This simple practice will help protect your PIN from identity thieves

Thermal cameras take special photographs of an image and colors the photograph based on the amount of heat it is emitting.  These special cameras used to be inaccessible to the general public because they were so expensive.  As the price of the cameras go down, more and more creativity has been applied to their use.  Many of these uses are positive.  For example, thermal cameras can be used to photograph your home to show where additional insulation needs to be added or doors and windows need sealing. 

Identity thieves have discovered a not-so-good use for the thermal camera.  When you press the keys to enter your PIN, heat transfers from the tips of your fingers to the keys.  Identity thieves can then immediately snap a thermal photograph of the keypad and determine which keys were pressed.  In some cases, the order the keys were pressed can be determined because the first key pressed will have  the least residual heat and so forth.  Metal keys (such as on ATMs) tend to photograph better than non-metal keys. 

Put this simple practice in place to reduce your risk of your PIN being stolen in this way.  After you enter your PIN on a keypad, place your whole hand over the keypad (touching the keys) and leave it there for a count of five.  This will heat the whole keypad so that when a thermal image is taken ALL of the keys will show hot - not just the ones that you touched to enter your PIN.  This five seconds may save you the years it may take to overcome your PIN being stolen.  -Brandon Blankenship (205)912-8248
Blankenship Harrelson, LLP

Do I Still Have Rights if I Actually Owe the Debt?

Generally, creditors and/or debt collectors are permitted to contact you about a debt you owe in order to obtain payment on that debt. However, legitimately owing a debt does not give debt collectors permission to harass or threaten you about that debt. Many of those in debt are hardworking people who want to pay their bills but, for one reason or another, are simply unable to do so.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act specifically protects all consumers against harassing, unfair or deceptive debt collection practices and defines “consumer” as “any natural person obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any debt.” A person in debt does not deserve any less respect than a person who is not in debt.

Even if you legitimately owe a debt, the FDCPA was designed to protect consumers against abusive debt collection practices and an attorney can help you determine if your rights have been violated. Meredith Phillips (205)912-8244
Blankenship Harrelson, LLP

Protecting Your Credit

Credit reports contain information about a person’s financial life, such as bills and bankruptcies. In addition to containing information, credit reports may also affect a person’s ability to get a credit card, a loan or a job. Thus, the FTC explains the importance of periodically reviewing one’s credit report to make sure the information is accurate and to help protect against identify theft.

The FTC also informs consumers that amendments to a federal law called the Fair Credit Reporting Act require the three nationwide credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) to provide consumers with one free copy of their credit report each year, at the consumer’s request. For details on how to obtain your free credit report, consumers can visit the FTC’s website at http://www.ftc.gov/credit.

Just as it is important to review one’s credit report, it is also important to report errors as soon as possible. The FTC provides detailed information on how to dispute errors and make sure that one’s credit report is accurate. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre21.shtm

By staying informed and proactive about credit report information, consumers can help protect themselves against credit errors which could have significant financial consequences. -Meredith Phillips (205)912-8244
Blankenship Harrelson, LLP

Telemarketing Text Messages

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act governs telephone marketing calls made to a consumer’s telephone. 

We previously blogged that debt collection calls to a consumer’s cell phone made with an automated dialer are prohibited unless the consumer previously gave express consent to receive calls on his/her cell phone. Express consent may have come from a credit application or other information the consumer provided to the company. 
This ban on autodialed cell phone calls applies to telemarketing or solicitation calls as well as debt collection calls. However with the advance of technology, there are now other ways to communicate on a cell phone besides making a call—for example, text messages. So, if the TCPA prohibits cell phone solicitation calls without the consumer’s consent, what about solicitation text messages?

Several courts have found that text messages sent with an automated dialer may be considered “calls” under the TCPA and therefore, may be prohibited without the consumer’s prior express consent. The FCC has also indicated that its rules prohibit using an automated dialer to send unwanted text messages to a cell phone.

An attorney can help you determine whether the unwanted telemarketing text messages on your cell phone are prohibited or not. -Meredith Phillips (205)912-8244
Blankenship Harrelson, LLP

Debt Collection after Death

While debt collection calls can be annoying and confusing at any time, they may be especially so after the loss of a loved one. When a person dies, many of his or her debts may remain outstanding. Thus, creditors and debt collectors still have a right to have those debts paid, often out of the assets of the deceased’s estate. Further, in some instances, a spouse or other relative may remain personally liable on certain of the deceased’s debts. The FTC has issued a Consumer Alert regarding who is responsible for paying the debts of a deceased relative, which can be located at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt004.shtm.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act governs all calls by debt collectors—including those regarding deceased debtors. However, the FTC recently issued a policy statement clarifying the requirements of debt collectors attempting to collect a deceased’s debts. Problems commonly arise when debt collectors contact persons with no legal obligation or no authority to pay the debt out of the decedent’s estate and mislead those persons about their obligations. By engaging in this type of deceptive conduct, the debt collectors could be violating the FDCPA.

