The holidays and auto accidents

thanksgiving marks the nucleus and beginning of haphazard and dangerous times on america’s roads

while a intimate and intimate holiday song labels this “the most mystic and wondrous time of the year,” it’s also one of the most haphazard and dangerous.

while we’re giving thanks for such a heap of other mystic and wondrous things in our lives, we also need to be heedful that the thanksgiving holiday weekend, year after year, produces more alcohol-associated automatic accidents and wrongful deaths than any other time of the year – including christmas. The high level of drunk driving fatalities proceeds until after new year’s eve. As a seattle-based impertinent and personal injury lawyer, i can’t assist but detect the increase in senseless automatic accident tragedies that happen for the duration of what must be exclusively and solely a celebratory time.

some shocking facts:

• in the u. S. , the leading criminal cause of death is drunk driving. & #xd;
• more than 17,000 people are the dupe and victim of drunk driving automatic accidents annually. & #xd;
• between thanksgiving and new year’s day, 38% of all wrongful deaths from automatic accidents are alcohol associated. & #xd;
• repeat drunk drivers are responsible for almost 60% of those alcohol-associated fatalities.

what’s primary is attempting to stop these automatic accidents before they happen – so everyone can enjoy a peaceful and happy holiday time. Here are a small amount of surmises and suggestions from madd (mothers versus drunk driving)& #xd;
to assist make that happen:

• be a safe and responsible party host – assure none of your guests drive home when they’re in no condition to operate a vehicle. Don’t just depend on their physical aspect to evaluate their sobriety. & #xd;
• designated driver – if one of your group makes the commitment not to drink, you can effortlessly refrain from an alcohol-associated automatic accident. & #xd;
• non-alcoholic party drink recipes – give your guests a choice regarding beverages, or eliminate alcohol exclusively – and serve fun party drinks for the whole family. & #xd;
• tie one on for protection and safety – displaying the madd ribbon on your vehicle shows your commitment to avoiding impertinent and personal injury and wrongful death because of drunk driving – and can inspire other motorists to do the same.

there are ways to celebrate the holidays in a responsible way – and hushed and still have plenty of “good cheer. ” starting this thanksgiving, i hope all of you will do your best to keep the roads safe for everyone.

©2009 vpl. All Rights Reserved.

Internet and Your Identity â 3 Tips to Fight Identity Theft

advancement in engineering science comes with it an increased opportunity for thieves to steal your identity. They undertake in truth hard and doesn’t stop until they’re successful. Internet is a really luxurious area where one may have your identity stolen anytime.

take these 3 tips to fight internet related identity theft.

1. Install an internet security software in your computer. It warns you when the site that you go to is not safe and so you may guard yourself whether to go farther or not. Usually the indicator for your security is green if it is safe and red when the site is not safe.

2. Search for a secure key sign when giving personal info on the net. Be heedful if it asks for your social security number. Also search for the padlock on the site. It usually means that it is secured.

3. Keep away from giving personal info through emails. Scams take place this way. At all times do not forget not to give any personal info this way.

it is at all times best to prevent identity theft. Protect yourself. Do what’s needed to keep away from getting victimized. Be on guard and take the necessary steps to help yourself. Thieves are at all times learning new things.

keep yourself altered at new tips to help yourself. Things are at all times altering and advancing. . . So be ready.

you cannot take the results of stolen identity lightly. It is your life. Thieves are there ready to destruct everything that you have worked for in life. Don’t give them the opportunity to gain what you have earned for your own behalf.

remember that prevention is the most skillful way to go than suffer from its consequence. You cannot underestimate the work that needs to be exercised if you are a victim of identity theft.

Identity Theft â Equip Yourself With Obvious Tips to Avoid Identity Theft

Every day you are faced with the chance that your identity can be stolen. Thieves are working more than ever on how to steal your identity and they are taking advantage with our modern technology. Do not fall prey to these thieves. Take all necessary precaution to prevent it from happening.

