman Institute.
Sasha Romanosky, a doctoral student at Carnegie Mellon University whose research revolves around data breaches, said Pennsylvania and New Jersey are slightly above the national average for rate of reported identity theft, which is about 30 reports per 100,000 people between 2002 and 2009. In Pennsylvania, there were 32 per 100,000 people, while New Jersey was higher at 38. Romanosky said this data did not fluctuate much after the advent of the new legislation.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital was forced to notify about 21,000 patients that some of their most sensitive financial and medical information was compromised following a laptop theft revealed last month. It covers those who received inpatient care between March and November 2008. While the laptop was password protected, the data itself was not encrypted.

Jefferson President and CEO Thomas Lewis said in a statement that “storage of patient data on an employee’s unencrypted computer — even while on TJUH premises — is a breach of hospital’s policy.”

Richard Figley
Independent Associate
1-800-DO-A-WILL
www,800-DO-A-WILL.com

Foster Children and Identity Theft

I've talked before about the horrible act of stealing the identity of children.  Identity thieves and sometimes even parents steal a child's unused Social Security number because it provides them with a clean credit report; the number can be used with any name and date of birth because no credit history files exist that tie it to the child's identity.  There's one group of children that's at an even higher risk than others, and unfortunately these are the children who need a safe and trustworthy environment more than anyone else.

I'm referring to children who are in foster care.  These children are often moved from one foster home to another until they turn 18, at which point they are no longer eligible for care and have to make their own way in the world.  This can be easier said than done, especially if their identity was stolen somewhere along the way; their credit could be ruined before they even have a chance to establish it, and it can take months or years to correct the damage that's been done.

Part of the problem that makes foster children easier targets than other children is the fact that they are often moved from one foster home to another several times while in the system.  Identifying information is distributed to each foster home, and sometimes the info is even sent multiple times per year even if the child isn't moved.  The ID cards provided to foster parents includes the child's name, date of birth and Social Security number on the same card; this provides everything that an identity thief would need to hijack the child's identity and establish new credit lines using the child's SSN. In the foster care system, a wide range of people have access to a child's Social Security number -and organized identity theft rings know this.

As if that isn't bad enough, there's also a possibility that one of the foster parents a child stays with, or parents, grandparents, social workers and those who have access to the home, could steal his or her identity.  Though it's upsetting to think about someone in such trustworthy positions taking advantage of a child,the sad truth is children are a favorite target of professional id theft rings --and parents who prey on their children's identities regularly. 

Steps are being taken to try and eliminate the threat of identity theft for foster children -- The Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act which was signed into law in September requires states to run credit checks on foster children who are nearing adulthood so that identity theft cases can be found while the child is still in the system.  If identity theft is discovered, the state foster care agency can help to fix the problem and repair the child's credit before he ages out of the program.

The Foster Youth Financial Security Act, introduced by Representative James Langevin of Rhode Island, seeks to stop foster care agencies from identifying children through their Social Security numbers so that the SSN no longer appears on ID cards.

Child protection agencies such as the Children's Advocacy Institute in San Diego, CA and First Star, a nonprofit that works with victims of child abuse and neglect are also pushing for the removal of Social Security numbers as identifiers; they hope that by preventing everyone who comes in contact with a foster child's case from having access to the child's SSN they will be able to significantly reduce the chances of a foster child having his identity stolen.

Journalists and identity theft experts and advocates continue to play a critical role in raising heightened awareness to the plight and impact of children who are victims of identity theft crimes.

Huffington Post reporter Gerry Smith --has been sharing real-life stories in his eye-opening series; Burdened Beginnings a series examining child identity theft and foster children who struggle to overcome identity theft. 

Nationally honored and respected identity theft experts Linda Foley, Jay Foley and Sheila Gordon, formerly of the Identity Theft Resource Center, have recently launched ID Theft Info Source a new company they've founded that will allow them to further expand their long-term efforts to fight identity theft. Among other things they are actively researching child identity theft trends and working with several legislators and governmental agencies to help generate stronger legislation and effective solutions to find remedies for victims of this crime.

Much more needs to be done, however.  Stay informed of today's id theft trends that impact children and find out how you can support efforts to combat identity theft.

Richard Figley
Independent Associate
1800-DO-A-WILL
www.800-DO-A-WILL.com

Ready to Join a Legal Plan?

Ready to join a legal plan now? Below are the fundamental elements of legal plans and I hope you will find this differentiation helpful. If you need more detailed information Please Contact Us Below.

1.What is a Legal Plan?
2.Why are Legal Plans Needed?
3.Types of Legal Plans
4.How are Lawyers Involved?

