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Archive for News – Page 3

PIs Reveal Just How Easy it Can Be to Steal Your Identity

For those of you who think your personal information is safe, our colleagues in New York teamed up with NBC News to show just how easy it is to exploit our identities.  Watch the video here:

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/dateline/51320223

Every day we use many of the same tools and techniques featured in the news report to perform background checks, due diligence investigations, skip traces and other services for businesses, law firms and insurers.    It is because so many people are careless with their information, or worse, think others are so interested in their lives they purposefully post it, that we can empower employers and litigants with this information.

So you don’t become a victim, here are some Internet practice points:  Lock down your Facebook page, create anonymous email addresses to post comments on articles/news stories, use fictitious screen names for use on Pinterest, Spotify, Instagram, and other social media sites so the information cannot be linked back to you—your followers don’t care what your real name is (and you can always tell your friends how to find you), if you use a dating website, use sites that are not open to the public (i.e. non-members should not be able to view your page), sign up for credit monitoring (TransUnion, Experian, Equifax all offer the service at competitive prices), and always keep your birth date off the web.

Brenner to Present at PBI Business Divorce Seminars

Jeffrey Brenner, managing principal of Maragell, LLC, has been requested by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute to serve as a panelist at its full-day Business Divorce seminar that will take place on several dates across the Commonwealth:  March 4th (Pittsburgh), March 7th (Mechanicsburg) and March 11th (Philadelphia).

He will join a panel of experts in fields of corporate law, litigation, and business valuation.  Brenner will cover issues relating to the role IT plays in a business separation, and the preservation and analysis of electronically stored information for use in litigation, including data stored on smartphones, tablets, and cloud-based applications.

Brenner specializes in computer forensics and corporate investigations and has been retained by numerous businesses, insurance companies, governmental agencies, and school districts to assist with their electronic investigation needs.

The seminar has been approved for 6.0 PA CLE substantive credits including ethics.

 

Brenner to Present at Camden Bar Cyber Bullying Seminar

Jeffrey Brenner, managing principal of Maragell, LLC, has been requested by the Camden County Bar Association to serve as a panelist at its Cyber Bullying seminar that will take place on February 21, 2013 from 4 – 6:15 p.m. at Tavistock Country Club in Haddonfield.

He will join a panel of experts in school law and civil rights, which include: Kevin M. Costello, Esq., William S. Donio, Esq., Gerald “Buzz” Mingin, PhD, and moderator Craig David Becker, Esq.

Brenner will cover issues relating to detecting and proving cyber bullying as it relates to the use of computers, smartphones, and social media outlets.

Brenner specializes in computer forensics and corporate investigations and has been retained by numerous school districts to assist with their electronic investigation needs, both in the case of staff members and students.

The seminar has been approved for 2.0 PA CLE substantive credits and 2.4 MCLE credits.

Welcome Our Newly Appointed New Jersey Certified Paralegal

Deb Myerson Accepting NJCP Certificate

Deb Myerson and Becky Reedy

Deb Myerson, paralegal at Maragell and Vice President of the South Jersey Paralegal Association, was appointed as a New Jersey Certified Paralegal at the December 4, 2012 South Jersey Paralegal Association dinner.  In order to become a New Jersey Certified Paralegal, Deb was required to earn a degree in Paralegal Studies as well as establishing to the Association a proficiency in completing substantive paralegal work.  The designation requires all Certified Paralegals to stay abreast of issues affecting the paralegal community and to complete twelve continuing education credits every two years. Deb earned her Associates degree in Paralegal Studies from Camden County College in 2005 and went on to earn a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Paralegal Studies from Peirce College in June 2012.  She has devoted her entire professional career to the field of investigative research and serves as one of Maragell’s department leaders.

New FCRA Forms Available From Maragell, LLC

Beginning January 1, 2013, employers must use the new Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) disclosure forms developed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has now become the lead regulatory body for compliance with the federal FCRA.FCRA

When an employer conducts a background check on a prospective employee, or even for promotion or retention purposes, it must comply with the FCRA.  The basic requirements are that before a “consumer report” can be obtained (which can be as simple as a request for a criminal record search, to as complex as interviewing co-workers, neighbors, coupled with civil litigation searches and credit history analaysis), the employer must obtain their written permission.  The notice must be in writing and separate from the employment application.  If however, the consumer report is being obtained as part of an internal investigation, the FCRA does not require prior consent, but does require compliance with other provisions as discussed below.

If the consumer report surfaces derogatory information, prior to taking any adverse action based upon information in the consumer report, if it has not done so already (as in the case of an internal investigation) the employer must give the employee a copy of the Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the name, address and phone number of the company that supplied the report as well as a statement that the company that supplied the report did not make the adverse decision and cannot give specific reasons for it.  These procedural items provide the subject with the ability to examine and, if appropriate, challenge the report.

In our experience, we  found many errors in the public record, including erroneous entries at the criminal and civil court levels, the credit bureaus, and even the social security administration.  Without conducting an analysis of the information and comparing it to other objective pieces of evidence, such data entry errors can impugne the character of an otherwise law-abiding job prospect.  The opportunity to challenge such results, especially if the consumer report is nothing more than a “data dump,” can mean the difference between getting a job, and perennially being turned down for one because of an erroneous record entry.

The revised forms are available for download here:

FCRA Consumer Notice 2013 (Summary-of-Your-Rights)

FCRA User Notice 2013

 

 

 

Maragell Helps Fights Senior Fraud

November 1, 2012

Earlier this month, Jeff Brenner, Esq., NJLPI, provided tips to the residents at Lionsgate, Voorhees, NJ on how to protect themselves from becoming a victim of fraud.  Recommendations included: limiting the amount of personal information provided to healthcare providers and asking how such data will be stored, signing up for credit monitoring services, shredding documents with personally identifiable information, conversing with a trusted friend before donating money to “worthy” cause, and always logging into your bank’s or credit card company’s home page on the web rather than clicking through an email link requesting personal information.  During the event, the audience eagerly shared its stories of how difficult it was at times to get a live person on the telephone in order to confirm their credit report, and the volume of phone calls from charitable organizations seeking donations.   The event was sponsored by the Jewish Community Foundation, Inc.