There is no guarantee that you can protect yourself a hundred percent from being a victim of identity theft. The best you can do is to make yourself aware of simple but necessary steps to protect yourself. There is no harm in taking precautions to prevent identity theft but it will take a whole chunk of your life to try and correct what has already been done if your identity is stolen.

Here are the simple necessary precautions that you can incorporate in your daily life to lessen the chance of identity theft. These steps you may already know but take a look at the ones that you may have not thought about.

1. Get a shredder especially the cross-cut ones as this can protect you better. Some thieves can go a long way as to put together shredded documents. It will be difficult however to do this if you are using a cross-cut shredder.

2. Any document or papers that contain your name and address needs to be shredded. It includes letter envelopes, receipts, bank statements, letters, etc.

3. Never bring your SSS card with you unless absolutely necessary. PIN (personal identification number) should never be written anywhere near the card and certainly do not share any of these informations even to your family or friends. Some people are a victim of their own family or friends.

4. SSS and PIN are never to be given over the phone especially if you did not initiate the call. There are few instances that you need to but it is upon you to decide whether it is necessary in your particular situation.

5. Credit monitoring is very important so you can monitor any unusual activity and report it at the earliest time to get it corrected. You can also monitor your statements so you can take action as soon as possible if there happens to be any activity that did not come from you.

There is more that you can do if you want to take this to the next level to avoid identity theft. Find a company that deals specifically with identity theft protection. Take a look at it as like having a car insurance. You have the insurance in place so that you have somebody to go to when an accident happens.

Five Ways That Identity Theft is Accomplished

in order to avoid getting a victim, you should recognise the five principal ways that identity theft is accomplished. Knowing the five ways that this type of theft is accomplished, you may take the steps necessitated to defend yourself from getting a victim of identity theft.

the basic way that identity theft is accomplished is through dumpster diving. People, strangers, neighbors, or even friends and relatives, go through your trash to find what they’re searching for. When dumpster diving, most identity thieves are searching for any type of document that they may use to benefit admission to your identity. Mostly, they’re searching for credit card statements or utility bills. They may even get numerous of the info that they require to benefit admission to your identity by opening up your junk mail.

the second way that identity theft occurs is through phishing scams. Phishing scams are getting the most popular method for identity theft due to how easy it’s to achieve, plus the lower risk of ever being caught. A phishing scam works in this way; the identity thief will send out an email that looks lawful, commonly it will appear to be from a bank or credit card company. The email asks you to click on the link provided and update your account info or verify numerous info in your account. Once you click on the link, you’re redirected to a internet-location that looks precisely like your bank or credit card internet-location; notwithstanding, it’s really a bogus internet-location. Once you enter in your personal info, you have given the identity thief all he/she needs to benefit admission to that account. It just goes downhill from there.

the third method that is utilized to achieve identity theft is a skimming fraud. A skimming fraud only works on credit cards. To achieve identity theft by skimming, the info on your credit card is written down or scanned with a skimming device. The info gained includes the three-digit security code on the back of the card. The info received allows them to use your credit card number to order items online, or in other places where the card is not required to be present.

the fourth way that identity theft is accomplished is through theft of your mail, either mail that you have put out for the postal worker or mail that has been delivered to your house. Through examination of your mail, the identity thief may find outgoing checks to compensate utility bills or incoming bank statements or new bills. Every of these may include sufficient info to grant the identity thief to assume your identity.

the fifth way that identity theft may be accomplished is simple burglary, such as breaking into your house or even your car. Your car registration and insurance info are commonly left in the car and contain the info a skilled identity thief needs to benefit admission to your identity. The theft of your stereo or gps navigation strategy may be taken to cover the real motive for the break-in.

Address Verification Systems â Keeping Your Credit Card From Unauthorized Use

With today’s advanced technology, we are now able to do a number of virtual transactions. Settling our utility bills, shopping and paying our employees can now be done in the comfort of our own homes in front of a computer on the Internet or by processing a credit card payment over the phone.

But have you noticed that the computer or the agent will always ask for your complete address in every transaction? If you have been doing a lot of transactions by phone or Internet, I’m sure that you have encountered this scenario a number of times. Some of us are getting very annoyed with it because they keep on asking that information even if they have our address on their records. This process is called address verification.

