Unemployment scams and bankruptcy in New York

“And hey.  Be careful out there.”

Though I may be dating myself with a quote from Hill Street Blues (the famous urban police drama), never has it been more appropriate for New Yorkers facing unemployment, credit problems and bankruptcy than it is today.

Recently the New York Times ran an article–”Online Scammers Prey on the Jobless“–that details how scams take advantage of people who are desperate for employment.  Just when you’ve got your back against the financial wall, someone comes along and steals your proverbial wallet.  One man from Jamaica, Queens is quoted saying:

“Looking back at the whole thing I was very, very naïve, but I needed a job so bad,” he says. “I’m behind in everything. I’m behind in my rent. I’m behind in all the bills I’m responsible for. It has wiped me out financially.”

The article mentions that the most common fraud schemes are:

1. Help for a fee
2. Fishing for identity data
3. Work from home and “Mystery Shopper” positions
4. Money-mule and Re-shipper positions

If you’re worried that an employment opportunity you found online may be a scam, a good resource according to the article is PhishBucket.org (http://phishbucket.org), a not-for-profit organization that has been tracking online job scams for three years.

If you’re worried about bankruptcy, or if you’ve been the victim of one of these scams and need legal and bankruptcy help in New York, feel free to get in touch for a free consultation to figure out all of your options and ways to protect your financial interests.

Note: Couldn’t find the orignal Hill Street Blues clip, so this number from Cop Rock will have to suffice:

Debt settlement company exposed by ABC News

“We’ll help you settle your debts for pennies on the dollar.”

Sound familiar?  Maybe you’ve seen these Credit Solutions ads on TV, on the internet or even in the New York subway.  ABC News recently ran a segment where they investigated Credit Solutions and the debt settlement industry, which revealed that the debt settlement company is essentially running a scam.

If you’re struggling with large credit card debts, promises like this that offer to quickly reduce not just your debt but also your stress level most likely sound very appealing.  The problem is that debt settlement companies like Credit Solutions (which happens to be the largest debt settlement company in the U.S.) aren’t able to actually help most people.

Of course, that doesn’t stop them from taking your money.  And they take it up front.  As the ABC News video shows, too many people have given money to debt settlement companies like Credit Solutions and then never hear from them again.  What’s worse is they tell their customers to stop paying their credit card bills (which also must sound very appealing).  So if you’re the customer already feeling financial stress, you’re out a couple thousand dollars and you still have all your credit card debt, except that now it’s worse due to accumulated interest and late fees.

Also, they’re not very transparent, so you’re taking a huge risk when you put your faith in one.  Sure, they do help some people.  But they’re cherry picking the best clients and ignoring the rest.  So even if you heard from a friend who had a positive experience using them, just remember that’s the exception to the rule.  It in no way means you’re going to get the same result.  So why take the risk?

Using a debt settlement company is penny wise and pound foolish.  If you’re looking for alternatives to bankruptcy in New York, make sure to deal with it properly from the start.  Otherwise you’ll likely end up spending a lot more money and time dealing with it down the road.

Get in touch to sit down and talk with us for a free initial consultation to learn all of your options–bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy– for dealing with debt.  And never pay anyone up-front to help you settle your debts.

How NOT to declare bankruptcy

A short (and funny) video from the TV show The Office that shows how not to declare bankruptcy–in Scranton, PA, in New York or anywhere else:

The real way to “declare” bankruptcy in New York is to file a petition with the Bankruptcy Court.

You might be surprised, however, to learn that most lawyers don’t actually go to the Bankruptcy Court to file a bankruptcy petition for their client.  That’s because you can do it all electronically now.

So in reality, if you want to declare bankruptcy, you sit down with your lawyer, your lawyer helps you fill out the form and gather the appropriate documents, and then your lawyer just clicks a button on the computer!

That means you can actually declare bankruptcy in New York in a very short amount of time if necessary.

Of course, you also have to choose between Chapter 7 and Chatper 13, but your lawyer will help you figure all of that out.

If you’re considering declaring bankruptcy in New York–Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Suffolk County, Long Island, or the greater New York metro area–I encourage you to get in touch for a free initial consultation.  I know bankruptcy can seem like an intimidating process.  But with an experienced and intelligent lawyer on your side, it’s all very manageable.