Identity Theft and Fraud

ID Theft Help – When to Call a Lawyer

Are you a Data Breach Victim? ID Theft Victim? Both??  -- When to Call the Cavalry. Happy Anniversary South Carolina Taxpayer! October 10, 2022 marked 10 years since the South Carolina Department of Revenue was hacked by cybercriminals, who made off with 3.6 million social security numbers and at least 387,000 credit and debit card numbers. There's a (REALLY) good chance that at least your social security number, at the very least, was taken, since 3.6 million was about 3/4's of South Carolina's population in 2012. Congratulations, data breach victim! Since 2010, you've no doubt gotten o ...

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Venmo, Zelle, Crypto and other Wire Transfer Scams

The inventiveness of criminals never ceases to amaze me. I remember back in the good old days when I just used to get emails from the imprisoned sons of Nigerian oil ministers, sending me heartrending pleas for aid that (invariably) started with the words "Dear Friend." How quaint were the days when you could see scams coming from 4,000 miles away! Unfortunately, those days are gone. The crooks have upped their game. Substantially.  Although the variety of scams is endless, they all, at heart, rely on one thing -- a means of payment that is not only hard to trace but - once payment is sent ...

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What is a Security Freeze?

What's a security freeze? A security freeze, also known as a credit freeze, is when you instruct the credit reporting agencies not to release your credit report or score to anyone without your say so. This is the single most effective way to protect yourself from identity thieves. Why? because most identity theft - at least for anyone trying to open new credit in your name -- starts with the identity thief making a credit application in your name, using your personal information. In order to grant that credit, most banks, lenders, and finance companies will then pull your credit report. If th ...

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Do I Need an Attorney to Dispute My Credit Report?

What is a credit report and why dispute it? If you're like most people, you've heard of credit reports, but you may not know exactly what one is. A credit report is a record of your borrowing and repayment history. It includes information about how much money you've borrowed and how on time (or not) you've been with making repayments. If you've ever applied for a loan or credit card, the lender has likely checked your credit score and report. How can I correct mistakes on my credit report? First, know how important it is that you do.  Any negative marks on your credit can harm your abili ...

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What to Do if a Client has a Mixed Credit File

If you have a client who is dealing with mixed credit file issues, you need to act immediately. A mixed credit file can cause many problems for your client, including difficulty in obtaining loans or mortgages. In this blog post, we will discuss what a mixed credit file is and how lawyers can help their clients deal with the problem. What is a mixed credit file? A mixed credit file is a credit report that contains information from two consumers and combines them into a single credit report. Let's say you have a client named "Sally Emily Smith." Sally's credit SHOULD be stellar (she's ...

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Taking the right steps when your client’s identity has been stolen

  What to do if your client experiences ID theft There may come a day when you’re in your office minding your own business and a client walks in with an identity problem. They know exactly who they are and so does someone else. They’re victims of identity theft. And they’re worried about what to do next. You may be a little worried too. Here’s how to handle these cases like an expert ID theft lawyer.  ID thieves typically will divert account statements from the rightful owner's mailbox. As a result, most victims of identity theft first learn of the crime when they are contacted by a ...

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Invasion of the I.D. Snatchers

Most 1950s science fiction films are, let's face it, pretty cheesy. In The Blob, a jello-mold creature absorbs a town. In Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, a very tall woman (in the days before the WNBA) attacks a town. And in Rocket Ship X-M, Lloyd Bridges attempts to seduce every woman in an intergalactic town. But perhaps the worst science fiction movie of all time, and a contender for the worst movie of all time, was Plan 9 from Outer Space, where extraterrestrials team up with vampires to (you guessed it) oppress a small town. An exception to this lame fare was 1956's Invasion of the B ...

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