What We Do

We give members access to professional legal counsel not only for traditional legal problems, but for everyday events such as buying a house or a car, creating a will, handling a problem with an insurance company, dealing with identity theft, and much more where legal review should be routine, but rarely is. These events can be among the most important events in a person's life, yet there is a tendency for them to take place without proper legal review. For LegalShieldd® members, access to legal counsel is only a toll-free phone call away.

LegalShield® was one of the first companies in the United States organized solely to design, underwrite and market legal expense plans. For a low monthly fee of $26 or less, the Company's legal expense plans (referred to as memberships) offer a variety of legal services in a manner similar to medical reimbursement plans or HMOs.

The Company currently provides legal services to over 1.4 million families across the U.S. and Canada. Plan benefits are delivered through a network of independent provider law firms. Members have direct, toll-free access to their provider law firm rather than having to comb through a yellow-page style directory for a referral. Provider firms are carefully selected and the quality of service is closely monitored to maintain the high standards of LegalShield® .

Additional Information

Our members are served by a provider law firm which has been carefully screened and selected by LegalShield®. Using the plan, members simply call their provider firm directly at the toll-free number on their membership card when they have a legal question or problem. It’s really that simple. LegalShield® does all the work; no searching for a qualified lawyer, no claim forms, no worries about being able to afford a lawyer – just peace of mind.

Plans for Employers (Employee Benefit Program) go HERE

Plans for Individuals and Families go HERE

Plan for Identity Theft go HERE

Richard Figley
Independent Associate
614.395.2313
www.800-DO-A-WILL.com

ID Theft Now a Professional Business

 

Sending A Better Message About Identity Theft Protection

By Denise Richardson on February 15, 2012 7:18 PM

In today's precarious world, where cyber-crime is rampant and identity theft is a growing problem, you may want to think twice before following any advice that you get regarding how to protect your financial well being. Your identity is your most important possession. Don't get fooled into letting your guard down for even one moment.  I'm worried that if those who write about identity theft in a manner that minimizes its effects or in a way that doesn't take identity theft seriously, then the public won't take it seriously either.  And that's a recipe for disaster.   

According to Consumers Union, a nonprofit organization designed to empower consumers with the ability to protect themselves, ID protection services aren't necessary to keep your credit cards and checking accounts safe from thieves. Much more useful solutions are available today that just a few years ago were not. But nobody is talking about them. Instead, some people continue to push the "do it yourself" route --whether we want to or not.

Making a blanket statement that identity theft services aren't worth their nominal annual cost is similar to declaring that consumers shouldn't buy -and shouldn't want to buy- the latest and greatest iPhone, or Kindle, or even that new car. This might seem like a stretch at first, but think about it; the value of these objects lies not in their cost but in the consumers' perception of them.  Instead of buying an iPhone I could buy a $20 cell phone and still make calls with it; for $50 I could buy a generic smartphone that would give me a few more advanced features. The thing is: It's up to me to decide what I find important and what I view as a value to me. 

In a nutshell; if I want a phone, Consumer Reports heartily recommends that I do the research and pick the one that will serve me the best. They provide useful reports and key info on various products on the market today.  Why not say the same about identity theft protection? I can't help but think it would be far more helpful if Consumer Reports would provide comparisons and evaluations of existing identity theft protection services rather than simply saying ---they aren't worth it. That way, consumers receive the benefit of Consumers Union's opinion as to which services can protect them from credit related fraud and/or identity theft based upon what these services offer.

Unless you've been a victim of identity theft or personally witnessed the havoc that it can create for someone you know, you really may not understand the value of signing up for identity theft protection. Today's thieves are savvy. They aren't just looking to tap into credit cards and steal money out of bank accounts. If they manage to get your social security number, then they may also want to use your identity to sign up for Medicare, Food Stamps, Social Security, or unemployment insurance. Once they steal your identity, these thieves can hi-jack tax returns, buy cars, homes, and more. They can commit crimes, and if they get caught, you are the one whose name goes on the police report. You are the one who gets arrested when you don't show up in court.

A Detroit woman, Vontara Colbert-Redmond, knows first hand just how devastating identity theft can be. In 2007, a thief took her purse, emptied her bank accounts, obtained a driver's license in her name, and got it suspended. Vontara lost her ability to drive to work, lost her job, and lost the freedom to live the "American dream" because someone else had stolen it from her.

Mashara Williams, who also became a victim of identity theft, fully understands how it can follow you around years after you thought that it had been resolved. Three years after her identity was first stolen, Mashara ended up in jail for a failure-to-appear charge aimed at the identity thief. Her nightmare began all over again. Would identity theft protection have prevented this from happening? Quite possibly. After all, Mashara may have been alerted to fraudulent use of her personal information early on in this scenario.

Consumers Union uses statistics to back up their assertion that id theft crime rates have declined, while completely ignoring other information.  They say that identity theft is on the decline, but neglect to point out that the average amount of out-of-pocket expenses related to identity theft has risen significantly over the last few years. They also ignore the fact that ID theft has been shifting to new targets, and that the IRS is literally overwhelmed at the moment with complaints about stolen tax returns.  The FTC released a notice recently stating that identity theft complaints have risen by a full 50% just since tax season started.  ID theft has become a professional business. It continues to truly baffle me why it is that Consumer Reports continues to downplay identity theft and sends a message to consumers that essentially says; don't worry about fraud.   

