Woman victim of identity theft

Avoiding Phishing Attacks to Prevent Identity Theft

Criminals use a variety of tactics to steal people’s personal information. One method of doing so is called phishing. When a phishing attempt is successful, it often results in the release of a person’s personal information, which criminals then utilize to commit identity theft. In this article, we discuss how to avoid phishing attacks to prevent identity theft.  

An Overview of Phishing

A phishing attempt often beings with an email that appears to come from a legitimate company, such as a financial institution. Sometimes, a phishing email may appear to come from a government agency. Often, recipients believe that these emails are from institutions and companies that they have relationships with—and this is the intention of the scammers who send out such emails. After clicking on a link in a phishing email, the recipient is often redirected to a phony website where he or she is tricked into providing his or her personal information. Such emails also sometimes direct recipients to a legitimate website, only to have a pop-up window appear that is used to harvest personal financial information. In either case, recipients may be asked to update their account information or provide personal information, such as Social Security numbers, passwords, and account numbers.

Protecting Yourself from Phishing Attacks

Fortunately, there are many ways to protect yourself from phishing attacks, including: 

  • Never give out your personal information in response to an unsolicited online, email, or phone request. As noted above, scammers create webpages and emails that look legitimate. So, if you didn’t initiate the contact with the institution, don’t provide any personal information. 
  • If you believe an email you receive is legitimate, contact the institution by phone. You should be able to locate the institution’s phone number online or on your monthly statement. This way, you are the one initiating contact using information that you have found from a legitimate source. 
  • Never give out your password in response to an unsolicited phone or online request. Legitimate institutions never request this type of information over the phone or online. 
  • Finally, regularly review your account statements to ensure accuracy. When reviewing your account statements, keep a lookout for suspicious activity or charges. If something doesn’t look right, this can be a sign of identity theft. 

Contact a Consumer Class Action Lawyer 

If you are a victim of identity theft, you should contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible. When you come to attorney Seth Lehrman for help, we will provide you with the legal guidance necessary to get your life back on track. In addition, if your personal information was stolen from an entity with which you’ve entrusted your personal information, we will take the steps necessary to hold the responsible company accountable. Please contact lawyer Seth Lehrman today to arrange a free initial consultation with our talented and experienced lawyer.

Woman holding her phone concerned

Common Causes of Data Breaches That Result in Identity Theft

In today’s technological world, more entities than ever store our personal information. And, unfortunately, all it takes is one data breach for this information to be exposed to criminals. Often, hackers and other nefarious actors steal people’s personal information for the purpose of committing identity theft. In this article, we discuss common causes of data breaches that result in identity theft.  

Insider Misuse

When discussing data breaches, most people picture computer hackers working diligently to access a company’s computer systems. Although this does indeed occur, some threats come from within an organization. Specifically, data breaches are sometimes the result of dishonest employees. Such threats can take a number of different forms, including malicious employees seeking to steal personal information and negligent employees who fail to properly safeguard such information. 

Stolen Passwords

Companies that fail to implement stringent password policies are easy targets for hackers and cybercriminals. Whether the threat comes from outside or within an organization, the failure to safeguard information with strong passwords routinely leads to data breaches, thereby putting people’s personal information at risk.  

Social Engineering

Social engineering occurs when a person tricks an employee into handing over personal information. There are a number of ways that criminals accomplish this, but the most common is through email phishing attacks.

Unpatched Applications

All software—no matter how protected—is exploitable. Software vendors attempt to address this by routinely releasing updated versions of their products containing patches to fix these vulnerabilities. However, users sometimes delay these updates (or ignore them completely), thereby putting people’s personal information at risk. 

Malware

Another common cause of data breaches is malware. Malware is a type of software that is installed on a computer without consent. Once installed, this software uses different methods to steal information. For example, some malware programs steal passwords, while others lock down systems and demand that users pay a ransom to unlock them. Malware can be installed on a computer system in a variety of ways, but the most common is through phishing attacks. 

Physical Attacks

Finally, although it is not as common as the methods above, physical attacks can also cause data breaches. Examples of such attacks include insiders accessing physical files and outsiders physically breaking into an office after hours to steal personal information. 

Contact a Consumer Class Action Lawyer 

If a data breach has resulted in the theft of your identity, you should contact an attorney immediately. When you come to us for help with your issue, our experienced class action lawyer will work hard to help you get your life back on track following the theft of your identity. Further, if your personal information was stolen due to a data breach, we will take steps to hold the responsible organization accountable. Please contact lawyer Seth Lehrman today to schedule a free initial consultation.