What is a Legal Plan? - Legal plans come in many aspects and degrees. A "prepayable legal plan" is any type of provision in which a participator prepays or the employer pays on behalf of employees for legal services members may demand in the future. In many respects, a prepaid legal plan is similar to a medical benefit plan,Life Insurance plan,Auto Insurance Plan, or Home Owners plan but unlike these plans you want to utilize your legal plan as much as possible : A customer pays certain amount each year or month in return for certain service benefits to be used as needed.

A "group legal plan" may have a prefunded feature, such as those offered by employers as an enrollment choice and funded via a payroll deduction, but may also be similar to a group reduce cost procure attorney services. Group legal plan benefits - usually available without charge to participants of an association, union, coop, or other group - feature free telephone legal advice plus fee reduce costs from a collegial lawyer for other services.

Almost every legal plan provides legal advice and consultation by telephone as a basic service and may also include brief office advice, review of simple legal documents, preparation of a simple will, and short letters written or phone calls made by a lawyer. Other plans offer more comprehensive coverage for trials, marital problems, bankruptcy, real estate matters and the like. In addition to the member, most plans include or offer coverage for his or her spouse and dependent children.

Why are legal Plans Needed? - Many people could use legal help but do not seek lawyer advices. According to a survey conducted , seven in ten U.S. households (71%) report experiencing some situation in a twelve month period that might have led them to hire an attorney. The study indicated that for the consumer, legal services are among the most complicated services to buy. When it comes to hiring an attorney, users feel unsure about how to tell a skilled lawyer from a bad one. It is often unclear exactly what the lawyer will do for them and how much the attorney will charge. So, over half of those who might need a lawyer say they do not plan on hiring one.

A legal plan lets a client talk to a lawyer whenever the member thinks he or she might have a problem, without fear of the cost. With the proper legal advice most problems can be avoided or quickly resolved. And if further services, such as representation in court, are needed, a legal plan may help a member find the right lawyer, pay all or part of the legal bills or actually provide an attorney to handle the case at no cost to the member. By putting legal advice as near as the telephone, legal plans enable their participants to prevent legal questions from becoming legal problems. Sixty-five to eighty-five percent of all problems brought to attorneys through plans can be resolved through nothing more than advice and a small amount of follow-up.

In addition, having an attorney readily available gives people peace of mind. legal plans can also save participants money in complex legal matters. Even where a plan doesn't pay an attorney's entire bill, the member usually benefits from discount rates that plans can negotiate with panel lawyers. Finally, sponsoring a legal plan can benefit employers since employees with legal problems are more reliable and productive when legal help is available and a plan may help the employer attract and keep quality employees.

In summary, legal plans:
(1) Provide easy access to a lawyer, especially for preventive services, with no worry about high hourly fees;
(2) Make payment of attorney's fees easier, if not painless, depending on the plan benefits;
(3) Make the cost more certain because of published fee schedules;
(4) Provide customer service so that plan members can have their questions answered about the plan, its coverage, or their relationship with plan attorneys.

Types of Legal Plans - The Group Legal Plan - In its simplest form, a group plan is an agreement whereby members of a group are referred to an attorney or law firm collegial in the plan. The plan lawyer may provide free or low-cost advice and council, by telephone or in the office, to the group member. If service above advice is needed, the plan attorney is contracted to provide additional services according to a special plan fee schedule. The plan is usually announced in specialized mailings to group members,issued at meetings or written up in the group newsletter. There is no cost to the group itself or to the individual member for establishing or having the "plan" available. The member may pay fees according to the fee schedule directly to the attorney later if services beyond basic advice are needed.

The Prepaid Legal Plan - In a prepaid legal plan, moneys are funded in advance to pay the cost of legal services furnished in the future to persons enrolled in the plan. Although a prepaid plan is usually selected to participants of a group, a few large plans are also be available to the general public. Prefunded plans vary widely in cost, benefits and the way in which legal services are furnished.

The prepaid access plan is designed to require easy access to a lawyer for legal advice and other non-complex preventive services at low cost. An access plan provides an enrolled member with specified basic legal services at no additional cost, plus other services at reduce costed legal fee rates. The basic service may include telephone consultation (via a toll free number), brief office consultations, a simple legal document, a letters written by the lawyer, or other service that is not overly time-consuming. If the plan member wants or needs services beyond the limited items that are prepaid by the subscription fee, he or she and the attorney arrive at a mutually satisfactory fee for service based on the plan's fee schedule or hourly rate. For these additional services the member-client pays the attorney directly.