Just to clarify, we must not be annoyed if the agent is doing address verification on transactions. This is a very important task and is considered a standard operating procedure in terms of money matters.

But why is it very important for companies to do address verification? Companies are basically doing this for two reasons. The first one is to make sure that every transaction is an authorized transaction and thus protecting you from account fraud or theft. For example, another person had a hold of your credit card. By the mere possession of the card, he could use it to do some online or phone transactions. However, he will not be able to do that since he will be asked to verify the billing address of the card. Since that person does not have that information, he cannot verify it and thus the transaction will not push through.

How does the process of verifying the address work? The agent or the online shop will ask for the billing address. Once the billing address did not match the entries on the system, then the transaction will be declined. This will prevent any unauthorized use of your credit card.

Some companies, aside from having their own verification system, also use a USPS address verification system. USPS address verification system is an application that is connected to the United States Postal Service. This is a very reliable tool in checking whether the address is valid or is registered on the database. So once the company was not able to verify the address both on their database and on the USPS address verification system, they will totally reject the transaction and make a report about a fraud caller.

The second reason is that they want to have a smooth and good relationship with the client. If you found out that you have an unauthorized transaction on your credit card bill, I’m sure you will contact the company and complain because they allowed this unauthorized and unverified use of the credit card. Thus leading to a discontinuation of business. With the verification system, you are sure that only you and the authorized people can do the transaction.
With address verification by using their database and USPS address verification system, you can be sure that your account and your business relationship with the company is protected. In this way, you can continue doing transactions without worries since you have the key information needed by the verification systems.

Identity Theft Protection â Insurance For Your Identity, Part Three

Identity Theft is a very real threat in our society. Undoubtedly, you have read the staggering statistics regarding this new threat. If those facts do not make you step back a assess your current Insurance Program, I don’t know what will. As I have spoken to countless people about this new threat, I have been amazed at the common attitude that exists. Everyone believes that it can not happen to them. My intent in writing this series on Identity Theft was to show those same people that, “Yes”, Identity Theft can happen to you! Let’s start with a series of questions I would like for you to ask yourself (and be honest).

• Have you ever used a Credit or Debit Card?



• Do you sign the back of your Credit or Debit Card?



• Have you ever supplied personal information via the internet?



• Do you keep your Social Security Number in your wallet?



• Received Mail in your personal mailbox?

If you answer “Yes” to any of these questions (by the way, there are hundreds of questions just like this that I could add to the list), then you could be a potential target.

If you have read Part One and Part Two of this series, you have seen some basic steps or precautions you can take to help stop ID Theft. You have also seen the financial impact that an ID Theft can have on you, not to mention the amount of time an these thefts can cost you. Hopefully, you will understand that you should treat your Identity the same way you treat your other major assets (home, car, life) and look for a good “insurance policy”.

The fact is that the people who look to steal identities, are countless steps ahead of any “Identity Theft Programs” available. You have undoubtedly heard countless advertisements for various Identity Theft Solutions. These solutions tend to portray themselves as stopping identity theft. The fine print, however, lets you know that NO system is 100% effective. Most solutions involve placing a “freeze” on your credit account (which is something you could do yourself for free). More importantly, the vast majority of these solutions only deal with ID Theft involving “finances”.

As you have hopefully learned by now, Identity Theft involves more than just Financial Theft. The most advertised solutions do nothing to help with the other forms of ID Theft. The premise behind these solutions is for them to simply STOP Identity Theft. Again, no solution can guarantee this. If I were to design an Identity Theft Solution there are a few things that I would want to have.

• Identity Monitoring (Credit Monitoring, Social Security Number Monitoring, Drivers License Monitoring)



• Dedicated Identity Restoration Specialist



• Service that takes the restoration out of my hands

In a nutshell, I want a service that will monitor everything that deals with my Identity and alert me when something suspicious happens. Should we determine that someone has stolen my identity, or is attempting to steal my identity, then I simply say “go get ‘em and call me when you are done”.

