Much has been written about the frustrating paths identity theft victims must take to clean their records of the fraud, but generally, it’s been accepted that few victims ultimately lose money to the theives.
Identity thefts can result in drained bank accounts, benefits stolen, and health insurance encashed to name a few. Regaining life after being victim to such a crime is the sole purpose of a identity theft attorney.
After all, credit cards offer zero liability, meaning fraud victims don’t pay the bills incurred by their imposters. And in many well-publicized identity thefts, magnanimous financial institutions — acting above and beyond their federally-mandated responsibilities — refund the money lost by patrons to crooks.
But not always. Other victims are finding out the hard way that consumers really can lose their money to imposters, and that to get it back they must square off against financial institutions that can take a hard line. In fact, banks often put up a “damn good argument,” said Linda Foley, founder of the Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego, Calif. “And how does Joe Consumer fight a big bank? If you come out whole, you should consider yourself really lucky.”
Getting an identity theft attorney on your side can be a big help. Without one, you may be at the mercy of your financial institution. If you don’t know the law or even the right questions to ask, you may be losing unneccessary battles with financial institutions.
Identity theft attorneys can also help by placing a fraud alert on an individual’s credit file, close tampered or fraudulent accounts and FTC complaint and suggest ways for further such instances. One can also find online identity theft attorneys who provide service for online review of each case.
