So, you’re a victim of fraud.

• Now what do you do?
• How are you supposed to get your money back?
• Who is supposed to help you?

Why do these questions seem so important to know, but so hard to answer?

Before you panic and do more damage to your wallet than the cyber-thieves have done already, let us explain why hiring an attorney isn’t the best initial response and provide you with some better alternatives.

Most attorneys are not identity theft experts

Unfortunately, due to the lack of available options out there, they have become the go-to recommendation for victims of identity theft, fraud, and other cyber-threats.

While it’s safe to assume that some help would be better than none at all, this “help” from attorneys can be very expensive and make the situation a lot worse than it is already.

It’s kind of like hiring an electrician to fix a plumbing problem; they might seem like they can fix the issue, but sooner or later your flooded house is going to tell you otherwise.

There’s been numerous clients we’ve worked with where we not only had to fix the damage done by the criminals, but by the attorneys they previously hired as well.

Why you need to hire the right person for the job

Here are a few examples as to why attorneys can do more harm than good.

1. Bad Advice

A man discovered that someone had used his identity had been fraudulently used to finance several expensive purchases such as cars, mortgages, and other luxurious items.

Not knowing what to do, or who else to call, the first thing he did was call his attorney for help.

His attorney told him that the only way to get rid of the exorbitant amount of debt was to start from the ground up and file for bankruptcy. He then had to pay the attorney to proceed with the bankruptcy filing.

Unfortunately for the victim, his attorney had zero experience with identity theft cases prior to this event and, by filing for bankruptcy, caused the victim to claim all the debt as his own.

While there were several different laws in place to protect the victim from this kind of fraudulent debt, his rights were forfeited the second he took his attorney’s advice.

2. A missed opportunity

A couple received a letter from their bank stating that one of their savings accounts was overdrawn. They were shocked to find that someone had slowly moved money out of their retirement account over the course of a couple months.

Had they monitored their statements on a regular basis, they could have caught the problem a lot sooner, possibly allowing for a complete recovery—nevertheless, they figured they had to hire an attorney to sort out the issue.

After many billable legal hours and going back and forth with the bank, the attorney was able to recover some of the stolen money. However, this was the minimum amount of money that banks are legally required to give to victims of fraud after a certain amount of time has passed—regardless of if they had an attorney or not. At the end, this money was barely enough to pay for the attorney’s services.

On top of that, the attorney never did anything to aid with the root of the problem. Less than a year later, the couple started to experience more fraud before they were ultimately referred to us.

After filling us in on the situation, it was obvious that this was another instance where there was a complete lack of knowledge surrounding the laws that protect victims. This led to several missed opportunities where the clients could of saved thousands of dollars and countless hours of time.

3. Malpractice, or just misinformed?

In this last case example, the victim received an email receipt for multiple fraudulent purchases made out of state, and fearing worst, lawyer-ed up.

After months of not being able to trace where the fraud came from, the attorney’s office started reaching out to us to help resolve the issue.

What we noticed is there wasn’t any actual evidence to support the supposedly fraudulent purchases. Nothing showed up on any bank accounts, credit reports, or card statements.

As it turns out, the email that the victim and attorney were so concerned about turned out to be a simple phishing attempt. Thankfully, she didn’t click on any links, but the damage had already been done another way.

The client had paid thousands of dollars over the course of several months to try and fix a problem that never even existed in the first place.

I will state that while people were a lot less familiar with concepts such as phishing around this time (2012), it just goes to show how important it is to hire the right person for the job.

When to go to an attorney for identity theft help

While attorneys are great at doing their jobs, that job is not identity theft restoration (most of the time). There are unique cases where some law offices do specialize in helping victims of cyber-threats. Just like doctors, most attorneys specialize in specific areas—and the growing number of fraud cases has created a demand that these lawyers are starting to fill.

Still, identity theft threats and techniques are constantly changing. So, if you are going to hire an attorney, do your research to make sure that they are more than capable of helping you recover the right way. The last thing you want is for them to make matters worse.

Other alternatives to help you recover

1. Our Services

If you are a victim of identity theft and need assistance, we do offer both restoration and prevention services.  My team and I have years of experience working with identity theft victims just like you. While other companies tell you what needs to be done, we do all the work for you. We’ve discovered what works and what doesn’t to create the most efficient methods off recovery while also minimizing your risk of ever becoming a victim again.

Kerskie Group offers a free 30-minute call to discuss your case.

2. Learn how to do it yourself

If you prefer to work at your own pace and would like to know how to protect yourself and recover if do experience fraud or identity theft, check our training page. We’ve put together all the various methods we use to help our clients into easy to understand, individual step-by-step guides.

You can also check out all our free content by searching our blog page or subscribing to our YouTube channel.

Lastly, we also offer a free monthly newsletter. Sign up and we’ll send you our privacy-mentor tip sheet that contains a handful of different steps to take to help you increase your preparedness against identity theft, fraud, and cyber threats right away.