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Recovering From Identity Theft

Identity theft can turn your life upside down. Not only can it hurt you financially, but it often creates wide-ranging consequences that can affect you for years to come. Fortunately, however, there are things you can do to lessen the impact of identity theft. In this article, we discuss how to recover from identity theft.  

Assess the Damage

The first thing to do after an identity theft attack is to assess the damages. Specifically, you should check your accounts for charges you don’t recognize and review your credit reports for signs of fraudulent activity. 

Place a Freeze on Your Credit Reports and Enable Fraud Alerts

Once you’ve determined which of your accounts were affected, you should take steps to prevent further damage. There are a few ways to do this. First, you should consider placing a freeze on your credit reports, which will prevent thieves from opening fraudulent accounts under your name. Next, you should place fraud alerts on all your credit reports. A fraud alert lets credit card companies and other creditors know that you may be a victim of identity theft. 

Contact the Entities Involved 

Next, you should contact each of the creditors involved in your situation. In addition to asking them to freeze your affected accounts, you should dispute all fraudulent charges on your valid accounts. 

Begin Repairing Your Credit

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you have the right to dispute any incorrect information on your credit report, including fraudulent accounts that are a result of identity theft. The FCRA requires that credit reporting agencies remove reported fraudulent accounts from your credit reports within four days or less. The removal of these accounts is an important step to take to begin repairing your credit.  

Keep an Eye on Your Credit Reports

Taking the above steps should significantly limit the damage caused by identity theft. However, even after doing so, you should continue to closely monitor your accounts. In other words, although taking the above actions are important, you must remain vigilant to ensure that you fully recover from (and prevent future) identity theft. Therefore, at a minimum, you should review your credit reports at least once a quarter to ensure accuracy. In fact, this is a good practice even for those who aren’t victims of identity theft. 

Contact a Consumer Class Action Lawyer 

Finally, if you have been affected by identity theft, you should contact an attorney as soon as possible. When you come to us for assistance, our experienced attorney will help you take steps to get your life back on track following an identity theft incident. In addition, if your situation is the result of a personal information leak, we will do what is necessary to hold the responsible entity accountable for its negligence. Please contact experienced and knowledgeable consumer class action lawyer Seth Lehrman today to schedule a free initial meeting.

lawyer explaining a class action lawsuit

What is an Identity Theft Affidavit?

Identity theft is an increasing problem in the United States. After an identity theft incident, there are several steps that victims should take to ensure that they obtain the justice they deserve. Often, this process involves a document called an identity theft affidavit. An identity theft affidavit is used by victims of identity theft to prove that their personal information was illegally used to open a fraudulent account. In this article, we discuss identity theft affidavits and their role in the identity theft reporting process. 

Where to Get an Identity Theft Affidavit 

If you believe that your identity has been stolen, you should consider contacting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to file a complaint. After reporting the suspected theft, the FTC will provide you with an FTC Identity Theft Report, which should include an identity theft affidavit. As noted above, an identity theft affidavit will serve as official proof of the fraud when you dispute marks on your credit or new accounts.

Information Needed to File an Identity Theft Affidavit

To complete an identity theft affidavit, you will have to provide certain personal information, including your contact information, address, Social Security number, and identification card or driver’s license. After providing your information, you will be requested to provide certain details of the identity theft, including: 

  • Whether any new inquiries or accounts were included in your credit report due to the fraud.
  • Details of any accounts that have been affected or any accounts that were fraudulently opened due to the identity theft.
  • Whether any of your personal information that appears in your credit report is incorrect due to the identify theft.
  • Whether you obtained any benefits from the fraud, whether you permitted anyone to use your information, and whether you will cooperate with law enforcement officials if charges are eventually filed against the perpetrator of the fraud. 

Is an Identity Theft Affidavit Needed to Report Fraudulent Use of an Account?

In the majority of cases, an identity theft affidavit isn’t needed to report fraud on any of your existing accounts. Identity theft affidavits are instead usually used to dispute new accounts that were fraudulently opened in your name. However, it is possible that your lender may require you to complete an affidavit before initiating a fraud investigation. Each business or creditor that you work with will have its own fraud procedures and protocols, so you should contact each of them directly to determine what they require.

Contact a Consumer Class Action Lawyer 

If you are an identity theft victim, you must act fast. Identity theft is often the result of the negligence of organizations that fail to protect people’s personal information. When an organization exposes your personal information, our firm believes that it should be held accountable for its actions, and you should be compensated for any resulting financial losses. Please contact consumer class action lawyer Seth Lehrman today to arrange a free and confidential consultation.

