Hochman Cohen Torres

VIA EMAIL
Gabby [redacted]
Revdex.com
4747 Viewridge Ave. Suite 200
San Diego CA 92123
Email: [redacted]
Re: Complaint # [redacted] from [redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted]:
[redacted]
###-###-####...

(direct)
[redacted]
Please be advised that we represent Hochman Cohen Torres ("HCT") with respect to the
matters identified in your fax to HCT dated March 12, 2014, in which your office advised that it
had received a consumer complaint regarding HCT from [redacted]. Pursuant to your
request, the following information. is provided.
On January 31, 2014, in preparation for the new 2013 tax season, HCT prepared and
mailed a 2013 individual tax organizer to Ms. [redacted]. HCT later discovered that it had
mailed the package to her former address via first class mail (no tracking required) and
mistakenly failed to include the apartment number. Unfortunately, the tax organizer contained
the personally identifiable information of Ms. Sahasrabuddhe, necessary to prepare her 2013
income tax return, including her Social Security number and direct deposit account information.
As of this date, HCT has not received the original package back from the post office and is
unable to track the package.
Even though there was no evidence that any of the information contained in the tax
organizer has been compromised, HCT proactively decided to protect Ms. [redacted] by
offering her credit monitoring, identity theft consultation and restoration services for one year
through AllClear ID at no cost to her. We strongly encourage Ms. [redacted] to take
advantage of these resources by following the directions in the letter, which has been sent to her
separately.
HCT takes the security and privacy of the information in its control very seriously, and
has taken steps to prevent this type of incident from occurring in the future. We would be happy
to schedule a conference call with you to provide further information if this would be useful to
you. Should you have any additional questions or concerns, or require additional information,
please do not hesitate to contact me.
[redacted]Very truly yours,
[redacted]

Review: Every year, this business sends out tax planner packets to clients who had engaged them the previous year and in those packets they ask for a retainer to do the taxes for the current year. BUT, in the tax planner packet they include the full Social Security Number (all 9 digits), the birthdate, the employer names, mortgage information, a full list of financial institutions, wages, phone numbers, email addresses. There is NO reason to include such personal information when asking for a retainer. Then, they send the tax planner-retainer packets by regular US mail with NO TRACKING. This year, they made a mistake and sent my tax planner packet (they call it client organizer) to my old address and then they compounded the error by making a mistake in that address and then they sent it with no tracking, just a first class stamp on the envelope and then they also marked the packet in big bold letters IMPORTANT TAX INFORMATION ENCLOSED. The mis-directed packet was never forwarded, never returned to the sender, and is presumed missing and stolen after 4.5 weeks. Thanks to them, I am now a potential victim of identity theft.Absolutely ALL of my personal information has been compromised. When I called they said it is how they have been doing it for 30 years and were surprised that the mail was stolen. They claim they have now figured out a box to check so only the "last four of the social will show". But they do not seem to think anything else is wrong and they will continue to ask clients to verify their information each year and will not change their policy of mailing out tax planners. Even though I talked to them, it was clear they dont seem to understand that there is NO NEED to verify my birthdate and SSN each year. This a shoddy sloppy business which is operating like it did 30 years ago, they have put no though into what goes out in the mail. They have not grasped the magnitude of the identity theft problem and are guilty of gross negligence given the cavalier manner in which they sent my packet to the wrong address and then compounded the problem by including my personal information for the unknown thief. They have committed the "perfect crime" by compromising my identity and leaving me on my own to fight my battles for cleaning up the mess they created. After all I can't sue them for anything. Their position is this is how we have done it for 30 years and we have never had a problem. At a time when every business out there is truncating SSNs or not using them at all, and being very careful about identity theft for their clients, these guys continue to mail out such information with no tracking and no way to find it if something goes wrong and something did go wrong in my case. This business has violated the trust I placed in them.Desired Settlement: They should pay for the time and money I have already spent trying to stop potential identity theft. They should pay for any future damages after I have proof that my identity was stolen. They should pay for their gross professional negligence. Absolutely nothing can make up for the time lost, the anguish and the stress of dealing with dealing with identity theft. And this is something I have to monitor for the rest of my life given the egregious nature of the breach.

Business

Response:

VIA EMAIL

Gabby [redacted]

Revdex.com

4747 Viewridge Ave. Suite 200

San Diego CA 92123

Email: [redacted]

Re: Complaint # [redacted] from [redacted]

Dear Ms. [redacted]:

###-###-#### (direct)

[redacted]

Please be advised that we represent Hochman Cohen Torres ("HCT") with respect to the

matters identified in your fax to HCT dated March 12, 2014, in which your office advised that it

had received a consumer complaint regarding HCT from [redacted]. Pursuant to your

request, the following information. is provided.

On January 31, 2014, in preparation for the new 2013 tax season, HCT prepared and

mailed a 2013 individual tax organizer to Ms. [redacted]. HCT later discovered that it had

mailed the package to her former address via first class mail (no tracking required) and

mistakenly failed to include the apartment number. Unfortunately, the tax organizer contained

the personally identifiable information of Ms. Sahasrabuddhe, necessary to prepare her 2013

income tax return, including her Social Security number and direct deposit account information.

As of this date, HCT has not received the original package back from the post office and is

unable to track the package.

Even though there was no evidence that any of the information contained in the tax

organizer has been compromised, HCT proactively decided to protect Ms. [redacted] by

offering her credit monitoring, identity theft consultation and restoration services for one year

through AllClear ID at no cost to her. We strongly encourage Ms. [redacted] to take

advantage of these resources by following the directions in the letter, which has been sent to her

separately.

HCT takes the security and privacy of the information in its control very seriously, and

has taken steps to prevent this type of incident from occurring in the future. We would be happy

to schedule a conference call with you to provide further information if this would be useful to

you. Should you have any additional questions or concerns, or require additional information,

please do not hesitate to contact me.

[redacted]Very truly yours,