MyCRA Specialist Credit Repair Lawyers

Tag: accc

  • Unqualified Legal Work Finished – Now To Just Refund All The Fees Charged And Pay All The Fines Imposed By The Court

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    Unqualified Legal Work Finished – Now To Just Refund All The Fees Charged And Pay All The Fines Imposed By The Court

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    “I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that diverse dates between the 14th of March 2010 and 30th of May 2011, at Bundaberg in the State of Queensland, Henry McKee did, contrary to section 24(1) of the Legal Profession Act 2007 engage in legal practice when he was not an Australian legal practitioner.”

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    “BENCH: Upon the finding of guilty, you are formally convicted of each offence. Each conviction is formally recorded. In determining penalty I take into account the maximum penalties provided under section 24 and section 25 of the Legal Profession Act of 2007. I take into account the provisions of section 9 of the Penalties and Sentences Act of 1992.”

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    “I make a further order that you pay to the proper officer of the Court a sum of $10,000 as compensation on behalf of Otto Karol Hundert within 14 days from today and in default of payment levy is to be made by execution against goods and chattels that you own.”

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    In addition to the above, further fines and costs were awarded against the Defendant. (Legal-Services-Commission-v-McKee)

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    In Queensland, it is against the law to engage in legal practice or to offer to do so if you are not a legal practitioner. The aim is to “protect the public interest in the proper administration of justice by ensuring that legal work is carried out only by those who are properly qualified to do so”

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    “To engage in legal practice means to do legal work.”

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    Our review of case law indicates that legal work means:

    1. that you claim to have a greater knowledge of the law or skill in legal matters than the ordinary person; and
    2. you apply that knowledge and skill to a particular person’s problems.

    It doesn’t matter what you describe your work as, but whether you are applying legal knowledge and skill in doing the work.

    The work you actually do might be reviewing a matter and then giving advice on what has happened in the past or what to do next; writing letters, preparing forms, preparing court documents, appearing in court. What is important is whether your knowledge and skill are being used to guide the work that is being done beyond simple clerical tasks in filling out forms.

    Filling out a form may not be legal work but suggesting what to say and how to say it is more likely to be legal work.

    Click HERE to go to the next article in this series.
    (Do Credit Repair Businesses Offer To Provide Legal Services?)

    Click HERE to learn more.
    (Why Credit Repair work is, by its nature, legal work (and thereby reserved for lawyers))

    Click HERE to learn more.
    (‘I Am Not A Lawyer And [I] Do Not Give Legal Advice’ said the ad – OH YES YOU DO, said the Court)

    Click HERE to learn more.
    (What Sort Of Work Constitutes “Legal Work”?)

    Click HERE to learn more.
    (What Constitutes “Legal Work”? (EXPANDED CASE NOTES))

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    About The Authors:

    Graham Doessel CEO of Legal Practice Holdings & MyCRA Lawyers in conjunction with Patrick Earl, Senior Solicitor of Armstrong Doessel Stevenson Lawyers, a division of Legal Practice Holdings

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  • “Huge” increase in identity theft from scams: ACCC

    scamScam report numbers have ballooned to a massive $89 million lost to scams in Australia, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Dating and romance scams topped the list of financial losses and the ACCC reports a “huge” increase in identity theft numbers from scams. We look at the details of the ACCC’s report, as well as which scams have taken the most victims. Be scam-savvy in order to protect your finances as well as your identity. Identity theft through scams, or any means can lead to credit file misuse, so it is important to know how to look out for scams as a way of maintaining your clean credit rating in this day and age.

    By Graham Doessel, Non-Legal Director MyCRA Lawyers www.mycralawyers.com.au.

    The ABC News Report ‘Scams cost Australians $89 million in 2013, says Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’ says the ACCC figures show a 10 per cent spike in scam reports last year, as well as an alarming trend in phishing and identity theft.

    Out of a total of 92,000 complaints received – losses amounted to $89 million. The ACCC’s Targeting Scams Report shows Australians lost $25 million to dating and romance scams with only 2,777 losses related to this type of scam.