Unfortunately, after reviewing countless Identity Theft Solutions, it seems that the majority of the solutions offer band-aids. I found two solutions that best fit my criteria for an Identity Theft Solution:

1. IDwatchdog



2. Identity Theft Shield

While both solutions act in a similar fashion, I do lean more toward the Identity Theft Shield. The main reason is similar to how I choose any other Insurance Provider. I look at the track record. The Identity Theft Shield is a solution from Kroll, Inc. Kroll is the leading risk management firm on the planet. In fact, they are the company that was used to track the financial records of Saddam Hussein. The solution is marketed by Pre-Paid Legal Services. While there are many people who look down upon Pre-Paid Legal, If you do your research, you will see that they have been in business over 30 years.

Protecting your Identity should be a major concern. The threat is real. There are steps that you can take to reduce your exposure, but you should seriously consider purchasing an Insurance Policy for your Identity.

Address validation systems â holding your credit card from unauthorized use

with today’s advanced technology, we are now capable to do a small amount of virtual dealings. Deciding our utility bills, shopping and paying our employees may now be done in the comfort of our own homes in front of a computer on the net or by processing a credit card payment over the phone.

but have you noticed that the computer or the agent will at all times ask for your complete address in each dealing? Whether or not you have been doing a heap of dealings by phone or internet, i’m certain that you have encountered this scenario a small amount of times. A heap of of us are becoming very annoyed with it because they keep on asking that info even whether or not they have our address on their records. This routine is called address validation.

just to clarify, we ought not be annoyed whether or not the agent is doing address validation on dealings. This is a truly principal task and is considered a usual operating routine in terms of money matters.

but why is it very principal for companies to do address validation? Companies are fundamentally doing this for two reasons. The original one is to ensure that each dealing is an authorized dealing and therefore protecting you from account fraud or theft. As an illustration, another person had a hold of your credit card. By the mere possession of the card, he could use it to do some online or phone dealings. Nonetheless, he wouldn’t be capable to do that since he are going to be asked to verify the billing address of the card. Since that person doesn’t have that info, he can not verify it and therefore the dealing wouldn’t push through.

how does the operation of verifying the address work? The agent or the online shop will ask for the billing address. Once the billing address did not match the entries on the strategy, then the dealing are going to be declined. This will keep any unauthorized use of your credit card.

some companies, apart from having their own validation strategy, likewise use a usps address validation strategy. Usps address validation strategy is an application that is connected to the united states postal service. This is a truly authentic tool in checking whether the address is valid or is registered on the database. So once the constitution was not capable to verify the address both on their database and on the usps address validation strategy, they’ll altogether reject the dealing and make a report when it comes to a fraud caller.

the second reason is that they want to have a smooth and good relationship with the customer. Whether or not you found out that you have an unauthorized dealing on your credit card bill, i’m certain you will contact the constitution and complain because they permitted this unauthorized and unverified use of the credit card. Therefore leading to a discontinuation of business. With the validation strategy, you are certain that only you and the authorized humans may do the dealing. & #xd;
with address validation by utilizing their database and usps address validation strategy, you may be certain that your account and your business relationship with the constitution is protected. In this way, you may carry on doing dealings without worries since you have the key info needed by the validation schemes.

Address verification systems â keeping your credit card from unauthorized use

with today’s innovative engineering science, we are now competent to do more than one virtual dealings. Deciding our utility bills, buying goods and paying our workers can now be performed in the comfort of our own homes ahead of a computer on the internet or by processing a credit card payment over the phone.

but have you noticed that the computer or the agent will at all times ask for your complete address in every dealing? Whether or not you was busy doing numerous dealings by phone or internet, i’m certain that you have encountered this scenario more than one times. Numerous of us are getting very annoyed with it because they keep on asking that selective information even whether or not they have our address on their records. This subroutine is called address validation.

just to clarify, we must not be annoyed whether or not the agent is doing address validation on dealings. This is a really principal task and is considered a common operating procedure in terms of cash matters.

