You may have heard this week about the Anonymous hacktivist group that hacked into BART’s website and published name, phone numbers, addresses and emails for some 2400 BART customers (in retaliation to BART’s anti-protest moves). This had a lot of public transportation riders worried about their information security (http://mashable.com/2011/08/15/bart-anonymous-attack/).

Wouldn’t it be nice to offer peace of mind to your employees/contractors, so that in case of an identity theft they would have attorneys on-call and 50 hours of an investigator’s time to completely restore their identity?

True story:
When I tried to e-file my tax return this year, TurboTax came back with an ominous message: “Duplicate return, e-file not accepted.” I was told to mail in my return instead. What?

Later did I learn, this is one of the biggest growing areas of identity theft: Someone works under your SSN and files a return before you do! How you find out? “Duplicate Return”!

If you have credit monitoring or Identity Theft coverage with your major bank, they will not handle this situation for you. You need more protection.

While I’m on the subject, have you heard about the newest disturbing area of identity theft? MEDICAL identity theft. Someone gets your insurance card, gets their UNIVERSAL FREE HEALTH CARE in your name, which then messes up YOUR health records. I got my wallet stolen last year on MUNI with my Kaiser card in it. This is serious stuff.

Identity theft victims spend anywhere from 30-330 hours restoring their own identity records after a breach. Do you have this kind of spare time? Or hair to be pulled?

With PPL Identity Theft Shield, a licensed investigator with Kroll, the world’s leading risk consulting company (renowned for its legacy of investigative and forensics experience: hired by the Kuwati government to track down Saddam Hussein’s assets, also helped find Enron’s assets), will be assigned to your case and will spend 50 hours restoring your identity on your behalf.

I am a subscriber to Pre-Paid Legal Services, but I didn’t sign up for their Identity Theft Shield product right away. I liked the idea of calling a lawyer anytime I needed to, but I didn’t think identity theft was that big of a risk. It is! Unfortunately, it won’t cover a pre-existing condition, so let my situation inform you that you need to have this protection in place ahead of time.

We have the best value in the marketplace and a truly unique product with investigative restoration services. One subscription protects your whole family and children, starting at $10.95/month in combo with our legal plans, or $13.95/month as a stand-alone product.

Get all the facts, then I invite you to sign up here asap (like I just did): www.prepaidlegalsf.com

Stay yourself!

Cheers,

Christina McKinstry
legalsf at gmail.com
415.215.5126

Last month’s mailing: http://www.eachlittlemystery.com/category/ppl/

http://www.prepaidlegalsf.com <- look at our plan details

http://whatifwe.buildlastingsuccess.com <- company overview (aka, a company about to become a household name. $1Billion just invested in PPL by Mid-Ocean Partners)

I find it interesting as I go around San Francisco educating people about Pre-Paid Legal Services (PPL), how many times I hear “Well, I am well-connected to enough lawyers, so I don’t need that. My lawyer friends will help me with any issue I have, no matter how small, and I rarely pay full price if at all.”

If this is you, then you already intuitively get why networking and services like PPL are so valuable.

PPL has created a network of lawyers who are willing to “help out” their “friends” in the network. “Trust” is created, not by weekly meetings and 1-on-1′s (both awesome things!), but by consistently paying small membership dues, and by submitting feedback to the law firms over the past 39 years about how well they are treating our clients.

Most people who join (and stay in) networking groups like BNI become quite well-connected in the local community. That’s the reason for joining. But how many people do you know are not as well-connected as you?

Your favorite BNI lawyer friends should be your first referrals, obviously. The trust is already there. But when you don’t have the right legal connection for your friends/family/clients in the city, or your lawyer can’t help your friends/family/clients with issues in other states around the country, think of the PPL network!

At $26/month for our basic plan ($17/month for our standard plan), getting connected to a lawyer is easy and affordable (and necessary) for every working American, and every small business (no-contract plans starting at $40.50/month).

Thanks for listening, and happy networking! Let’s get everyone connected!

Christina McKinstry
legalsf at gmail.com
415.215.5126

http://www.prepaidlegalsf.com <- look at our plan details

http://whatifwe.buildlastingsuccess.com <- company overview

http://www.facebook.com/christinamargaret <- connect with me (You can find me also on Google +)