Service member sitting with identity theft attorney

Identity Theft and the U.S. Armed Forces

The members of the U.S. Armed Forces face many obstacles in their chosen line of work. Surprisingly, one such obstacle is identity theft. In fact, active duty service members file identity theft complaints at much higher rates than civilian consumers. In this article, we examine identity theft and the U.S. Armed Forces. 

Military Personnel are at High Risk for Identity Theft

According to the Federal Trade Commission, active duty servicemembers are approximately 76% more likely than others to report the misuse of an existing account by an identity thief. Further, active military personnel are nearly three times as likely as other people to report that an identity thief used a debit card or other electronic means to illegally withdraw funds directly from a bank account. This indicates that members of the military experience theft from their financial accounts at much greater rates than the general population. However, military personnel are also approximately 20% more likely to report that their personal information was misused to open a new account, such as a credit card account. 

Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft

Given the fact that members of the U.S. Armed Forces are more likely than the general population to be victims of financial theft and identity theft, it is important for all members of the military to take steps to protect their personal information. So, if you are a member of the U.S. Armed Forces, you should take the following steps to protect yourself from identity theft: 

Regularly check your bank account(s): First, you should review your bank account(s) regularly. If you notice any unauthorized transactions, you should report this to your bank immediately. 

Be wary of providing personal information over phone, email, or text: Next, you should be cautious about providing authentication information, including verification codes and PIN numbers, to anyone who contacts you via phone, email, or text—particularly if you didn’t contact them first. 

Put an alert on your credit reports if you’re deploying: If you are deploying, you should consider putting an active-duty alert on your credit reports. Active-duty alerts last a year and require creditors to verify your identity before granting credit under your name. In fact, even if you aren’t deploying, you should consider placing a fraud alert on your credit reports. A fraud alert is a notice that alerts creditors that you are or may be a victim of identity theft or other fraud. 

Contact a Consumer Class Action Lawyer 

If you have had your identity stolen, you should take action as soon as possible. Identity theft is often caused by the negligence of companies that store your personal information. And when a company releases your personal information without your consent, you should be compensated for your losses. Please contact experienced consumer class action attorney Seth Lehrman today to schedule a free initial consultation.

man calling about identity theft

Recent Case Illustrates the Dangers of Identity Theft

Identity theft is the act of stealing someone’s personal information and using it for illegal purposes, such as withdrawing money, filing tax returns, opening credit accounts, and making insurance claims. In this article, we examine a recent identity theft case and explain how to check for signs of identity theft. 

A Recent Example

The New York Times recently reported on an incident involving identity theft and the purchase of firearms. In 2022, a delivery service delivered two packages containing approximately $5,000 worth of gun parts and gun accessories to a home in Chino Hills, California. The items were purchased under an installment payment plan offered by a company that offers “buy now, pay later” payment options for the purchase of firearms. The deliveries were addressed to a man named Seung Song.

However, according to Mr. Song, he never ordered the items, and he never received a delivery. Rather, Mr. Song claims that he learned of the purchase after receiving notification of a $5,000 debt that had been added to his credit report. Mr. Song claimed that someone opened an account to purchase the items using his personal information. 

A law enforcement official later stated that the police determined that the gun parts had been legally shipped to a home in Chino Hills and considered Mr. Song to be a potential victim of identity theft. 

Unfortunately, Mr. Song’s situation represents a rising trend of identity theft involving the “buy now, pay later” industry. In addition, it illustrates the multiple dangers associated with identity theft. 

Checking for Identity Theft

Everyone should routinely check for signs of identity theft. Ways to check for identity theft include: 

Monitor your credit score: There are credit monitoring services available that allow you to keep track of your credit score. If your score experiences a sudden drop, this may be indicative of identity theft. 

Review your credit reports: In addition to monitoring your credit score, you should routinely review your credit reports. While reviewing your report, you should look for accounts that you don’t recognize. 

Review your statements: You should also regularly review your bank account and credit card statements to ensure that you recognize all transactions. Any unusual transactions may indicate that something is amiss. 

Monitor your email: Finally, if your information has been released or compromised in a data breach, you should receive correspondence informing you of this. In addition, you should be on the lookout for emails notifying you of recent suspicious account activity. 

Contact a Consumer Class Action Lawyer 

If you believe that you are a victim of identity theft, you should take immediate action. Identity theft often occurs when companies release people’s personal information without their permission. When an institution compromises your personal information, you should be compensated for any resulting losses. Please contact experienced attorney Seth Lehrman today to schedule a free consultation.

Older woman on the phone upset

Preventing Senior Identity Theft

Although everyone is a potential identity theft victim, senior citizens are particularly vulnerable. In fact, seniors lose approximately $3 billion every year in financial scams. Therefore, seniors and their loved ones must always remain vigilant for signs of identity theft. In this article, we discuss how to prevent senior identity theft.  

