Identity Theft Fraud Protection Agency Offers Identity Theft Restoration
Margaret Norris-Guerrero, who is the Executive Administrator of the Identity Theft Fraud Protection Agency, asked, “why would someone want to do all of that leg work by themselves when they can have a trained expert do it for them and have peace of mind?” Norris-Guerrero has been instrumental with providing very effective Identity Theft awareness seminars to companies and organizations nationwide upon request.
(PRWEB) June 7, 2005 -- It’s no secret: identity theft is a major problem in
America. Think you’re not at risk? Unfortunately, you are.
• Do you hand your
credit card to servers at restaurants?
• Do you sign your credit cards?
•
Do you keep your Social Security number in your wallet or purse?
• Do you
leave mail at your home or business for the postal carrier to collect?
• Do
you shred unwanted mail with personal information?
Would you know what to do
if it happened to you?
• Call your bank and/or credit card company.
•
Contact the three major credit repositories.
• Go through the helpful but
expensive steps recommended by Federal Trade Commission in its 30-page consumer
support publication.
• Fill out and submit the affidavit form supplied by the
FTC to dispute new, unauthorized accounts.
• Spend countless hours and an
average of $1,500 according to the FTC in out-of-pocket expenses in your efforts
to resolve the many problems caused by identity thieves.
Margaret
Norris-Guerrero, who is the Executive Administrator of the Identity Theft Fraud
Protection Agency, asked, “why would someone want to do all of that leg work by
themselves when they can have a trained expert do it for them and have peace of
mind?” Norris-Guerrero has been instrumental with providing very effective
Identity Theft awareness seminars to companies and organizations nationwide upon
request. She is also a National Executive Sales Director with Pre-Paid Legal
Services, Inc. (NYSE: PPD) and has enjoyed considerable success marketing the
company’s product line that includes identity theft
restoration.
Norris-Guerrero stated, “My passion for
helping the public to become more aware of and combating Identity Theft began as
a result of working for 17-1/2 years in the banking industry. In my opinion, the
Identity theft restoration product is the most effective methodology in helping
protect against this monster called ‘identity theft.’
There are several other types of products on the market; however, I found that
dovetailing the shield with the Pre-Paid Legal membership it answers the needs
of all of my clients.”
When asked what the features included, she
continued, “the Identity theft restoration offers the following features:
•
An up-to-date Credit Report through Experian at no added cost
• A personal
Credit Score calculated by an independent scoring service
• A detailed
analysis of your personal credit score
• Continuous Credit Monitoring –
suspicious activity will be brought to your attention, providing you with early
detection
• You’ll receive prompt notice if the credit repository is notified
that
o New accounts have been opened in your name
o Derogatory notations
have been added to your credit report
o Public records have been added to
your report
o Inquiries have been made against your report
o A change of
address has been requested
• Identity Restoration – Identity Theft can be
devastating, and the process of restoring your name can be overwhelming and
costly. You need more than “do it yourself” information if it happens to
you.
o With the identity theft restoration, a trained expert will take the
steps to restore your name and credit for you!
o Help reduce your
out-of-pocket expenses and time spent away from work with valuable services from
detection to resolution.
o Fraud notifications will be sent on your behalf
and applicable follow-up will be done with affected agencies and institutions,
including: credit card companies, financials institutions, all three credit
repositories, Social Security Administration, Federal Trade Commission,
Department of Motor Vehicles, law enforcement personnel, and the U.S. Postal
Service.
o Proactive searches of applicable local and national databases
will be made on your behalf to look for information you may not be aware of,
including: criminal activity in your name in your county’s records and certain
federal watch lists, Department of Motor Vehicle records in your state, unknown
addresses affiliated with your name, and banking activity in your name reported
as fraudulent.
“I feel that the partnership with the
Identity Theft Fraud Protection Agency, Pre-Paid Legal Services with their legal
service plan and the identity theft restoration is another way of my assisting
the community with a service and product that is desperately needed in giving
families the peace of mind that they need with respect to identity theft and
legal protection. Add to it the roll-out of The Fair and Accurate Transactions
Act, the law that requires the destruction — 'shredding or burning' or 'smashing
or wiping' — of all paper or computer disks containing personal information
"derived from a consumer report" before it is discarded. Every company in
America needs to protect themselves with respect to ensuring they are in
compliance with FACTA, HIPAA and Gramm Leach Bliley. We all aim at protecting
the consumer and company privacy, including medical records, credit information
and corporate trade secrets."