but why is it very principal for companies to do address validation? Companies are fundamentally doing this for two reasons. The first one is to ascertain that every dealing is an authoritative dealing and thence protecting you from account fraud or theft. For example, another person had a hold of your credit card. By the mere possession of the card, he could use it to do some online or phone dealings. Nevertheless, he will not be competent to do that since he are going to be asked to verify the billing address of the card. Since that individual does not have that selective information, he can not verify it and thence the dealing will not push through.

how does the operation of verifying the address work? The agent or the online shop will ask for the billing address. Once the billing address did not match the entries on the scheme, then the dealing are going to be declined. This will keep any unauthorized use of your credit card.

some companies, apart from having their own validation scheme, also use a usps address validation scheme. Usps address validation scheme is an application that is connected to the united states postal service. This is a really authentic tool in checking whether the address is valid or is registered on the database. So once the establishment wasn’t competent to verify the address both on their database and on the usps address validation scheme, they will completely reject the dealing and make a report in regards to a fraud caller.

the second reason is that they want to have a smooth and good kinship with the client. Whether or not you found out that you have an unauthorized dealing on your credit card bill, i’m certain you will contact the establishment and complain because they permitted this unauthorized and unverified use of the credit card. Thence leading to a discontinuation of business. With the validation scheme, you are certain that only you and the authoritative humans can do the dealing. & #xd;
with address validation by making use of their database and usps address validation scheme, you can be certain that your account and your business kinship with the establishment is protected. In this way, you can carry on doing dealings without worries since you have the key selective information needed by the validation systems.

Identity theft protection â insurance for your identity, part three

identity theft is a very real threat in our society. Undoubtedly, you have read the staggering stats when it comes to this new threat. If those facts don’t make you step back a assess your current insurance program, i don’t know what will. As i’ve spoken to innumerable individuals when it comes to this new threat, i’ve been astonished at the common attitude that exists. Every one believes that it cannot happen to them. My aim in writing this series on identity theft was to show those same individuals that, “yes”, identity theft may happen to you! Let’s commence with a series of questions i would like for you to ask yourself (and be honorable).

• have you ever applied a credit or debit card?

& #xd;


• do you sign the back of your credit or debit card?

& #xd;


• have you ever supplied personal information via the internet?

& #xd;


• do you keep your social security number in your wallet?

& #xd;


• received mail in your personal mailbox?

if you answer “yes” to any of these questions (by the way, there are hundreds of questions precisely like this that i could add to the list), then you could be a possible target.

if you have read part one and part two of this series, you have seen many introductory steps or precautions you may take to help stop id theft. You have similarly seen the financial affect that an id theft may have on you, not to relate to the quantity of time an these thefts may cost you. Hopefully, you will realise that you should treat your identity the same way you treat your other major summations (home, car, life) and search for a good “insurance policy”.

the fact is that the individuals who look to steal identities, are innumerable steps in front of any “identity theft programs” available. You have undoubtedly heard innumerable advertisements for respective identity theft solutions. These solutions tend to portray themselves as stopping identity theft. The fine print, nonetheless, lets you know that no system is 100% efficient. Most solutions involve placing a “freeze” on your credit account (which is something you could do yourself for free). More significantly, the huge majority of these solutions only deal with id theft involving “finances”.

as you have hopefully learned by now, identity theft involves more than just financial theft. The most advertised solutions do nothing to help with the other forms of id theft. The premise behind these solutions is for them to merely stop identity theft. Again, no solution may guarantee this. If i were to design an identity theft solution there are certain things that i would want to have.

