Jose Guadalupe Ramirez Ortiz, a drug trafficker from Mexico, was recently arrested as he tried to cross the border returning to the US from Mexico.  It was discovered that he had bought a birth certificate and assumed the identity years ago of “John Smith”.     Unfortunately, John Smith is dealing with the devastating ordeal of being an ID Fraud Victim.  More on the story here http://tinyurl.com/lmmujb

I am continually amazed at crimes relating to Id Fraud and the stance of various businesses who say it never affects them and they should be excluded from following the FTC Red Flags Rules.  Currently the AICPA and the ABA, the 2 major associations who represent accountants and attorneys are fighting the FTC and demanding exclusion from the program.  They feel it is a major burden and that attorneys and accountants never see identity theft.

The issue is simply that the head of both organizations do not get it.  The FTC Red Flags Rule is an “Identity Theft Prevention Program”  When you read the program is really about ID Fraud and stopping the places where an ID Thief can get services.  One point to note, both the attorneys and accountants are onboard with the program as it relates to the medical profession as it is a place for them to sell services.  What they don’t say in their letters to the FTC is that the risk of ID Fraud in their profession is higher than that of the medical field.  Currently, the medical field is reporting approximately 250,000 cases of ID Fraud a year – that is approximately 1 in 930 Adult Americans.

Yet when you look that the results from synovate and ITRC, approximately 1 in 332 Adult Americans are affected by ID Fraud and attorney services and 1 in 438 had a tax return filed with forged and fraudulent documents.  When the data reveals that victims are more than twice as likely to get burned by an ID Fraudster in legal or accounting services, it amazes me that these 2 professions continue to argue about the program.

The above example is yet another very serious case where legal services and an attorney helped damage an innocent persons life, most likely that they will never recover from.  Does it not make sense, that businesses take a few moments to make sure that their clients are who they say they are??

I realize that everyone feels that Id theft never happens to them.  But what about when it does.  I am very glad that John Smith is now eligible to go after the parties to recover damages for his loss.  With the average legal wage being $472 an hour, I think that John Smith is entitled to that amount for each hour he has had to deal with this ordeal and every hour it continues.  The thing that is the most sad for me, is that all of this could have been easily avoided and going forward it is even easier to avoid.

Well, H. Thomas Wells, Jr, here is your case of ID Fraud being assisted by legal counsel.