Demopolis Legal Issues Blog

Unassuming parties become victims of consumer fraud every day, all across the nation. Over the next few weeks, we will identify five of the most common types of consumer fraud, as well as discuss how they happen and what you can do to protect against them.

The first, and likely most common type of consumer fraud, is identity theft. In this crime, someone steals your personal information, including name, address, Social Security number, checking account number, or debit or credit card numbers. That person then uses your information to do any number of things. Those can include, but are not limited to, purchasing items using your account, applying for credit card accounts in your name, portraying themselves as you to commit insurance fraud, using your Social Security number to obtain a job, or applying for state or government benefits in your name with a different address. Again, this is only a short list of things that can occur. According to the Federal Trade Commission, as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year.

On Thursday, June 21, 2018, Marengo County DHR held an Elder Abuse and Awareness Health Fair at Linden Baptist Church in an attempt to educate the public on how to identify and prevent elder abuse. According to an article published June 20, 2018 in The Demopolis Times, elder abuse cases are frequently reported to Marengo County DHR. These can contain allegations of sexual misconduct, emotional or psychological abuse, financial exploitation, medical neglect, and housing negligence.

Elder abuse is on the rise, and many times can occur in a nursing home setting. In such a case, claims may be referred to as nursing home abuse, with the caretakers who are employed by the facility being the abusers. Dementia and Alzheimer's patients are particularly susceptible to these crimes, as their medical conditions tend to cause memory loss, often making any allegations difficult to prove.

When people suffer trauma, they often view their life in two parts: before the accident and after. Life can be drastically different after suffering an injury. It can affect every facet of a person's life, including health, work and everything in between. This is why personal injury claims exist, to recover compensation when an injury is caused by another's negligence.

Personal injury incidents happen every single day. Whether involved in a car wreck, an accident at work or some other incident that caused irreparable harm, these instances are often attributable to another's negligence. Negligence is something that happens when 'but for' another person's actions, the injury would not have manifested. People owe each other a duty to be careful and mindful of their actions, and businesses often owe people even more than that.

Compared with other drivers involved in fatal motor vehicle accidents, motorcyclists have the highest percentage of being drunk. That’s right. People who drink and drive must learn that their actions may lead to tragedy. Motorcyclists, especially, need to remember this and to please take better precautions.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration continues to compile statistics that are eye-opening, alarming and tragic. Sadly, alcohol continues to play a factor in the motorcycle-related accidents, injuries and deaths reported nationwide.