According to the FTC, a limitation of permissible contact provides additional protection for the family against deceptive and abusive collection conduct. The FTC instructs that debt collectors should only contact certain individuals regarding a deceased’s debts—including among others, the deceased consumer’s attorney, spouse, parent (if the deceased consumer was a minor), guardian, executor, administrator, or any other individual who has the authority to pay debts out of the deceased’s estate. The FTC also encourages collectors to make good faith efforts to search probate court records before contacting people other than the deceased estate’s executors or administrators. Moreover, once a collector identifies the executor or administrator, the collector must only communicate about the deceased’s debts with that individual or any of the other permissible individuals.

Additionally, when communicating with permissible individuals, a debt collector may make a reference to payment for “outstanding bills” of the deceased, but implying that the deceased was delinquent on those bills may violate the FDCPA. The full FTC Policy Statement can be located in a hyperlink at the following webpage, http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/07/fdcpa.shtm

In additional to the contact limitations imposed by the FTC, the FDCPA’s general prohibitions on misleading, deceptive, harassing or abusive contacts still apply to calls regarding a deceased’s debts. An attorney can help you determine whether calls regarding a deceased loved one’s debt are proper under the FDCPA. -Meredith Phillips (205)912-8244
Blankenship Harrelson, LLP

Avoiding Debt Collection Scams and Identity Theft

If harassing phone calls from legitimate debt collectors are not bad enough, numerous scam debt collectors are surfacing, many of whom seem impossible to stop.

Consumers can take action to avoid being victims of debt collection scams. Scam Collection Agencies often use a technique called "phishing" to search the Internet, mail and email to find your personal information and then use that information to try to convince you that you owe the debt. In order to prevent assisting these scam artists with their “phishing,” the FTC recommends consumers guard their personal information when using the Internet and offers these tips:

Do not reply to emails or pop up messages asking for personal or financial information. If you are truly concerned about your account, contact the organization directly to verify whether they requested your information.

Avoid calling phone numbers sent in emails. Technology allows scammers to disguise their phone numbers; the scammers may be located in a different area code than the phone number in the email suggests. 

Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software. The “phishing” done by scam artists may harm your computer or track your Internet activities without your knowledge.

Do not email personal or financial information.

Review your credit card or bank account statements often and watch for unauthorized charges or suspicious activity.

Be careful when opening attachments or downloading files from emails—even if they are from someone you know. Email attachments may contain viruses which can weaken your computer’s security.

If you think you are the victim of a scam, file a complaint at ftc.gov and call an attorney. The FTC warns that victims of “phishing” can become victims of identity theft.    -Meredith Phillips (205)912-8244
Blankenship Harrelson, LLP

Pay Day Loan Collection Scams

Does the following scenario sound familiar? You get a call from a debt collector about a debt you don’t remember...yet they have your personal information such as your name, address, phone number or even your social security number. So, if you really don’t owe the debt, how does this company know so much about you?

While the call may be legitimate, it may also be a debt collection scam. The Internet Crime Complaint Center warns consumers about the increasingly high number of telephone collection scams.

Scam Collection Agencies may use a technique called "phishing" to search the Internet, mail and email to find your personal information and then use that information to try to convince you that you owe the debt. These scam collection agencies often reference delinquent payday loans and may allege to be calling from criminal enforcement divisions, the FBI, or other various legitimate sounding agencies. They may threaten legal actions or arrests as well as harass consumers, their friends and relatives. They may also request additional personal information from consumers such as a full social security number, bank account numbers, date of birth, etc.

Unfortunately, while these scam artists are able to find consumers, they often disguise their real phone numbers which makes it very difficult to find them.

So how can you determine if the calls you are getting are from legitimate debt collectors or collection scams artists? You may request the debt collector send you written verification of the debt or contact the original creditor. Additionally, you can write a letter instructing the debt collector to stop contacting you. With a few exceptions, legitimate debt collectors are required to stop contacting you once they receive this letter.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center also suggests that you contact local law enforcement if you feel you are in immediate danger. An attorney may be able to offer assistance if you think the debt collection calls you are receiving are scams. -Meredith Phillips (205)912-8244
Blankenship Harrelson, LLP