What Makes Seniors Vulnerable to Identity Theft? 

There are many reasons that criminals target senior citizens. For one, many seniors have substantial savings and investments, and many have begun to access their retirement funds. In addition, seniors are likely to require medical services and use government services, both of which are industries that identity thieves target. And perhaps most importantly, as people age, they often suffer from cognitive ailments, such as dementia, which can affect their ability to make sound decisions. Finally, many seniors are isolated, making them more likely to unknowingly communicate with criminals and provide them with sensitive information. 

Common Types of Senior Identity Theft 

As noted above, seniors are particularly vulnerable to identity theft. Common types of senior identity theft include: 

  • IRS scams
  • Tech scams
  • Medicare fraud 
  • Funeral scams
  • Phone scams
  • Estate identity theft 
  • Military identity theft
  • Romance scams

Tips for Preventing Identity Theft

Although no one is 100% safe from identity theft, there are several things seniors and their families can do to decrease the odds of becoming an identity theft victim, including:

  • Create a list of contact information for family members, friends, health care providers, and anyone who may call on a regular basis. This can help seniors determine if a call is legitimate. 
  • Let calls from unknown numbers go to voicemail. 
  • Hang up if an unknown caller requests financial or personal information.  
  • Keep in mind that government agencies don’t usually contact people via phone or email. Therefore, all phone calls or emails that purport to be from government agencies should be viewed with suspicion.  
  • Routinely check credit card statements, financial records, and bank accounts for signs of suspicious activity. 
  • Keep all important documents, including Social Security and Medicare cards, in a safe place.  
  • If available, request direct deposit of funds instead of paper checks.  
  • Be suspicious of offers that sound too good to be true. 
  • Be suspicious of all communication that is of a threatening nature, such as threats of legal action if certain information isn’t provided. 
  • Ask for help from family members or close friends following any suspicious contact or other signs of possible fraud. 

Contact a Consumer Class Action Lawyer 

If you have had your identity stolen, you should immediately take legal action. Identity theft is routinely the result of negligence on the part of organizations that store your personal information. When an organization releases your personal information to an unauthorized party, regardless of whether this was done intentionally, you should receive financial compensation for your losses. Please contact consumer class action attorney Seth Lehrman today to schedule a free consultation.

elder on phone with credit card company

Is Identity Theft on the Rise?

Identity theft is a major problem in the U.S. Every day, people have their identities stolen, costing them money, time, and peace of mind. And unfortunately, reported incidents of identity theft rise each year. In fact, identity theft surged in 2021, presumably due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, even with the pandemic behind us, identity theft shows no signs of slowing down. In this article, we discuss the rise of identity theft in the U.S.  

Identity Theft Statistics

In 2021, identity theft complaints increased 3.3% over the previous year. Specifically, there were approximately 1.39 million identity theft complaints in 2020, and this number increased to 1.43 million identity theft complaints in 2021. The most common type of identity theft in 2021 was government benefits or documents fraud. This type of identity theft accounted for over 396,000 complaints in 2021. Experts believe that this increase was at least partially related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second most common type of identity theft in 2021 was credit card fraud, which was the leading type of identity theft from 2017 to 2019, with nearly 390,000 reported incidents. However, for the first half of 2022, credit card fraud was the most common type of reported identity theft in the U.S., generating approximately 231,000 complaints.

Main Kinds of Identity Theft 

There are a variety of methods by which thieves commit identity theft. According to the FTC, the most common types of identity theft are: 

  • Government benefits or documents fraud
  • Credit card fraud
  • Lease or loan fraud
  • Bank fraud
  • Tax-related or employment fraud
  • Utilities or phone fraud

Most Common Identity Theft Tactics 

One of the most dangerous things about identity theft is that it can occur in a variety of ways. In 2021, the most common way that identity thieves engaged their victims was via phone. In fact, telephone identity theft scams resulted in over 646,000 complaints and estimated financial losses of approximately $700 million in 2021. 

Another common source of identity theft in 2021 was social media. Although social media identity theft scams only resulted in around a quarter of the number of complaints generated due to telephone scams, they resulted in a higher total amount of financial losses than any other means of contact. Specifically, social media scams resulted in total losses of approximately $797 million. Other common forms of contact utilized by identity thieves include:

  • Text messages
  • Email
  • Websites
  • Online advertisements
  • Applications
  • Mail

Contact a Consumer Class Action Lawyer 

If you are a victim of identity theft, you should take immediate legal action. Identity theft is often the result of negligence on the part of entities that store your personal information. And when a business releases your personal information to an unauthorized party, you should obtain financial compensation for your losses. Please contact attorney Seth Lehrman today to schedule a free consultation.

