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Legal

Why You Should Consult With Consumer Fraud Protection Attorneys

Identity theft, credit card fraud, and consumer fraud are all at all-time highs right now. Unfortunately, as the victim of consumer fraud, you may still be responsible for fees incurred by someone else. Fortunately, though, consumer fraud protection attorneys are here for you to help you understand your liability, how to avoid paying massive amounts of money for someone else’s crime, and how you may be compensated if you have been a victim of consumer fraud.

What Does Consumer Fraud Protection Cover?

Consumer fraud is not limited to identity theft. If a seller or advertiser commits any unfair act or practice, deception, false representation, pretense, or promise, it is considered by law to be consumer fraud. Consumer fraud protection attorneys focus on the laws pertaining to these problems to help you avoid fraudulent activity and gain compensation if you’ve been a victim of consumer fraud.

Examples of Consumer Fraud

If you lose your credit card and someone else finds it and attempts to use it, they are now guilty of consumer fraud. If they present the card in person to make a purchase, you may only be liable for up to a $50 charge, which many card issuers will waive for you. You will not be held responsible for any charges at all if your card was used online or over the phone.

You may also be a victim of consumer fraud if a seller misrepresents a product’s materials in any way. This could include suppressing, concealing, or failing to disclose the presence of potentially harmful materials or misrepresenting the quality of the materials used.

Your Rights and Protection

In the case of credit or debit card theft, you must let your bank or credit card company know about the missing card within two days. If you fail to do this within the first two days but you do notify them within the first 60 days, based on the federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act, you may be responsible for up to $500 in losses. If, however, you fail to notify the bank or card company after 60 days or after your bank or credit card statement has been mailed, you may actually be responsible for all purchases and withdrawals made on the card.

If you are in this situation, discussing your case with consumer fraud protection attorneys may help you a great deal. In this case, you will consult with your attorney and determine the extenuating circumstances that prevented you from notifying the bank and building a case to decrease your liability.

If you claim to have notified the bank or credit card company within a reasonable time frame but they are unwilling to work with you, your consumer fraud protection attorneys may be able to help you create a paper trail and prove that you gave notice and that you should not be liable for any fraudulent charges on your card.

Keep in mind that in order to claim that you are liable for additional and/or unlimited costs, your bank must prove that additional loss over $50 would have been avoided by a timely notification. If you and your consumer fraud protection attorney can disprove this, you should be able to avoid any penalties.

Whether you’ve been a victim of identity theft or any other consumer fraud, you should not be liable for the expenses incurred due to fraudulent activity. You should not be forced to pay for items that were misrepresented to you when you purchased them, and you should not pay unlimited amounts of money if someone else steals your information. If you’ve been the victim of either of these or other consumer fraud activity, call consumer fraud protection attorneys today.