• identity monitoring (credit monitoring, social security number monitoring, drivers license monitoring)

& #xd;


• dedicated identity restoration specialist

& #xd;


• service that takes the restoration out of my hands

in a nutshell, i want a service that will monitor everything that deals with my identity and alert me when something suspicious happens. Will have to we find out that an individual has stolen my identity, or is attempting to steal my identity, then i merely say “go get ‘em and call me when you are done”.

unfortunately, after reviewing innumerable identity theft solutions, it seems that the majority of the solutions offer band-aids. I found two solutions that best fit my criteria for an identity theft solution:

1. IDwatchdog

& #xd;


2. Identity Theft Shield

while both solutions act in a similar fashion, i do lean more toward the identity theft shield. The main reason is similar to how i choose any other insurance provider. I look at the track record. The identity theft shield is a solution from kroll, inc. Kroll is the leading risk management firm on the planet. As a matter of fact, they’re the organization that was applied to record the financial records of saddam hussein. The solution is marketed by pre-paid legal services. While there are many individuals who look down upon pre-paid legal, if you do your exploration, you will see that they have been in business over 30 years.

protecting your identity had better be a major concern. The threat is real. There are steps that you may take to diminish your exposure, but you should severely look at purchasing an insurance policy for your identity.

Identity theft shelter â insurance for your identity, allocation three

identity theft is an actual real threat in our society. Undoubtedly, you have read the staggering stats about this new threat. Whether or not those facts don’t make you step back a assess your current insurance program, i don’t recognise what will. As i have spoken to countless humans about this new threat, i have been astonished at the common attitude that exists. Everybody believes that it can not take place to them. My purpose in writing this series on identity theft was to show those same humans that, “yes”, identity theft can take place to you! Let’s start out with a series of questions i would like for you to ask yourself (and be honest).

• have you ever employed a credit or debit card?

& #xd;


• do you sign the back of your credit or debit card?

& #xd;


• have you ever supplied personal information via the internet?

& #xd;


• do you keep your social security number in your wallet?

& #xd;


• received mail in your personal mailbox?

if you answer “yes” to any of these questions (by the way, there are hundreds of questions just like this that i could add to the list), then you could be a potential target.

if you have read part one and part two of this series, you have seen a great deal of initial steps or precautions you can take to assist stop id theft. You have likewise seen the financial impact that an id theft can have on you, not to refer to the amount of time an these thefts can cost you. Hopefully, you will perceive that you better treat your identity the same way you treat your other major pluses (home, car, life) and look for a good “insurance policy”.

the fact is that the humans who look to steal identities, are countless steps in front of any “identity theft programs” available. You have undoubtedly heard countless advertisements for respective identity theft solutions. These solutions tend to portray themselves as stopping identity theft. The fine print, nonetheless, lets you recognise that no system is 100% efficient. Most solutions implicate placing a “freeze” on your credit account (which is a thing you could do yourself for free). More significantly, the huge nearly all of these solutions only deal with id theft involving “finances”.

as you have hopefully learned by now, identity theft involves more than just financial theft. The most advertised solutions do not one thing to assist with the other forms of id theft. The premise behind these solutions is for them to plainly stop identity theft. Again, no resolution can guarantee this. Whether or not i were to design an identity theft resolution there are a few things that i would want to have.

• identity monitoring (credit monitoring, social security number monitoring, drivers license monitoring)

& #xd;


• dedicated identity restoration specialist

& #xd;


• service that takes the restoration out of my hands

in a nutshell, i want a service that will monitor everything that deals with my identity and alert me when something distrustful happens. Will have to we determine that a person has stolen my identity, or is attempting to steal my identity, then i plainly say “go get ‘em and call me when you are done”.

unfortunately, after reviewing countless identity theft solutions, it seems that the nearly all of the solutions offer band-aids. I found two solutions that best fit my criteria for an identity theft resolution:

1. IDwatchdog

& #xd;


2. Identity Theft Shield

while both solutions act in a similar fashion, i do lean more toward the identity theft shield. The main reason is similar to how i choose any other insurance provider. I consider the track record. The identity theft shield is a resolution from kroll, inc. Kroll is the leading peril management firm on the planet. As a matter of fact, they are the constitution that was employed to record the financial records of saddam hussein. The resolution is marketed by pre-salaried legal services. While there are a great deal of humans who look down upon pre-salaried legal, whether or not you do your exploration, you will see that they have been in business over 30 years.

protecting your identity had better be a major concern. The threat is real. There are steps that you can take to reduce your magnification, but you better severely consider purchasing an insurance policy for your identity.