Sunday, November 13, 2005

Be My Guest at a Sunday Mixer

. . . with Special Guest Speaker Rosalia Sepulveda!

If you are from the San Antonio area or will be in San Antonio on November 20th, you are cordially invited as my guest to a Sunday Mixer!

What: A life-changing and income-changing event where you can learn more about how to protect yourself, your family, and your business. Optional: Learn also how you can turn this Identity Theft Crisis into a business opportunity.

Where:

    Holiday Inn Select
    77 N.E. Loop 410
    San Antionio, Texas 78216
When:

    November 20, 2005
    Registration: 3:30 pm
    Presentation: 4:00 pm promptly
Cost:
    No cost for you as my guest, but be sure to mention that you are a guest of Etienne A. Gibbs!
Attire: Business


Testimonials of Real, Live, and Satisfied Members

Today I had intended to present The Origins of the Word "Phishing"; however, since I came across some testimonials that I thought you would like to know, I decided to do so now.

Tomorrow we shall be back on schedule.

Now here are the testimonials:

From Colorado:

    Mr. Harland Stonecipher,

    I wanted to share a story with you about my identity being stolen. I am extremely excited about our new Identity Theft Shield, and what it means to consumers.

    In 1986 I received a phone call at my office. A gentleman told me I was behind on my watch payment at his jewelry store. I explained to him that I had never bought jewelry from his store; more-or-less financed anything at his store. He asked if the social security number they had was mine, I verified it was. He told me I must be the one that owed them the money. I hung up and ignored the call.

    Two days later, I received a phone call from [an automobile dealership], stating I was behind on my Cadillac payment. I informed them that I did not own a personal vehicle, and that all I had was a company car. They asked me if the social security number they had on file was mine, and I confirmed that it was. He told me that I was the one who purchased the car, and that I either needed to bring the note current or they would pick up the car. I gave them my address and told them to feel free to pick up the car that I did not buy.

    It just so happened that the owner of the company I worked for was an attorney by profession. I told him about this and he told me to go to the credit bureau and look at my credit report. I did this only to find out that there were numerous bad debts, charge offs, etc., on my report. I told the person at the credit bureau about the two situations above. They told me they were going to do some research and would call me back. They called me back a couple of days later and asked me to come back down to the bureau at a specific time so they could review my file again.

    I went to the credit bureau, Chilton at the time, now Experian. I walked into the meeting room and there were nine people in the room. They asked me to be seated and the gentleman across the table from me proceeded to tell me things about my life that I was shocked at. I had never been in trouble with the law or anything like that, but was amazed at how much this gentleman knew. It got so intimidating, that I stood up and told the gentleman that the meeting was over. He asked me to sit back down and handed me his business card. He was with the Secret Service. He proceeded to tell me that they had checked me out ‘top to bottom’ and that I was ‘clean’. He informed me that my identity had been stolen.

    He explained how it happened. There was another ‘Larry Smith’ who was a credit bureau member and he had somehow gotten my information through the bureau. He started applying for a series of loans, using my social security number. He also showed my current address as his previous address on the loan applications.

    Due to my good credit, these institutions approved the loans. He had a Cadillac, jewelry, a sailboat, and other loans. He did not stay current with the loans. Therefore, all of these bad debts were reflected on my credit report. However, [the gentleman from the Secret Service] did not inform me, nor did I know, that there were two other credit bureaus called Equifax and TransUnion. These two reports were never corrected. Each time I applied for credit, I had to give my password to the people I was applying for credit with. This way they could access my file. At this time, the 1980’s, Equifax and TransUnion, were not key players in the business. Not that many companies used these two resources, so my loans were approved.

    The Secret Service did inform me that the person who stole my identity had been found, and that he was a key executive (white collar) in a water purification company in Plano, Texas. They arrested him and put him in prison for fraud.

    At the end of two years, the credit bureau, now TRW, ‘un-vaulted’ my file. The three credit bureaus started exchanging information, and before I knew it, my three credit reports were an absolute disaster! I no longer had the business card of the gentleman from the Secret Service, as two years had passed.

    I contacted TRW and explained what happened. They told me the process I needed to go through to correct the matters. For the next six years of my life I was miserable. I did everything the credit bureau told me to do, to no avail. I was paying interest rates on my mortgage at 9.25% when the market was at 7%. I was overpaying on everything I had. I was being declined credit, etc. I spent countless thousands of dollars because I was portrayed as somebody I wasn’t.

    The beginning of my second year in Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc., I was sharing this story with the managing partner of …our provider law firm here in Denver. He had me sign over power of attorney and took a personal interest in the matter. Within 90 days, my three credit reports were the way they should have always been, and there were fraud alerts on all of them.

    Today my mortgage is at 4.25%.

    As a victim of identity theft, I am acutely aware of the hardships that can be caused when a person’s identity is stolen. The addition of the Identity Theft Shield is just another example of Pre-Paid Legal’s commitment to stay in front of the trends. This product will continue to drive our company into massive momentum! Thank you for always looking for additional benefits for our members, and additional income streams for our marketing associates.

    In Equal Justice,

    Larry Smith
    Colorado

From Missouri:

    Just a note to let you know how pleasantly surprised and pleased I was with the service I received at (my provider firm’s) law offices.

    I contacted (my provider firm) in person without an appointment, only my file number.

    The receptionist immediately got a legal assistant. (She) asked me what my issue was and I told her “I’m a victim of theft of my identity and my personal property.” And I’m still a victim at this time while writing this note of appreciation to “thank” the receptionist and attorney for not hesitating to hear my problem with concern and promptness each one showed during our consultation.

    Mr. Clifford Osborne
    Missouri


    From Oklahoma:

      Dear Pre-Paid Legal,

      I wanted to take a moment to say thank you. Twice now I have had to contact Kroll due to an identity theft problem. On both occasions I was fortunate to speak with [the same gentleman]. He has been such a comfort to me. He has emailed me some information so we can get the ball rolling faster. I can’t begin to describe how aggravated I am about this entire situation. I’m so glad I have someone to call that I can trust to handle the situation. [He] has been very professional and so understanding; I can’t begin to thank him enough.

      Sincerely,

      Angela Wood
      Oklahoma






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