    According to reports the most complained about scam was advance fee-upfront payment scams, where consumers are typically asked to make a payment with their credit card to access a bogus refund, prize or other kind of reward. More on this report:

    ACCC deputy chairwoman Delia Rickard says the figures are only a small snapshot of how much money people are losing to scams.

    “We talk to other agencies, and work is being done so there will be a central repository of all reported scams in Australia but that’s not in place just yet,” she told the ABC.

    “So we know it’s significantly more than the $89 million that was reported to us.”

    …Ms Rickard says she is very concerned about the “huge increase” in phishing and personal identity theft.
    “These can take all sorts of forms but usually it might be ‘fill in this survey and you could win a $50 voucher’ and you go to fill in the form and it will ask you for a range of private things with your name, age, address,” she said.

    “It might ask for your credit card details so they can deposit winnings into it, Medicare numbers, passport numbers.

    “What scammers do is they then use this information to impersonate you to open all sorts of accounts, run up debts in your name, drain your bank account.

    “So people really need to learn the importance of that personal information and not give it out unless they’re absolutely clear about who they’re dealing with and it’s clear why that person will need that information.”

    Identity theft including credit rating misuse can be pretty lucrative for fraudsters. In addition to your regular ‘scam’ fraudsters may also tack on a request for personal details, which signifies an attempt to misuse those details in the future, possibly for identity theft purposes. Requests for full names, dates of birth etc may leave victims vulnerable to identity theft.

    Fraudsters may also ask these questions:

    • With whom do you bank?
    • For how long?
    • What is your credit card number?
    • What is your driver’s licence number?

    If fraudsters have a person’s full name plus who they bank with, and what their driver’s licence number is they have the basic building blocks for an identity theft attempt. They can call the bank and have some kind of identity information on which to proceed with accessing bank accounts AND accessing further credit in your name.

    Sometimes you may not know you have been a victim until after you apply for credit and are refused.

    By that time, it is a struggle to recover your good name. For an identity theft victim to have a chance at removing bad credit history, you must prove you didn’t initiate the credit in the first place. This can be difficult if the scam happened months or years before.

    What to do if you are a victim of a scam

    1. Contact the Police immediately. Don’t be embarrassed or dismiss it because you don’t think the amount was significant enough. It is only through identity theft being reported that data gets collected and appropriate preventative measures eventually get put in place.

    2. Contact your Bank. They should be able to flag your accounts so that no credit can be obtained in your name.

    3. Contact the credit reporting agencies that hold your credit file. In Australia, this is Veda Advantage, Dun and Bradstreet and TASCOL (if in Tasmania). You should inform them that you may be at risk of identity theft and they may have a plan of action for protecting your credit file.

    4. At this time, you should also order a copy of your credit report. If there are any inconsistencies on your credit report – change of address, strange credit enquiries and instances of credit you don’t believe you’ve access, then you may already be a victim – and should do all that’s possible to follow up on each account so as not to accrue defaults on your credit file that should not be there.

    5. If you find you have defaults that shouldn’t be there, take steps to remove them. Although it seemed so easy for the fraudster to use your good name in the first place, you are now faced with proving the case of identity theft with copious amounts of documentary evidence in order to get the credit listings removed from your credit file.

    If you have neither the time nor the knowledge of Australia’s credit reporting system and credit legislation that you may need to fight your case yourself, you can seek the help of a professional credit dispute firm.

    Visit www.mycralawyers.com.au for more information on identity theft and bad credit or call us on 1300 667 218.

    The latest information about scams and tips for consumers can be found at the ACCC’s ScamWatch website, and you can also subscribe to alerts there:  www.scamwatch.gov.au.

    Talk to us about disputing your credit report

    Image: Stuart Miles/ www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  • Slam Scams! Surge in phone scams reported in Australia

    To continue with passing on information from the Fraud Week campaign we look at phone scams – the most popular form for delivering scams in Australia, now apportioned to over 50 per cent of the overall scams reported. All Australians need to know that their personal information is as valuable as their bank account details. Giving personal information or account details over to people who call on the telephone could leave people vulnerable to identity theft and potential credit file misuse.

