Justin Lavelle

#ShouldaBeenVerified: IRS Phone Scam Kingpin Gets 15 Years

Justin Lavelle

July 15, 2015

Continuing with our good news/bad news theme from our previous #ShouldaBeenVerified entry, we’re happy to announce that a kingpin of the notorious IRS phone scam that conned American taxpayers out of $1.5 million was caught and sentenced to 15 years prison time. Readers of our previous blog on this particular type of con might recall, however, that $1.5 million was just a small piece of the pie related to IRS phone scams.

GOP Debate: Know Your Candidate?

Justin Lavelle

August 6, 2015

Tonight’s Republican debates on Fox News (one for the top 10 polling candidates starts at 9:00 pm, another for the second-tier candidates begins at 5:00 pm) will feature sixteen different candidates. If you know anything about politics and politicians, then you’ll know that with that many candidates there are certain aspects of their personal history that they’d prefer you not to know about. Luckily, public data makes finding out about the rich, famous and powerful pretty easy.

ID Theft: 3 Ways to Avoid The Worst

Justin Lavelle

July 16, 2015

The FTC recently reported that out of all consumer complaints, identity theft once again topped the list of biggest aggravations in 2014. ID theft can take many forms and has many causes, from the increasingly large and well-publicized data breach events at government agencies, major retailers and hospitals to more mundane but just as damaging scams such as phishing emails from so-called Nigerian “princes." While an increasingly sophisticated software and services industry has emerged to help consumers defend their identities, it may be useful to review these three common sense steps first, to cover your bases.

Legal Term Tuesday: Alimony

Justin Lavelle

August 25, 2015

This is the latest entry in BeenVerified’s legal term library designed to help you better understand public record information, criminal records and related terminology. The information in this article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Last Tuesday we looked at divorce and its many legal facets. This week we’ll start to take a deeper dive into some of its many consequences, starting with alimony.

Legal Term Tuesday: Child Support

Justin Lavelle

September 1, 2015

This is the latest entry in BeenVerified’s legal term library designed to help you better understand public record information, criminal records and related terminology. The information in this article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. In addition to the equitable division of property and an agreement over the need for alimony, issues related to children are often the most time-consuming when finalizing a legal divorce.

Legal Term Tuesday: Divorce

Justin Lavelle

August 18, 2015

This is the latest entry in BeenVerified’s legal term library designed to help you better understand public record information, criminal records and related terminology. The information in this article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Whether a case for sorrow or relief, the dissolution of a marriage requires that one of the two parties involved need to file for divorce. A divorce is a legal decree that officially terminates a marriage.

Legal Term Tuesday: Indecent Exposure

Justin Lavelle

July 22, 2015

_This is the latest entry in BeenVerified’s legal term library designed to help you better understand public record information, criminal records and related terminology. The information in this article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. _ See something you shouldn’t have? You may have been the victim of indecent exposure. While indecent exposure in many states simply equates to the intentional exposure of the genitals in a public setting, other states, such as California, have a more nuanced law in place.

Legal Term Tuesday: Mortgage

Justin Lavelle

August 12, 2015

Tired of renting? Have your eye on a new pad with three bedrooms and a built-in swimming pool? Well, unless you’ve hit the lottery or have a Trust Fund, you’ll likely need some form of a mortgage in order to secure that dream home or property. That’s because a mortgage is a legal contract that allows for the transfer of a property in exchange for regular payments on a set schedule.

Legal Term Tuesday: Prenuptial Agreement

Justin Lavelle

September 9, 2015

This is the latest entry in BeenVerified’s legal term library designed to help you better understand public record information, criminal records and related terminology. The information in this article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. As we’ve covered in previous blog entries, divorce can be costly. This is particularly true for spouses with substantially more assets than their soon-to-be exes. While certain issues such as child custody can’t be resolved through these agreements, spouses with significantly more wealth and property coming into a marriage do have one tool available to them to help protect them during divorce proceedings: a prenuptial agreement.

Narcos: Escobar's Rap Sheet

Justin Lavelle

September 3, 2015

The newest hit Netflix series, “Narcos,” documents the rise of Colombian drug king Pablo Escobar and the US DEA agent tasked with bringing him down. As head of the Medellin Cartel, Escobar became an influential figure in his native Colombia, creating a vast system for the production and shipping of cocaine to wealthy markets. His rise was marked by bribery and violence, and only ended when Colombian agents killed him in 1993.

Justin Lavelle

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