Dogged by Charities Wanting Donations? Don’t Give Up on Helping Good Causes, but be Wary of Scams

By Stacy Whelchel

The holidays are known for bringing out the best, and unfortunately, the worst in people.
From the familiar sound of the Salvation Army kettle ringers to phone calls soliciting for charities, the cry for help is even louder this time as families continue to struggle and the desire to lend a hand becomes even stronger.

Regrettably, giving is not always the right thing to do thanks to holiday scams which work to take instead of give to those who want to help and those in need.

The Federal Trade Commission has issued a warning to remind everyone wanting to give to charities that a donation request is not always what it seems. Here are a few tips for giving wisely: Donate directly to the charity and not paid solicitors on the phone, who sometimes keep a portion of the money collected. Check out a charity before you donate. Several websites like the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, http://www.bbb.org/us/charity, can assist you with nonprofit information. Don’t give out personal or financial information, including bank accounts, Social Security Numbers or credit card info to anyone who calls to solicit a contribution from you. Scam artists can use this to commit identity theft fraud against you.

Happy holidays to everyone and may this be a season of giving wisely in abundance!

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Stacy Whelchel is a Corporate Writer at Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. Pre-Paid Legal's signature products, including the Life Events Legal Plan and Identity Theft Shield, serve more than 1.5 million families in North America.

Medical Identity Theft on the Rise

By Aleshia Altizer

Imagine finding out that someone has used your identity to get more than $100,000 worth of medical treatment. Imagine finding out there’s incorrect information in your medical file like the wrong medical history, blood type and allergies. The Wall Street Journal recently posted an article on the increasing prevalence of medical identity theft and the impact it has on its victims.

As more and more medical records become electronic, the information becomes easier for thieves to steal. Unfortunately, many don’t realize an identity theft has occurred until their medical records have been distorted and medical bills ran up.

The impact can be very serious if personal medical records are altered with the wrong medical history, blood type and allergies. The article says that consumers could also exhaust their lifetime coverage or be considered uninsurable, if their insurance has been used by someone else.

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Aleshia Altizer is a Corporate Writer at Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. Pre-Paid Legal's signature products, including the Life Events Legal Plan and Identity Theft Shield, serve more than 1.5 million families in North America.

CPA’s, Identity Theft, and the Law

By: Sue B Martines J.D.

The attorneys may have gotten off the hook for the Red Flags Rule requirements, but so far, not the CPA’s, among other “professionals” (such as physicians). Picture this – two so-called “professionals,” one an attorney and one a CPA, discuss identity theft and the Red Flags Rule implemented by the FTC to help businesses develop “Red Flag” indicators for fraud – the conversation might go something like this:

Attorney, “being a busy professional, I sure am grateful to not have another burdensome requirement made of me by the government!”

CPA, “being a busy professional, I sure am grateful for the opportunity to have guidance on how to better guard against the time-consuming, professionally-damaging and high client impact of an identity theft or data breach!”

Two different professionals, two different treatments so far, by the law!

In a previous posting, we discussed the recent court decision finding attorneys exempt from the “burdensome” requirements of the Red Flags Rule; here we make the somewhat absurd double-standard comparison, you might say, to one of their counterparts -- CPA’s.

We all know there’s no immunity from identity theft risk. The American Institute of CPA’s itself fell prey to the #1 risk factor – human error – when in 2006 a damaged hard drive containing personal information was sent out for repair and was lost in transport. (http://www.pro2net.com/x52999.xml)

However, in an IRS online publication regarding CPA’s and identity theft, you will find zero things unique to the CPA that wouldn’t equally apply to an attorney! (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/identity_theft_what_cpas_need_to_know.pdf)

Certainly the fight may not be over for CPA’s, or other “busy professionals” whose attorneys will challenge the Red Flags Rule “requirements” to have an identity theft prevention and mitigation plan in place by June 1, 2010.

Yet, if only all CPA’s could look at identity theft and data protection measures like the one in the discussion above – it could mean less lawsuits for the “burdened” attorneys, and better protection of client data!

Maybe the requirements of the law aren’t that bad of an idea after all!

Sue B Martines is a recovering attorney of 12 years now living in Oregon. Sue can be reached at, suebmartines@gmail.com

Swift Reaction is the Key to Intruding on Identity Thieves

by Stacy Whelchel

After you receive an official letter or an email letting you know that your personal information has been breached, the worst is over, right?

Not necessarily so, according to this MSN story.

It depends on if the victim actually reads the letter and takes action to prevent recurrence. This doesn’t always happen because the correspondence is sometimes considered junk mail and discarded unopened, according to the report.

Researchers determined that about one in nine consumers receive a security breech notification letter each year. To make matters seemingly worse, these victims have a one in five chance of being duped again during the next year, states the survey by a research firm. Just think what can happen if the initial letter, or subsequent correspondence, are ignored.

Identity theft is a serious crime stopped by awareness before, during, and after the crime. If a security breech notification letter is received, it’s in your best interest to read all the information and call the source if there are questions about any details or recommendations. It might also be in your best interest to consult an attorney to protect your legal rights.

Time is crucial after an intrusion by an identity thief; don’t give them more chances to do the crime by ignoring all the corresponding warning signs.

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Stacy Whelchel is a Corporate Writer at Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. Pre-Paid Legal's signature products, including the Life Events Legal Plan and Identity Theft Shield, serve more than 1.5 million families in North America.