    By Graham Doessel, Founder and CEO of MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs and www.fixmybadcredit.com.au.

    The Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce is urging Australians to slam the phone down on scams following a surge in reports of scams delivered over the phone in 2011. Read more at: Phone No. 1 choice for scam delivery: ‘Slam Scams!’ Fraud Week campaign.

    A report released yesterday by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) titled 2011 Targeting Scams revealed a significant shift in scam delivery methods. Whereas the trend in recent years has been for scams delivered online, in 2011 over 50 per cent of scams reported to the ACCC were perpetrated by phone.

    The ACCC says consumers and small businesses contacted them almost 43,000 times in 2011 to report scams they had received by phone. Australians lost over $27.7 million dollars to these scams throughout the year.

    Common phone scams reported in 2011 included:

    Callers pretending to be from government: In 2011 the ACCC saw large numbers of advance fee scams initiated by telephone. Many involved scammers posing as representatives from government departments, for example offering fake grants, rebates or refunds in return for up-front payments.

    Callers pretending to be from companies: In 2011 it was also common for scammers to pose as staff from well known companies and organisations asking for personal details, payments or remote access to the victim’s computer. Scammers posed as representatives from banks, computer companies like the recent Microsoft Phone scam, telecommunications services, postal and logistics services, and solar panel installers.

    Scam SMS: Text messages are also commonly used by scammers to send competition or prize scams. Scammers often try to snare many people with one SMS sent en masse – this is known as spamming. Scammers may request personal details or payments in scam SMS messages. If you respond, you could also be charged at premium rates or find yourself signed up to a costly subscription service.

    Personal information is a valuable commodity. Remember – if someone is calling YOU they should not need to request personal information. If in doubt – hang up!

    The ACCC gives this advice for protection against phone scams:

    “Be cautious if you are contacted by someone claiming to be from government or a well known company and they request personal details or up-front payments.

    If you are in doubt about the authenticity of a call, don’t commit to anything. Instead hang up and call the company or government department directly using their official customer service number to verify that it is genuine. Never use contact details provided by the caller, instead find the number via an independent source such as a phone book or online search.
    Never confirm or provide personal details, credit card numbers or other account information over the phone unless you initiated the call and trust the other party.

    If you receive a phone call out of the blue about your computer and requesting remote access – hang up – even if they mention a well-known company. Never give an unsolicited caller remote access to your computer.
    Remember that you can still receive scam calls even if you have a private number. Scammers can obtain your number fraudulently from black-market sources,” the ACCC says.

    If people think they may have given out personal information or account details to scammers, they should contact the Police immediately. They should also contact their financial institutions to let them know they could be a potential identity theft victim.

    They should also contact the credit reporting agencies and request a copy of their credit report. A credit report is free every year and will alert people to any changes on their credit file that they didn’t initiate. They may also be able to ‘flag’ their account to stop activity while the possible identity theft is being investigated.

    For help with restoring your credit rating and to remove bad credit history contact MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs on 1300 667 218 or www.fixmybadcredit.com.au.

    Image: Andy Newson / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  • Thousands of Christmas flights won’t be honoured

    Media Release
    4th November 2011

    Australian travellers may be left stranded at the airport holding bogus airline tickets at Christmas time after suffering at the hands of scammers.

    A government agency has warned Australians about cheap flight deals through fake travel websites which have travellers believing they have purchased legitimate airline tickets, but all they have done is been skimmed of their money and left vulnerable to identity theft.

    With a current warning issued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s SCAMwatch website (www.scamwatch.gov.au ) for flight booking scams, a national credit repairer, MyCRA’s, Graham Doessel says people could find it is more than just Christmas that is ruined.

    “It’s all bad for these poor scam victims. At best they can be left with no holiday – but at worst fraudsters can take their personal details and use them to construct a fake identity which would allow them to borrow in their name – the ramifications of that can last for years,” Mr Doessel says.