The overall prefunded plan goes remarkably beyond the access plan in the amount and type of legal services provided. Generally, all plan benefits are available to the plan member at no extra cost once the prefunded premium or subscription fee has been funded. Typical employer funded benefits include unlimited legal advice on any subject, negotiations with adverse parties, drafting legal documents such as contracts, wills and deeds, and representation in court. Although even the most extensive plans limit or exclude coverage on certain items, most comprehensive plans are designed to meet 80 to 90 percent of the personal legal service needs of middle-income families.

How are Lawyers Involved? - attorneys are often the 'front line' for legal plan participants. In order to provide appropriate help and ensure client peace of mind, it is critical that these service providers fully understand what legal services are covered and how the legal plan operates. Most legal plans have a contractual arrangement with attorneys in private practice who provide the legal services to serve their participants' needs.

Many plans use a broad panel of attorneys located throughout the area where plan participants live and work to provide covered services. Other plans use one law firm or a small group of law firms in each state to skillfully provide some basic benefits, such as legal advice by telephone, this is how LegalShield provides legal services to it's clients.

Richard Figley                                                                                     
Independent Associate
1-800-DO-A-WILL
www.800-DO-A-WILL.com

LegalShield Member Stories

MEMBER WINS BATTLE WITH CAR DEALERSHIP

“This is in regards to my experience while trading in my SUV at (a local dealership). In Dec. 2003 I traded in a late model Lincoln Navigator for a new 2004 model. During this process the tires and rims from the trade-in were suppose to be given back to me instead they were stolen from the dealership.The average person would have attempted to fight this battle themselves, however since I have LegalShield; they took on this battle for me.Once again. [an attorney] was assigned to my case and the problem was resolved almost immediately. [She] got me $9,350.00 for my stolen property, which means that she has won approximately $10,000 for the two cases she has represented on. These two cases I might add both fall under title one of my LegalShield benefits.I would like to thank [her] for her prompt, courteous and professional attention to both my cases. I’d also like to thank LegalShield for such an awesome service.”                                                                                                  A LegalShield Member

ALMOST "ROOFED"

 “I just wanted to write and say “Thank You” for the outstanding efforts of the [Provider Firm] in my recent dispute with the [home improvement store] over a shoddy roof installation two years ago. [Provider Attorney] wrote a very persuasive letter to [home improvement store] which resulted in my entire roof being re-decked and re-shingled at no cost under a consumer affairs complaint.I find their services to be prompt and thorough and, in today’s busy times, it is greatly appreciated.I would recommend LegalShield to anyone wanting the peace of mind in knowing that there is someone who will fight for them. [Provider Firm] has exceeded my expectations”              

A LegalShield Member

BANKRUPTCY HELP

 ”I would like to thank you for your help in preparing my paperwork for my bankruptcy. I was pleased that everything was handled in a quick manner and with no problems. You explained everything to me and reassured me that things will run smooth, and they did. I thank you for the time and effort put forth on my case. I had planned on only keeping my LegalShield membership a short time after my bankruptcy was final. Now I plan on keeping it for a long time and hope to continue having you as my counsel.”

A LegalShield Member

CHILD SUPPORT ASSISTANCE

 “I received two checks for a total of $4,120.39 from PA State Child Support.  LegalShield is everything I was told it would be eight years ago when I joined as a member. You all are very professional and courteous and I thank you personally. I have been trying to correct this problem for the past two years without success. Thank you a bunch! 

 

A LegalShield Member

 

 

 

RICHARD FIGLEY

1-800-DO-A-WILL

www.800-DO-A-WILL.com

Child Identity Theft

Child ID Theft: When Ignorance Isn't Bliss

by Jennifer Garrett

What if the Social Security number (SSN) assigned to your child already has been used illegally? From the day he or she was born, your child would be a victim of identity theft.
It sounds preposterous, but that's exactly what happened to Michelle Dennedy's daughter.
"We found that 11 years before she was born someone had opened a credit account with her Social Security number," Dennedy says. "So she had a credit file before she was even born."
Dennedy, an information privacy and security professional in Palo Alto, Calif., found out because she agreed to have her children's records scanned as part of an experiment run by private ID protection company All Clear ID, Austin, Texas. Dennedy got involved to help analyze the data and to help promote the security services. She never expected to discover that her own family had been victimized.
In fact, two separate criminals had used her daughter's Social Security number on two separate occasions. The second incident involved an individual who used the number to establish utility services in Arizona and then skipped town without paying the bill.
Dennedy went on a letter-writing campaign to the credit-reporting agencies to clear up her daughter's records. From what Dennedy has been told, there is a letter in her daughter's credit files indicating that all previous activity was fraudulent. Yet it concerns Dennedy that her daughter has to even have a credit file since it is illegal to make loans to children. And it bothers her that she has never seen a copy of the letter supposedly setting things straight.
"It's very unsatisfying," she says. "I'd like to see a lot more transparency in the system."
The same screening test that uncovered Dennedy's daughter's ID theft produced alarming results: Of the 42,000 records scanned, more than 10% were marred by illegal activity.
"It's really stunning," says Bo Holland, All Clear ID founder and CEO, who notes that the thieves who steal the SSNs use the child's name only 4% of the time.
Anne Wallace, president of the Identity Theft Assistance Center, Washington, D.C., calls this kind of fraud "synthetic identity theft" because only a portion of the individual's identity—in the case of children, almost always the SSN—is stolen and then combined with other names or birth dates.

