Mexican Man Assumes American’s Identity for 37 Years, Steals $361,000 in Government Benefits

Unites States of America Seal

Federal prosecutors say that Mexican citizen, Andres Avelino Anduaga, extracted in excess of $350,000 in federal, state and local benefits over nearly four decades, while residing both within and outside the United States.  The investigation, which began in 2014, has resulted in a settlement between Anduaga and the federal government.   Read Full Story Here

Consumer Finance Protection Bureau Probes Equifax

 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has put a full-scale probe of how Equifax (NYSE:EFX) failed to protect the personal data of some 143M Americans on ice, sources told Reuters. The effort has sputtered since Mick Mulvaney was named director in November, raising questions about how he will police a data-warehousing industry that has enormous sway […]

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/18/how-often-you-should-pay-off-your-credit-card-bill.html

“To build credit, what you want to do is have a demonstrated track record of using credit responsibly, and over time different forms of credit,” McBride says. “With regard to revolving lines like credit cards, you want to demonstrate the ability to put expenses on the card and then to pay that off.” To […]

Equifax Says It Will Hand Over New York Data Breach Info

A spokeswoman for Atlanta-based credit reporting agency Equifax said the company would comply with a demand by Secretary of State Rossana Rosado for information on a July data breach that was made public in September. https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/sites/newyorklawjournal/2018/01/05/equifax-says-it-will-hand-over-ny-data-breach-info/?slreturn=20180010093458   Our firm helps identity theft victims get their lives back on track. Call us today.

The security of pretty much every computer on the planet has just gotten a lot worse

http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/04/opinions/security-of-nearly-every-computer-has-just-gotten-a-lot-worse-opinion-schneier/index.html  Is your personal data secure? As your financial data been compromised? One place to start is to check your credit reports for free at annualcreditreport.com.  we may be able to help at no cost to you.

TzedekDC (tzedekdc.org) is a new Jewish lawyers group dedicated to providing pro bono debt representation for the poor.

Whereas these disputes were once a matter of debtor vs. creditor, in recent decades the game has changed. Large companies write off their bad debt and sell the paper to third parties for pennies on the dollar. These big debt buyers then hire phalanxes of lawyers to sue thousands of people. The plaintiffs are […]

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals: FCRA bars background check liability waiver

In Syed, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a background check disclosure which included a liability waiver violated the FCRA. This case was significant because the Ninth Circuit is the first federal appeals court to definitively state that the FCRA “unambiguously bars the inclusion of a liability waiver.” The court also notably […]