FTC ID Theft Video with Info on Prevention and What Victims Should Do

This is a nearly 11 minute video put out by the Federa Trade Commission (FTC) on identity theft. It contains a wide variety of information; both on prevention and ...what you should do if you become a victim.

BBC Video on Identity Theft Due to Outsourcing

This BBC report involves British identity theft victims but it is also relevant to Americans. This is because more and more companies are outsourcing their financial functions to companies located in India and other countries. Even companies that prepare income taxes are doing this.

The report is very disturbing and should give viewers a variety of things to think about when doing business with companies that have access to their personal financial data.

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A message from Public Justice...

Have you had an award issued against you by the National Arbitration Forum, on a debt you never owed to begin with, after objecting to the arbitration to no avail? Or did you experience NAF favoritism toward credit card companies, against debtors? Your experience could play an important role in an ongoing investigation into the practices of the NAF.

This office is assisting the GIVE ME BACK MY RIGHTS Campaign in gathering research. In particular, we are interested in speaking to individuals who have personally experienced situations in which the NAF has allegedly:

entered an arbitration award against a person who was a victim of identity theft, or mistaken identity,
been dishonest to consumers, or
broken its own rules or twisted its rules in another outrageous way.

The Give Me Back My Rights Campaign is working with concerned legislators both in the U.S. Congress and in a number of states about abuses of consumers in mandatory arbitration, and we’ve received a number of questions about the behavior and practices of NAF. We have also received questions from a number of reporters around the country. Also, a number of consumers in different parts of the country are challenging various practices of the NAF, and some lawyers handling these cases are looking for consumers who have been mistreated by NAF to come forward and testify as witnesses in their cases.

If you have a story to tell, and might be willing to share your experience with the media or testify in court, please click here. Please give a BRIEF description of your experience. We will forward the information to the campaign, and you may or may not be contacted to follow up. This is NOT an offer of legal representation; your story will be used to help prove that the NAF is biased in favor of its corporate clients, and hopefully to help others avoid arbitration before the NAF. Your information will not be used without your consent.

pbland@publicjustice.net

Note: Trial Lawyers for Public Justice is now known as Public Justice

Posted by Denise Richardson at 02:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

CONSUMER INVESTIGATION: In A Bind
Got a beef with your builder? Your credit card company? Your cell phone provider? Chances are, going to court is not an option. When you signed your contract, you signed up for binding arbitration -- and you may wish you hadn’t after hearing from Consumer Investigator Jim Strickland. See News2 Investigative report and learn what really happens when your access to the court room is denied.

For additional information regarding binding mandatory arbitration and to find out how to protect yourself from you can't sue me clauses hidden in many contracts, visit Stopbma.com and HomeOwners For Better Builders

Posted by Denise Richardson at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There are two facets to medical identity theft; one is financial and the other involves your health care. Medical identity theft happens when a thief uses your social security number or health insurance to obtain medical services, health benefits –including prescriptions, without your knowledge. Medical identity theft can carry with it damaging, far-reaching effects. Not only is medical id theft hard to detect, it is even more difficult to correct than the more commonly heard of -financial identity theft.

Victims of medical identity theft have found their medical histories contaminated with false diagnosis, billings for surgeries they never had, prescriptions they never received and bogus allergies and blood type notations that are all frighteningly wrong and belong to someone else -the thief!

The World Privacy Forum has informative frequently asked questions and answers on their website –take the time check it out –it’s very informative.

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NINTH ANNUAL NATIONAL CONSUMER PROTECTION WEEK:
READ UP, REACH OUT, and BE AN INFORMED CONSUMER.
Give Me Back My Credit! has joined a group of federal, state, and local government agencies and national consumer advocacy organizations to launch the ninth annual National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW), February 4-10, 2007. NCPW highlights consumer education efforts in the fight against fraud in communities across the nation. NCPW’s national organizers encourage everyone to read up, reach out, and be an informed consumer.
By gathering and sharing information, consumers – and their friends and families – can be more confident, savvy and safe in the marketplace.
NCPW partner organizations will provide practical – and tactical – tips so consumers can learn and tell others how to make well-informed purchase decisions, avoid scams, protect their personal information, and file a complaint. Consumers can read up and boost their marketplace IQ at www.consumer.gov/ncpw.

Anyone who takes advantage of this specified week to become educated on key tips to save money and guard against the constant barrage of scams, fraud and deceptive practices will ultimately find themselves better equipped to handle and outwit scam artists, identity thieves, corporate wrongs and fraud artists.

Posted by Denise Richardson at 09:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)