Identity Theft and Privacy Expertise of

Mari J. Frank

Thank you for your interest in our services as a consultant, mediator, expert witness or professional speaker. The following will give you a brief background of Mari’s expertise.

Mari is the author of the Identity Theft Survival Kit (Porpoise Press, 1998), the audiocassette series "Identity Theft Prevention and Survival", the book From Victim to Victor (Porpoise Press, 1998) and the booklet Privacy Piracy (Office Depot, 1999). She has also written a chapter in Protection Security, and Safeguard (CRC, 2000)She has researched and written extensively about privacy and identity theft issues, and has published numerous articles in various magazines and periodicals.

Additionally, Mari has testified before numerous congressional committees on privacy and identity theft in the California legislature as well as the United States Senate. She assisted in the passage of the new identity theft statute in California (Penal Code Section 530.5) as well as the federal Identity Theft Assumption and Deterrence Act, 18 USC 1028. She testified on numerous bills dealing with privacy and The Fair Credit-Reporting Act. One such bill became law in California in 1998 under Civil Code Section 1785.16 (dealing with blocking fraud information on credit reports).

On May 4, 1999, Mari was summoned to the White House (in Washington DC) by the Secretary of the Treasury to give a speech on Consumer Privacy and Identity Theft with the President, the First Lady and the Secretary of the Treasury. This speech was featured on CSPAN and was attended by members of Congress, the financial industry, and privacy advocates. You may see the photos at www.identitytheft.org under "Photo Gallery".

As a leading expert on identity theft and privacy, Mari was featured on 48 Hours, (two different segments) Dateline (Three different Segments), A& E’s Investigative Reports with Bill Curtis, NBC and ABC Nightly News, CNBC, Lifetime, and many more national and local television shows. Additionally she was featured in Your Money Magazine, U.S News & World Reports, the American Bar Association Journal, Good Housekeeping, Women’s World, the National Notary, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Daily News, the Orange County Register, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, and numerous other national periodicals. She has been interviewed on over 100 radio shows dealing with privacy and identity theft issues.

Additionally many law enforcement agencies and other governmental agencies have consulted with her, and the Association of Credit Bureaus in Washington DC interviewed me at length with regard to how to more effectively deal with identity theft victims. She presently serves on an Identity Theft task force with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. They are working with Judicial Council, the Attorney General’s Office, Social Security and many other governmental agencies to develop legislative proposals to deal with the many problems associated with privacy and identity theft issues. She is a member of the High Tech Crime Unit (Dot.Com Unit) of the Orange County, California’s Sheriff Department, and she has been asked to help establish an Identity Theft Task Force in Orange County, Ca.

Mari has been privileged to present numerous speaking engagements and workshops on privacy and identity theft. Some of these included: Key Note Speaker on the Platform with Attorney General Jane Reno at the High Tech Crime Conference in San Diego the International InfoWar Conference; The American Society for Industrial Security (Orange County,) The Northern California Fraud Association (Monterey), the Odyssey Conference (Palm Desert, Ca.) The Consumer Law Conference (San Diego), The California Consumer Advocates Conference; The California Alliance for Consumer Education (Los Angeles) Suffolk Law School Key Note Speaking (Boston); the Economic Crime Summit in St. Louis (Missouri); the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners; the Association of Fraud Investigators; The Los Angeles DA’s Office Gil Garcetti (Press Conference regarding the new laws dealing with identity theft); the California Association of Private Investigators; The American Society of Industrial Security (Detroit, MI), The Northern California Fraud Association, Chase Manhattan Bank (NYC),The Orange County Ca. Sheriffs Department, The Annual Conference of the Ohio Chief’s of Police (Columbus); The Annual Credit Union Fraud Loss Conference( Las Vegas); Los Angeles Sheriffs’ Department and dozens of other entities. .

Mari’s under-graduate degree is from the University of Wisconsin (Madison), her master’s degree is from Hofstra University in New York, her law degree is from Western State University College of Law, and her post-law school Certification in Mediation is from Harvard Law School (Certification in Negotiation and Mediation), McGeorge School of Law (Certification in Mediation) and Pepperdine Law School (Certification in Negotiation).

Mari has served as a privacy and identity theft consultant for Office Depot, Fellowes Corporation, ACE Insurance, Image Data Inc., The Association of Credit Bureaus, Privista and numerous other entities. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego, California.

Ms. Frank also consults as a privacy advisor for several corporations. Her office advises clients with regard to privacy policies, information protection practices and legal issues with regard to privacy and identity theft.

As a former victim of identity theft herself, Mari vigorously researched the issues of privacy and identity theft. Mari has served as an expert witness and mediator on several identity theft and privacy cases. As a practicing attorney/mediator and former litigator, she is familiar with the process of trial, however presently she limits her practice to negotiation and mediation services. A great deal of her time is spent on privacy and identity theft issues helping victims, companies and law enforcement across the nation.