Summary:
ID Theft has become a sad reality for many- through
no fault of their own. Fighting for your right to privacy is a
daunting task when faced with a monolithic credit reporting system.
Purpose:
To
provide a professional legal service to assist you in repairing a
damaged credit record, as the result of ID theft through a computer
breach or other criminal method.
Founded
in 1991, they
help consumers legally
& effectively repair their credit reports.
Lexington Law
has worked
to
redefine the credit repair industry while assisting
over 300,000
people.
Advice:
There
are a number of factors that are contributing to computer identify theft:
-
Unabated
sloppiness and bare minimum spending by the government and business
charged with the responsibility to guard our private information.
-
The cooperation shown by nice people to reveal their own personal
information without asking why.
-
A
sophisticated tech-savy criminal element that understands for the
monetary value of each identity theft- estimated to range from $5,000 to
$20,000 for each occurrence.
The
odds are growing that a some point your personal information will
be leaked, lost, sold or stolen. These are not
youngsters that happen to find their way into a computer system since
most times are
not malicious. We are referring to deliberate and organized computer
data robbery that has reached into the billions of dollars of damage
per year.
We
have suggested a number of ways on our Asystematic's sites
to significantly reduce your computer risks. Though there is credit info abuse going
on with existing personal database records you may not be aware
of. What has caused a large part of the damage is the reluctance
by business and government to spend the money necessary or to follow
the laws in place to sufficiently protect your information, This
makes it as easy as "fishing
in a barrel full of hungry fish" for
the bad guys.
So what happens when you discover you have been compromised?
Yes, by law you can request a paper copy of your report from a reluctant
credit reporting business (which by the way- it goes in your
file). You can even request that your side of the story is entered
in their databases. Unfortunately, a Consumer request for a change
will not impact your credit score in a positive fashion. Since it does
not change what the credit grantor or collection agency put in your record-
even if it was false or incorrect. And,- of course, there is more than
one credit reporting company.
Another
problem is your financial institution will not pay
for anything more than the basic data and a credit score. Banks do want to know if you report a potential "identity
theft". Which by
the way- sewers your credit rating even further even if nothings
occurred.
The only reason organizations are disclosing
computer breaches is that is mandatory in some states. For
example, if even only one stolen record is from a resident of California,
the
organization
is compelled by law to spill the whole can of beans. So are they
complying? Yes, though very slow & reluctantly while placing the
blame on the predator- not their own sloppy practices & lack
of budget for modern security and up-to-date computers.
So how do you fight back? Many credit counseling & collection bureaus have links, are owned by or report incidents to the collection agencies. (Check to see sits on the Board of Directors- hummm).You need someone on your side to help you repair the damage that does not have a vested interest in the money business or other people's misery.You suggest looking over your options in terms of time, aggravation and cost. A professional service that will assist you in making things right is a viable route.