Parents and children often offer too much personal information via social networking.

While Wallace says this can make it easier to resolve the fraud, it does make it harder to detect. Most of the time parents discover it when children apply for college student loans or try to buy their first cars. But by then the illegal activity could have been going on for years.
Rich Hamp, assistant attorney general for the State of Utah, says child ID theft can be devastating while victims work to restore credit and clear personal records of false convictions, earned wages, or medical histories. The process takes time and can force some teens to put their lives on hold. Other times it derails plans entirely.
"This isn't something that can be straightened out overnight," says Hamp.
Hamp knows ID fraud well. He was hired in 2000 specifically to prosecute Utah's ID theft statute. Over the course of his work, he discovered a mortgage fraud scheme that used stolen SSNs, many of which belonged to children. Later, he used certain state employment records to detect other child ID theft victims.
"We can see [in] the data that we've got thousands of kids in the state who are being compromised, and our data field is limited," Hamp says. "It's only kids receiving social services, and the person using the number has to be in the state using it for employment purposes...and we only look at kids 12 and under. We're looking at a pretty limited set of kids...and we're a small state."
Steven Toporoff, an attorney with the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C., agrees that ID theft is a bigger problem than most people realize, and acknowledges that a lack of data makes it hard to raise awareness about it. Toporoff says there are no reliable statistics about the actual incidence of child ID theft.
"It's completely underreported because parents in many instances have no suspicion that their child's identity has been taken. Children certainly don't know," Toporoff says. "While we don't know how prevalent it is, it can be devastating when it happens to a particular family."

Don't give out your children's Social Security numbers unless you have to.

Luckily, Dennedy discovered her daughter's ID theft before it created problems, but the mother of two isn't letting her guard down. Dennedy is expecting complications when her daughter reaches college age, so she is steeling herself for the battles she anticipates. "I know it's coming, so I know what to do," she says. "I'm not that fearful, but it's upsetting that you, as a parent, have to be so vigilant."

How do you know?

Most victims get no warning signs. However, if your child receives credit preapproval letters or calls from collection agencies, that's a good sign that a credit file—an ID-theft red flag for minors—exists in your child's name.
Otherwise, any home burglary, stolen wallet (if you were carrying your child's Social Security card or any forms containing that information), or data breach at a school or medical facility where your children attend or receive treatment should put you on alert, Toporoff notes.
In the absence of a known breach or red flag, most experts recommend checking kids' records when they are about age 16. Gabby Beltran, public information officer for the Identity Theft Resource Center, discourages nervous parents from making routine credit inquiries. That can create a credit file for a child, Beltran says, and any time a file exists, it can be sold to marketers, thereby furthering the fraud potential.
Parents who really can't wait until their children are teens can also consider the free, one-time scan that All-Clear ID offers through a partnership with credit-reporting bureau TransUnion.

What you can do

Simply safeguard your child's personal information, Toporoff says. Don't carry Social Security cards with you, and shred any unneeded documents that contain sensitive details. Don't give out your children's SSNs unless you have to, and realize that you don't have to give it out just because someone asks for it.

In the absence of a known breach or red flag, most experts recommend checking into kids' records when they are about age 16.

"Be very stingy," Holland says. "Everybody wants your child's Social [Security number] and they don't need it." Exceptions are for health care and for some schools or financial accounts.
Wallace adds that parents and children often offer up all kinds of personal information via social networking—full dates of birth, school names, mother's maiden name— without ever being asked. Wallace says parents should think twice about sharing too many details, and they should talk to their older children about smart social-networking practices.
"Personal information is like money. It is a valuable asset," she says. "You need to think about how much information you put online."
Also, never use your child's SSNs in place of your own. In hardship, some parents use their children's SSNs to apply for state benefits, utilities, or even credit. It is illegal, and will lead to complications for children when they reach adulthood.

To Protect Your Child Click HERE

Rich Figley
Independent Associate
LegalShield
1-800-DO A WILL
www.800-DO-A-WILL.com