    SCAMwatch says it has received a number of reports of fraudulent traders who have copied the ABN and look of legitimate travel websites.

    “Some victims have lost in excess of $1000 for fake international flight bookings, while others report instances of identity theft after interactions with the fake trader,” the SCAMwatch website warns.

    Currently the Australian Crime Commission sites identity theft as the fastest growing crime in Australia, and a recent study presented by the Attorney-General’s office revealed 1 in 6 people have had their identity stolen or misused in some way.

    Identity theft occurs when criminals use a person’s personal details, usually to obtain credit in their name. The benefits can be lucrative, gaining access to large amounts of credit – enough even to mortgage a property in the victim’s name. It is often not until the victim goes to apply for credit in their own right and are refused because of credit rating defaults they didn’t initiate, that they realise they have had their credit file misused.

    “Unfortunately identity theft can turn the victim’s life upside down. Adverse listings can be difficult to have removed, simply because it is up to the victim to prove to creditors they didn’t initiate the credit,” Mr Doessel says.

    MyCRA advises people to take these precautions when booking travel:

    – Be wary of any offer that comes via an unsolicited email.

    – For legitimate-looking websites, check the URL is correct for that company. If it looks suspicious – it may be a fake. Do the research on the airline or travel agency’s own website or contact the company directly to verify details in the offer.

    – Never make the purchase through a link in an email.

    – Take five minutes extra to research the company that is offering the deal to ensure they are genuine.

    – If the flight seems too cheap – it may be a fake.

    – For people who think they may have fallen prey to a scam, they should  contact Police, and if they think their personal details may have been compromised – obtain a copy of their credit file.

    Australians are able to obtain a free copy of their credit report every 12 months from one or more of the credit reporting agencies.

    “If someone suspects fraud, their credit file could show changes, which if detected early, would prevent their good name from being ruined. If there are any unusual credit enquiries, or some attempt to alter personal contact details this should be a red flag. People should alert creditors to prevent their credit rating from being ruined and protect their ability to obtain credit in the future,” he says.

    For more information on identity theft, people can visit the MyCRA Credit Repairs website www.mycra.com.au.

    /ENDS.

    Lisa Brewster – Media Relations   media@mycra.com.au

    Graham Doessel  – Director  Ph 07 3124 7133

    www.mycra.com.au www.mycra.com.au/blog 246 Stafford Rd, STAFFORD Qld

    MyCRA Credit Repairs is Australia’s leader in credit rating repairs. We permanently remove defaults from credit files.

    Image: Free DigitalPhotos.net

  • Experian given green light by ACCC to enter Australian credit reporting

    Credit active individuals will have yet another company to contact when obtaining their credit history, and it will be as important as ever for people to check their credit file regularly.

    There is a new player in the credit reporting game, and it has some of Australia’s biggest lenders as its shareholders. Back in May, we blogged about the possibility of U.K. giant Experian entering Australian credit reporting, and speculated on what the issues may be for credit file holders in this country.

    Today newly appointed ACCC Chairman, Rod Simms announced his approval of Experian’s entrance into the Australian market. The Sydney Morning Herald ran a story titled Experian is allowed to report for duty. The article says Experian will challenge the other two major credit reporting agencies, Veda Advantage and Dun & Bradstreet for Australia’s major credit reporter.

    “The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman yesterday decided there would be no substantial lessening of competition if Experian became the third sizeable in the Australian market – even if the big four banks and two other big US-backed lenders (Citigroup and GE Capital) are minority shareholders.

    Veda and the Dun and Bradstreet group have been the big players until now, and the banks are among their largest customers. There was a fear that the banks now have a financial incentive to put all their business through Experian, or at least choke off the supply of customer credit information to service providers that will in future be competitors.

    Sims and the ACCC accepted the banks’ argument that their backing of a new entrant to the market in Experian was in fact designed to increase competition by adding some pricing tension for services,” the article says.

    So where do consumers stand amongst this change? According to the ACCC, they are in an improved state. They acknowledged Experian’s argument that the benefits to having a new credit reporting agency like Experian, is the greater competition for accuracy and efficiency that will result.