Woman looking at her computer

Is Identity Theft Considered a White-Collar Crime?

Identity theft affects people of all ages and income brackets in the United States. In fact, identity theft costs victims billions of dollars each year—and the problem is only getting worse. Clearly, identity theft is illegal and creates widespread harm. However, is identity theft considered a white-collar crime? In this article, we answer this question and review some of the federal and state laws related to this illicit practice. 

What is a White-Collar Crime? 

White-collar crime is an illegal act that is typically committed by people in the business world who have access to large amounts of other people’s money. However, it also involves the theft of people’s personal information for financial gain. Examples of white-collar crimes are money laundering, insider trading, tax evasion, bribery, insurance fraud, embezzlement, and the focus of this article: identity theft. 

Identity Theft and White-Collar Crime

Identity theft is a type of white-collar crime that can originate both online and in the physical world.  It occurs when an individual uses the personal information of another person, such as his or her name, Social Security number, or address to commit financial fraud. Identity theft is considered a white-collar crime because it doesn’t typically involve physical contact between the perpetrator and victim. 

Identity Theft Laws

There are many laws in the U.S. that criminalize the practice of identity theft. The first major piece of federal legislation that criminalizes identity theft in the U.S. is the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. This act makes it illegal to use another person’s personal information to commit a crime. The second major federal law criminalizing identity theft is the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act, which provides severe penalties for persons who are found guilty of committing identity theft in furtherance of other felony crimes.

Is Identity Theft a Felony?

In addition to federal law, states also penalize identity theft. In fact, in many states, identity theft is a felony. In Florida, for example, it is illegal for an individual to willfully and without permission possess or use a person’s personal information without first obtaining that person’s consent. Violation of this law is a third-degree felony, and it is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

Contact a Consumer Class Action Lawyer 

If you have had your identity stolen, you need the assistance of an experienced consumer class action attorney. Although identity thieves sometimes target victims directly, identity theft is often the result of negligence by institutions that store people’s personal information. When a business releases a person’s personal information without their permission it may be required to compensate the victim for their losses. For help with your identity theft issue, please contact attorney Seth Lehrman today to schedule a free initial consultation.

Older woman on the phone with class action lawyer

An Overview of Different Types of Identity Theft

Identity theft occurs when a thief uses another person’s personal or financial data for monetary gain. Common targets of identity theft include Social Security numbers, birthdates, names, addresses, driver’s license information, and financial account numbers. In today’s digital world, everyone is a potential victim of identity theft. However, not many people understand the ways in which criminals go about stealing people’s identities. In this article, we examine the most common types of identity theft. 

Theft of Financial Information

Financial identity theft occurs when a criminal uses another’s personal financial data without his or her permission. Financial theft is the most common form of identity theft. Examples of this type of identity theft include:  

  • The opening of new accounts using a victim’s Social Security number or other data
  • The use of stolen credit card information to make purchases
  • The use of stolen funds from financial accounts

Theft of Medical Information

Medical identity theft occurs when a criminal uses someone else’s identity to obtain health care services. With this type of theft, a criminal may use a person’s name and insurance information to:

  • Obtain prescription drugs
  • Obtain expensive medical services
  • Obtain medical supplies and equipment 

Criminal Identity Theft

The next common type of identity theft is called criminal identity theft. This type of identity theft occurs when an individual who is arrested by law enforcement uses another person’s name instead of his or her own. A person may accomplish this by presenting a fake or stolen ID to the police. 

Synthetic Identity Theft

Synthetic identity theft is a practice that involves creating false identities using the information of real people. To do so, criminals use information like addresses, birthdates, and Social Security numbers to create fake profiles. These new personas can then be used to apply for loans or to commit other types of financial crimes. 

Theft of Children’s Information

Finally, perhaps the most disturbing type of identity theft involves children. Sadly, the theft of children’s identities is increasingly common in the United States. This type of identity theft involves using a child’s personal information to commit fraud. For example, identity thieves often use children’s information to open lines of credit, apply for government benefits, obtain a driver’s license, apply for government benefits, or even purchase a home. 

Contact a Consumer Class Action Lawyer 

If you or a loved one are a victim of identity theft, you need an experienced consumer class action attorney in your corner. Often, identity theft is the result of negligence on the part of entities that store our personal information. And when an entity releases such information without permission, it should be forced to provide financial compensation to those who suffer losses as a result. For assistance with your legal matter, please contact us today to schedule a consultation with our experienced class action lawyer.