Hire a Fraud Attorney to Help You With Your Case
What Is Fraud?
Fraud comes in many forms, each with a handful of negative consequences for the victim. Unfortunately, many criminals prey upon unwary people to secure sensitive information. This often includes Social Security numbers, passwords and bank info. Many times, people do not learn of the fraud until days (or even weeks) after the incident. As you may expect, this can result in extensive damage to one’s finances and reputation, particularly her or his credit score or credit report. As soon as you realize what happened, you need to take a few specific steps.
Contact Law Enforcement
Before you take any other action, contact your local authorities to let them know about the crime. Taking this step prevents the criminal from doing the same thing to others.
Depending on how the crime occurred, you must provide law enforcement with various types of information about the incident. This can include the contact information of the person who reached out to you, the name given and the date the incident occurred. Even if the authorities cannot apprehend the criminal, they can at least issue a notice about the incident to help keep others safe.
An interesting factor to consider is that you may personally know the criminal. Someone with access to your personal information (such as a former employer) may use your identity to take out loans, open accounts and charge your financial accounts. So, scams conducted on the Internet or over the phone do not represent the limit of fraud.
Usually, a police investigation greatly increases the chances of determining the criminal’s identity, which allows you to take legal action.
Contact the Necessary Entities/Individuals
Because fraud cases vary, the individual(s) you reach out to vary as well. For example, it is not uncommon for people to fall victim to fraudulent emails disguised as being from a legitimate financial institution. If you receive one, first call the police. Then reach out to that business and inform them that their name and image were used to facilitate fraud.
If you have had your financial information compromised (such as bank or credit card info), contact those institutions as soon as possible and inform them of the incident. Similarly, you must contact the Social Security Administration if someone compromised your Social Security info.
The sooner you do so, the faster they can accommodate your situation and ensure that your funds and credit score are not negatively affected. This also allows police to trace the criminal’s activity, which could lead to an arrest.
What Types of Fraud Should You Look Out For?
Unfortunately, fraud can occur through several methods. Sometimes, it occurs indirectly, such as when a criminal hacks a financial institution’s personal information database. Criminals engage in a handful of common types of fraud, which typically include:
Health Insurance Fraud
Sometimes, an insurance provider exploits policyholders, often in the form of overcharging or refusing to waive fees they normally waive. Fairly often, senior citizens experience Medicare fraud. Many people each year receive bills for equipment and tests they do not need (or never received).
Identity Theft
This occurs when a criminal uses your personal information (such as your date of birth or Social Security number) to pose as you. Although these scams often occur online, it is also possible for them to take place when someone compromises a personal document (such as your driver’s license).
Telemarketing Fraud
Similar to how criminals send fraudulent emails, they also conduct scams over the phone. Reasons criminals give for calling often include bank verification and notice of an outstanding (false) debt. This often involves the criminal placing a large amount of pressure on the victim to provide her or his information. Sometimes, they may even threaten legal action.
Credit Card Fraud
Criminals aim to procure credit card information through any means possible. They then spend the funds before victims can deactivate the account. Criminals use various ways to compromise credit card info, including theft of the physical card or the victim filling out false online forms.
Payroll Fraud
Dishonest bookkeepers can often steal money from a company’s cash flow and go undetected. Because many entrepreneurs do not have a full understanding of their business’s payroll system, they do not know the warning signs to watch out for with payroll fraud.
When to Hire a Fraud Attorney
Often, fraud has many consequences on top of stolen finances. You may find it difficult to prove your actual identity to institutions if criminals steal enough of your personal information. Your credit could still take a significant hit under certain circumstances.
To take legal action against someone, you need to hire a competent fraud attorney to help you handle the process and get fraud legal help. Your legal advocate can help you navigate the legal process and ensure that you provide all the necessary information to help you win your case.
Most importantly, though, a fraud attorney can get you the compensation you deserve. Because fraud can result in significant financial loss, you deserve an award for an amount sufficient to cover any hardship (as well as any mental/emotional distress) endured.
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