Bankruptcy Indiana

It's shopping season, and identity thieves are out shopping, too - for your lines of credit!  Far be it from me to cast a cloud on the holiday cheer, but really, as part of my providing bankruptcy services in Indiana,  identity theft is too important a topic for me not to mention in my Indiana bankruptcy blog.

At the very beginning of this year, I wrote an article on identity theft for Indy's Child Parenting Magazine, urging everyone to "be vigilant about our information and be cautious about giving out our Social Security number and about carrying around credit cards."

As a Columbus bankruptcy lawyer, I've come to realize that many predators specifically target victims who have filed bankruptcy in Indiana.  (You might wonder why that might be so. As a debt consolidation lawyer, I always remind people that, in most cases, filing bankruptcy actually improves credit and that many credit offers come in to folks emerging from bankruptcy.)

Sometimes, crooks offer "help" to people trying to avoid bankruptcy or avoid foreclosure. Sometimes the predators have illegally obtained names of folks needing payday loan debt help or student loan debt help, contacting them for the purpose of stealing their victims' identity. 

As part of offering bankruptcy services in Indiana , therefore, I'm issuing this extra seasonal alert to my clients and blog readers.  I truly hate to see people who are already dealing with job layoffs, divorce, or medical catastrophes get hurt by thieves.

I read in the AARP Magazine (neighbors always save their copy for me) that, according to the Federal Trade Commission, as many as nine million Americans have their identity stolen each year.  And, as I said, when a bankruptcy is involved, there's an even greater need for a watchful eye.

When I'm working with Indiana bankruptcy clients, gathering and submitting all their legal documents to the court, I need to do it in a way that protects their information.  In fact, that's good practice for all of us in handling information.

It's shopping season - don't let anyone else "shop" using your credit!