While an identity theft protection service might not have made sense 5 or so years ago, times have changed drastically, and it makes perfect sense today.  Without it, you cannot do anything. You cannot purchase a home or a car, get a job, apply for retirement benefits, open a bank account, or get a credit card. Your identity is critical to your ability to achieve your dream of living a good life.

As a consumer, don't get caught up in the belief systems of people who don't consider identity theft insurance/protection as being necessary. That's the wrong message. I have been an outspoken proponent of the identity theft protection industry and those who have focused on making consumer protection and fraud prevention education a top priority. I continue to hope that one day, identity theft protection professionals, whether competitors or not, and  consumer protection groups will all see the value in working together to find solutions and not against those who are trying to.  If id theft crime rates have dipped --it's most likely due to the very advances the identity theft protection industry has made. It's unlikely that criminals have lost interest in identity theft --or will anytime soon.

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

 

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

 

Child Identity Theft Cases Frightening Surge

by Ben DeMeter on February 10, 2012

Imagine getting a notice from the bank informing your six-year-old that she missed a payment on her mortgage. That scenario certainly seems ridiculous, but there are thousands of families around the country who will tell you that the chances of it happening are very real. Every year, more and more children are victimized by identity theft. Their untouched Social Security numbers are stolen and used to take out mortgages and loans which destroy their credit ratings before they’re teenagers. And the worst part about it? Most children don’t even know that they’re victims until it’s too late.
Child identity theft used to be a rare crime, but that all changed with the invention of the Internet. As more and more children integrated the World Wide Web into their lives, thieves began to discover numerous methods of taking a child’s pristine identity for their own. According to the FTC, the number of reported cases of child identity theft had grown to 18,000 last year, with some independent research firms estimating that one out of every ten children in America has had their identity used by someone else. “The criminals are focused on where is the softest target and we’re handing them our kids,” says Michelle Dennedy, who was the chief privacy officer for Sun Microsystems. Her daughter is nine years old and has already had her identity stolen twice.
According to Dennedy, identity thieves aren’t just targeting our children because their information is easy to lift from school or social service databases – they’re also after the clean record associated with a child’s Social Security number. Credit card companies have no way of verifying age on their applications, so a thief can use a child’s record-less Social Security number to create a totally new person. Thieves can apply for dozens of cards and loans, and since most kids don’t get a background check until they’re teenagers, those thieves can get away with it for years. There are tons of strange and disturbing scenarios to imagine. Here’s one: a 17-year-old applies for a job only to discover that she owns several houses and carry $700,000 in debt. That actually happened.
So how do you prevent child identity theft from happening to your family? Not easily, unfortunately. Since it’s illegal for anyone under 18 to use a credit card, most credit agencies will refuse to check your child’s credit rating to make sure they’re safe. The most effective thing you can do is to be on the lookout for any signs that your child’s identity has been compromised – for example, watching to see if they receive any credit card applications in their name. You should also be cautious about giving out your child’s Social Security number – even to their own school. Make sure that it’s absolutely necessary to disclose any risky information before taking the leap. If you discover that your child has been a victim of identity theft, don’t panic. Since no contracts can be considered legally binding until the signer is 18 years old, clearing your child’s name is as easy as showing their birth certificate to the debt collectors. The lenders won’t be happy, but they can’t change the law no matter how much money they’ve lost.
While these steps won’t prevent child identity theft altogether, following them should at least reduce the risk that yours could become a victim. For now, that’s the best anyone can do.

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Richard Figley

Independent Associate

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

Child Identity Theft..A growing problem

Protecting Your Child's Identity

ATLANTA -- Most of us get credit card applications in the mail.
But have you ever gotten one with your child's name on it and think, how'd that happen?
The answer could surprise you, and it could mean big trouble.
Identity thieves have gotten very good at getting kids' personal information, sometimes before they're even born.
Imagine a driver's license in a baby's name. It's already happened, many times.
And if you think grown-ups are the biggest target of identity thieves, think again. A study by Carnegie Mellon says criminals are targeting children more and more.
In fact, one in 10 kids is a victim of identity theft, often by a relative. The crime can go undetected for more than a decade. By then, the fallout can be catastrophic, preventing a young adult from get a loan, a job or an apartment. Plus, they're on the hook for the money that's owed until they go through the arduous task of trying to prove they're a victim.
"Parents have to really stay on top of things," "They have to talk to their children about where they're going online, and to tell them as soon as they possibly can, don't give out their Social Security number. Most of them don't even know what that is, but parents need to educate them and tell them not to do that."
Signs that your child's future's been hacked:
* They receive pre-approved credit card applications.
* A credit report already exists in their name.
* When they turn 18, they can't open a new account because of previous bad credit.
Some tips to prevent or fix the problem:
* Get ID Theft Restoration through LegalShield. It's a very low cost ID Theft product.
* Contact the credit agencies, but only every few years. Too much contact could inadvertently generate a bad credit report.
* Put a credit freeze on your credit report, so no one can open up a new line of credit in your name or your child's name.

Richard Figley
Independent Associate

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