"How would you respond if you were a single
mom and not once but twice law enforcement officers knocked at your front door
of your home with a warrant for your arrest for check fraud, a crime that you
didn't commit? You are handcuffed in front of your children who are four and six
years of age, the children are taken into custody by Child Protective Services.
You are arrested now for a crime you have no knowledge of, you have no money for
an attorney, you don't who to call or what to do and the law enforcement
officers do not believe you. How do you deal with the emotional trauma that your
children have gone through when it is all said and done and you are found
innocent? How do you explain to them it was all just a mistake and it won't
happen again? And then, the dreaded sound of the police knocking on the door 'we
have a warrant for your arrest.' The trauma and emotional turmoil that this
mother and her children have gone through is totally unacceptable and should not
be tolerated. From my experience, if she had had both of the Pre-Paid Legal
identity theft restoration and legal products she would have had access to an
attorney immediately to protect her, her good name and given her peace of mind
that it would not happen again.
Norris-Guerrero is no stranger to
philanthropy and helping people; she is currently a member of TEC (The Executive
Committee, an international organization of CEO’s), a member of the Houston Area
Restaurant Vendors Association (HARVA) where she helps restaurants and retail
establishments find reputable vendor services. She is on the Crime Prevention
Committee and an Ambassador for the Houston Cy-Fair Chamber of Commerce, a
co-chair for the silent auction/razzle dazzle for the 2005 Cy-Fair ISD Salute to
the Stars Gala. She is also assisting with fundraising for the Houston
Metropolitan Dance Center, an arts and educational organization in Houston
dedicated to the arts and development of contemporary dance that strives to be
one of Houston’s leaders in dance education, training and performance.
Norris-Guerrero also has served on the Board of Theatre under the Stars
and Texas Special Olympics. She has fed more than 800 law enforcement officers
for the Texas Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run; chaired the
Make-A-Wish Gala honoring Gene Rodenberry upon the release of the last Star Trek
film and worked for The Brown Foundation.
About
Pre-Paid Legal Services:
We believe our products are one-of-a kind, life
events legal service plans. We are the only company that offers a security suite
of products that offer help in all five areas of identity theft, both before,
during and after the event. Our plans provide for legal service benefits
provided through a network of more than 50 independent law firms across the U.S.
and Canada, and include unlimited attorney consultation, will preparation
(including their medical directive and living will, living traffic violation
defense, automobile-related criminal charges defense, letter writing, document
preparation and review and a general trial defense benefit. The identity theft
restoration product we think is also one of a kind.
If it happens to you, do you think your bank and
credit card company will clean up the mess for you? Think again. Instead, think
of your already overbooked calendar. As a single parent, who will attend the
dance, cheerleading or gymnastic classes for you? How will you ask for time off
from work? What will your boss say? How will it affect your job or worse yet
your job performance? Do you have leisure time to spare? Or worse yet, how will
you handle the stress, and someone has phished your money out of your account
because you responded to an e-mail that you received from your bank asking for
personal information? The identity theft epidemic could cause a single parent or
anyone for that matter to be away from work for unspecified amount of
time.
The cost of
absenteeism for an employer for an employee out five days based on an average
annual income of $28,800 is about $600 per year. If your company has 100
employees that number grows to $60,300 per year. What if you had 500 employees,
you are looking at $301,500. How about say a school district with 5,000
employees now you are up to $3,015,000. With school funding already being
stretched to the limit and no answer from the Texas legislature, where do the
schools come up with making up this difference? Why should the school districts
be further burdened?
Bottom line, can your company afford hundreds of thousands of hours by not
one employee but ten or maybe even a hundred or several thousand employees
because a classified computer was stolen and your employees are all trying to
repair the damage that has occurred? Or can you afford the long distance calls
that may be made on your phone? Or perhaps the employees are discussing their
problems with co-workers and their 15 minute breaks or one hour lunches run over
by five or 10 or 15 minutes. Multiply that by two or three or five or 10
employees all offering their own personal experiences.
For more information on scheduling an identity theft awareness seminar with
the Identity Theft Fraud Protection Agency or more information about the family
plan or group employee benefit plan of the Pre-Paid Legal Services’ identity
theft restoration or legal plan services, contact Margaret Norris-Guerrero can
be reached by calling (832) 492-1729 or (800) 853-0230, or via e-mail: e-mail
protected from spam bots or by visiting the Pre-Paid Legal website: www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/m_guerrero.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb248086.htm