    In addition to this, Australia’s move to new positive credit reporting laws will be enhanced by a company like Experian which is experienced in this type of data collection in the U.K.

    But what about the accuracy of credit reporting – will this be enhanced?

    Currently, there are several pieces of legislation, including the National Consumer Credit Protection Act and the Credit Reporting Code of Conduct 2009 which have gone a long way to improving the accuracy of credit reporting, by imposing tougher penalties for creditors who don’t comply with the Acts. The ACCC Chairman, in all likelihood probably found that legislation was strong enough to combat any conflict of interest that could have resulted from having the creditors also being minor shareholders in the credit reporting agency.

    Whilst Experian will be bound to comply with this legislation as the other agencies are, the onus is on the consumer to check the accuracy of their credit report. This is where the system could fall down – through simple lack of public education. Yearly credit file checks are currently not in abundance for most credit active individuals. When disputing any adverse listing, it is up to the credit file holder to provide reason as to
    why the creditor has not complied with legislation if they feel there are errors on their credit file.

    Current statistics from Choice Magazine from 2004 point to up to 34% of credit files in Australia likely to contain errors.

    What is concerning, is that many creditors are getting away
    with not complying with Australia’s strict credit reporting legislation because consumers are simply not checking their credit file for errors. People are only finding out about any defaults, writs or judgments on their file when they apply for credit. This guarantees them an automatic decline with the bank and leaves them angry and stressed if they feel the listing should not be there.

    If more was done to educate consumers as to their right to check their credit file for free every year, then people would have time to repair any errors when it is not urgent. It could also increase pressure for creditors to enhance the accuracy of credit reporting.

    Is there a conflict of interest in terms of accuracy when many major Australian creditors will be small shareholders in the credit reporting agency? The ACCC found this was not the case.

    Currently people can obtain a copy of their credit file for free every 12 months from one of the Australian credit reporting agencies, Veda Advantage, Dun & Bradstreet or Tasmanian Collection Services.

    We recommend everyone should be concerned about the accuracy of their credit file. A yearly check should provide a picture as to its accuracy, and allow them the opportunity to redress any errors which present on their file prior to needing credit.

    And for borrowers whose lender requires a credit check to
    secure finance? We predict their application fee just got more expensive with the introduction of the new agency – potentially paying for three or four credit reports instead of two to three.

     

  • NATIONAL CONSUMER FRAUD WEEK – SCAMS: IT’S PERSONAL

    This week has been National Consumer Fraud week, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) have themed this year as ‘Scams: It’s Personal’.

    “While the overall financial cost of scams is high, we should not overlook the personal toll experienced by individuals who fall victim to these crimes.” Deputy Chairman of ACCC Peter Kell said.

    As anyone who has ever been a victim of identity theft or scams of any form will tell you – the cost is huge both emotionally and financially. And it is damn personal.

    Once some innocent person has taken the bait, fraudsters have the opportunity to financially ruin their victims.

    In my line of work I deal every day with people who have defaults on their credit file. Defaults remain on someone’s file for 5 years unless they are removed due to the help of a credit file repairer.

    Identity theft and scam victims have no easier time having the defaults removed from their file. They still have to fight tooth and nail to prove themselves, and still may only have the defaults marked as ‘paid’.

    MyCRA works hard every day to help people in these situations get their finances and their lives back on track after they have been victims of fraud by helping to get those defaults removed.

    However, prevention is better than the cure.

    We recommend consumers go to the ACCC website http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/815401

    Sign up to scam WATCH which has a host of relevant information, including details of current scams in AUSTRALIA. Read the ACCC’s book The little black book of scams which highlights the latest scams and how to go about protecting yourself.

    Be educated about scams in your every day dealings both on and off-line and help educate your family and friends.

    If you have been scammed – don’t be embarrassed– report it straight away.

    Consider yourself fighting if not for yourself but for the next person they may not scam because you have blown the whistle.

    Stay safe everyone!