This article was co-written by Tate Stickles, Esq.
One of the curses from computers and the Internet has been the explosion of identity theft. A crime virtually unheard of a few years ago, it's one we all know too well today. When it happens to you, it's the ultimate twenty first century nightmare.
Until now, you were left to your own devices to fight the identity thieves. While a number of do-it-yourself kits and general recovery advice have hit the market, there was not a full service recovery solution out there to handle the process for you. To fit this need, I am proud to announce a new practice area developed by my firm.
We now offer an industry-leading recovery service that coordinates and steers the recovery process for you using lawyers and other legal professionals. Fixing an identity theft problem is almost always a time consuming process that requires months (and sometimes years) of follow-up to remedy.
With all of that personal information about you floating around, it should come as no surprise that identity thieves are finding it easier to steal. Historically, identity theft was about stealing wallets and mail, or dumpster diving into the trash to find your valuable information. Now your personal information is all too often just digitally floating around out there just waiting for an opportunist to take it.
We used to gladly hand over our social security number and other vital information to anyone who asked. Now, even the most trusting among us hesitates before disclosing this valuable information.
Moreover, it's not just the big pieces of information the thieves are stealing and using, it's also what we thought were the irrelevant tiny bits floating around out there. Sure, social security and credit card numbers are the magic keys we've heard about and now guard. But other things like your address, employer, salary, phone number, or even just your name can be enough for a thief to start. Almost any piece of information can be sensitive enough to allow an experienced identity thief to take over your life.
Even if you employ all of the latest techniques to protect yourself, over time you've already disclosed vital information to employers, banks, landlords, and other parties. How are they protecting your information?
Companies have been building, using, and sharing databases of customer information for years. Data mining techniques allow companies to turn these databases into valuable assets, and unfortunately the security of those databases is often very poor or ignored entirely. Only recently has news of breaches in security surrounding these databases become common, but such breaches have been going on unreported for some time.
The truth is that we have created a monster called "identity theft" and let it out of its cage. Computers and the Internet do make our lives easier, but they also enable the identity thief.
Other authors and government agencies have addressed how people can minimize the risk of identity theft, but very few have addressed the practical steps you can use to recover from this crime.
An entire industry has developed around "identity theft protection." You've probably seen the ads on TV from credit card companies and banks offering such services, but these services are often little more than insurance programs that will reimburse you for costs incurred in cleaning up your identity theft mess. Other companies offer credit monitoring services that will notify you of suspicious activity on your account. There is little out there to actually help you fix the damage.
As a victim, it will provide little comfort to know that you are not alone. And if you have not heard of identity theft, here are some statistics that should scare you. Last year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the government agency that established a central clearinghouse of identity theft reports, received nearly a quarter million identity theft reports.
Fortunately, all levels of government are responding to this new consumer threat. Local and state law enforcement agencies are now taking the problem seriously and actively investigating cases. Further, States have enacted new criminal laws. The Federal Government has even got into the act, with the FTC taking the lead in protecting the safety of consumers, backed up by various other agencies.
If you think you are a victim of identity theft, the news can be a little overwhelming. How do you even start fixing the damage? Victims can spend hundreds of hours over months and years trying to clean up the mess the thieves have caused.
For many folks, the do-it-yourself kit approach may be the best one. There are many websites that can offer you suggestions on how to handle your identity theft problem.
The FTC provides a wealth of information on their website at http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/, and should probably be your first stop. The FTC serves as the starting point when dealing with government agencies since victims can file complaints with them. These complaints are entered by the FTC into a secure database and used in tracking and fighting identity theft.
Florida's Attorney General also has a very useful website at http://www.myfloridalegal.com/identitytheft offering tips and resources to Florida residents.
However, the problem with all of the help and information out there for victims is the lack of assistance in actually recovering from identity theft. Sure, the police may take a report, but the stress and paperwork related to your recovery efforts can be daunting. We can help.
After an initial consultation, our team works with you in identifying suspicious activity on your credit report and other places, and then we take the lead in resolving the problem. We will stop the calls of debt collectors and actually get them working with you in resolving the problem with creditors.
While our core clientele for this practice area includes mostly busy professionals and entrepreneurs, corporations, and high net worth individuals, our service may be right for you even if you do not fit these general categories.
For a single flat fee, we provide an initial consultation and investigation along with one year of recovery services. This powerful combination can help eliminate the stress and hours of work you will have when you try to solve the problem yourself. We don't provide a one-time service - we are there for you for the entire recovery process and beyond to ensure your satisfaction.
If you're wondering why we provide a full year of service for a single fee, the answer is that not even we have a magic wand to make your identity theft problem go away. The cure requires follow-up, follow-up, and more follow-up. It's about finding out where your identity thief has used your identity and doing what it takes to insure that you are not held responsible for things done in your name.
Our recovery service takes the initiative in contacting and working with the entities an identity theft victim needs to notify when their identity is stolen including credit reporting agencies, creditors, local, state, and Federal law enforcement agencies, the FTC, the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Department of State (and other various Federal agencies), your state department of motor vehicles, utility companies, and all of the banks and other financial institutions unique to your situation. We will request identity theft alerts be place in all your files. This way, those you do business with will be aware of your problem and can be on the look out for things like new accounts being opened in your name.
We handle drafting the necessary letters and affidavits for you. In many cases, this may mean sending well over a hundred letters on your behalf. If you wonder why identity theft may be the ultimate nightmare crime of the 21st century, just contemplate the nightmare you would have if you had to handle all this correspondence yourself.
As a part of what we do for you, we will obtain a copy of your credit report from all three credit bureaus three separate times. We will do it at the beginning of our engagement and then again approximately 6 and 12 months later.
These reports are an essential part of the process because these reports may reveal previously unnoticed suspicious activity in your name. Our service assists you in reviewing these credit reports. You would be amazed how many of our clients have never actually seen their credit report. As new fraudulent accounts are found, we take the lead in contacting those creditors and getting the accounts fixed and records updated.
Our recovery service allows us to bring you the peace of mind you need to get on with your life.
Please feel free to call Mark Grossman for a free telephone consultation. Our telephone number is (305) 443-8180.