Every year on December 25th, Christmas is celebrated. Not so with Chanukah. Due to the transition of dates from the Hebrew calendar to the Gregorian calendar, the eight days of Chanukah fall anywhere in between the end of November and the end of December. It is not surprising that the dates of the two holidays may coincide.

Considering that many households celebrate the two holidays, it can become a huge undertaking to pay homage to both, yet it is doable and can be accomplished without skipping a beat!

Decorations and Holiday Preparations
Your decorations and color schemes do not have to clash: simply combine the colors of Christmas and Chanukah using the silver, gold, blue, green and red color pallet harmoniously. You can decorate the tree in blue and silver or gold or you can light the menorah with green, red and gold candles. Nothing is written in stone and can’t be amicably accomplished.

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Image by Thiru Murugan via Flickr

Find out what your next step should be once you realized your identity has been stolen. Read more in Part Two of Identity Theft – They Will Never Be Who They Say They Are from NRS.

Monitor Your Mail-box and Your In-box
Now that someone has assumed your identity, you will have to start going through your bills with a fine-toothed comb. Not only do you want to make sure that all of the bills that you were getting including the credit cards, utilities and bank statement are still coming to you, you will also want to review all of the charges to ensure that they are correct. Strange phone calls may start coming in. Be extremely cautious of the callers asking personal questions. Always ask who you are speaking to, why this information that they are asking for is important, and last but not least, what they are using this information for. It is your right to know. Should the caller not want to answer your questions, do not give answers – hang up! Nationwide Relocation Services consumer reports department will never call you to ask personal questions.

Prevent Them from Spreading Your Business
You are now in the final stages of your responsibility to notify the proper authorities. Did you know that you can put a stop to businesses reporting your credit statistics to a CRA (Consumer Reporting Agencies)? This would be a good idea considering the scammers that stole your identity are piling bills up in your name that you will now be disputing. Once these bills start coming in, immediately contact these creditors to inform them of your situation; let them know that you are willing to fully cooperate but that you will not be paying any of these bills.

This is Where the Plot Thickens
It can definitely take a long time in order for you to prove that you are the victim here. Don’t worry, everything will fall back in it’s place soon. But in the mean time, those charges that you are planning to dispute, may continue to grow. With this being said, you may be facing civil and criminal judgments and this is not a good thing. You already know that it was the ripoff artists, and not you that incurred all of these bills. So, how do you get yourself out of this one? You are going to want to contact the Department of Justice, they will be able to provide you information on how you can clear your name. They may also recommend that you contact an attorney at this point.

Protection Is Your Main Concern
Now that this horrific ordeal has occurred, it will prompt you to keep all of your documents in a safe place. Make sure that you have mailed the certified letters to each company that you spoke to. Keep the receipts with all of your other proof. You will want to purchase a safe or even a safety deposit box to hold important papers in from now on. Use a shredder for any old documentation that you no longer need (canceled checks, bank statements, credit card offers). Go back to some of the sites that were mentioned to you and make sure that you covered all of your bases. Last but definitely not least, try to stay positive. Although it may take a very long time to clear your name, everything you have done during this process will make it a lot easier to resolve this terrible situation.

Have you or someone you know been a victim of identity theft? Did you know what to do? Please share you story with us on Facebook.

Image by MattC. via Flickr

One should think twice before relocating without first having a job, especially when planning to move long distance. Due to the unemployment rate that is expected to remain between 9 and 10 percent this year, it will be very difficult, if at all to find a job. It is important to do all of the research that you can to making every attempt to have a position lined up before you make your move. Nationwide Relocation Services consumer reports department wants to let you know that it is okay to take your time to do the right thing.

You Have Options
Although you are moving to another state, it does not mean that you cannot start looking for a job from the comfort of your current home. The possibility of relocating within the current company that you are currently working for would be ideal. However, that is not always an option because, not every company is large enough to offer interstate company transfers. Don’t fret; there are many different ways that you are able to search and apply for employment within the area that you are planning to move to without physically being there. (more…)