There
are few clearer violations of personal privacy than having your
identity stolen and used to commit a crime. Criminals often use
personal information to assume the identity of law-abiding citizens
and then take their money. It's high-tech theft. It is a national
problem that is even more acute in Arizona. The Federal Trade
Commission received over 13,000 fraud and identity theft complaints
from Arizona residents in 2003. Our state had the highest per-capita
rate of identity theft-related complaints in the nation.
To combat this problem, I sponsored the Identity
Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, to make it a federal crime
to steal a person's identity. That measure became law in 1998.
More recently, I cosponsored the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement
Act to provide law-enforcement officers with additional tools
necessary both to prevent identity theft when possible and to
vigorously prosecute the crime when deterrence fails. That measure
also became law and accomplishes the following:
� toughens mandatory penalties for identity theft
crimes committed in connection with serious federal offenses,
including terrorism;
� requires judges to impose the penalty enhancements
on top of the underlying sentence;
� adds Social Security fraud and theft embezzlement
by a bank officer to the list of crimes eligible for enhanced
penalties; and
� criminalizes possession of stolen or fraudulent
identification with intent to commit an unlawful act.
The act also strengthens the ability of law enforcement
to act against anyone who possesses stolen documents. (Prior to
enactment of the bill, federal law prohibited the transfer and
use of stolen documents, but not mere possession.)
1. Never provide telephone callers with your personal
information, including your Social Security number, date of birth,
mother�s maiden name, credit-card number, or bank PIN code, unless
you initiate the phone call or know the person or organization
you are dealing with.
2. Give your Social Security number only
when absolutely necessary. Ask to use other types of identifiers
when possible.
3. Sign all new credit cards upon receipt.
4. Memorize your Social Security number and all
your passwords. Do not carry a written record of them in your
wallet or purse.
5. Keep items with personal information in a safe
place. Tear them up when you don�t need them anymore. Make sure
charge receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms,
bank checks and statements, expired charge cards, credit offers,
and bills you receive in the mail are disposed of appropriately.
Consider purchasing and using a shredder, if you do not already
have one.
6. Empty your wallet of extra credit cards or IDs.
Cancel the cards that you don�t use.
7. Guard your ATM personal identification number
and ATM receipts. Never leave ATM receipts at bank machines, bank
counters, or trash receptacles. Retain them for your records or
destroy them.
8. Deposit outgoing mail in post office collection
boxes instead of your own mailbox.
9. Pick up your mail nightly. Don�t leave it in
your mailbox overnight or on weekends.
10. If regular bills fail to reach you, call the
company and find out why. Someone may have filed a false change-of-address
notice to divert your mail to his or her address.
11. If your bills include any suspicious charges,
don�t ignore them. Investigate immediately.
12. Order your credit report once a year to check
for fraud or other discrepancies. Consumers can order a free credit
report once a year by visiting http://www.annualcreditreport.com/
or calling 877-322-8228. For a small fee, a report is also available
from the three major credit bureaus: Equifax at 800-685-1111 or
http://www.econsumer.equifax.com/;
Experian at 888-397-3742 or http://www.experian.com/;
and TransUnion at 800-888-4213 or http://www.transunion.com/.
1. Contact the Social Security Administration�s
Fraud Hotline at 800-269-0271 if you lose your Social Security
card. The hotline is available daily between the hours of 10 a.m.
and 4 p.m. Eastern Time. You can also reach the Social Security
Administration online at www.socialsecurity.gov/oig;
by phone at 800-772-1213; or by mail at SSA Fraud Hotline, P.O.
Box 17768, Baltimore, MD 21235.
2. Report all lost or stolen credit cards immediately.
Contact all creditors by phone and in writing to inform them of
the theft.
3. Report lost or stolen checks immediately. Alert
your bank to flag your accounts and contact you to confirm any
unusual activity.
4. Contact your state�s department of motor vehicles
to request a new driver�s license. If you are an Arizona resident,
you can request a new copy of your driver�s license online at
https://servicearizona.com/duplicate.html.
Also, fill out a complaint form to begin the fraud-investigation
process if you believe your license was stolen.
5. Keep a log of all your contacts and make copies
of all documents. You may also wish to contact a privacy or consumer-advocacy
group regarding illegal activity. The FTC has added to its website
downloadable form letters and worksheets to guide consumers through
the proper procedures for preventing or repairing any damage.
The website can be found at www.consumer.gov/idtheft.
1. Take all five of the above steps.
2. Contact your local police. File a police report.
Get a copy of the report to submit to your creditors and others
who may require proof of the crime. For mail fraud, contact the
law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service, the U.S. Postal
Inspection Service. You can locate the district office nearest
to you by calling your local post office or visiting www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect.
3. Close the accounts that you believe were either
tampered with or opened fraudulently. To dispute transactions
on your account, ask the bank or credit card companies for their
fraud-dispute forms. You may not be held responsible for a fraudulent
transaction if you dispute it in a timely manner. Notify credit
card companies and banks in writing, by certified mail, return
receipt requested.
4. Call any of the three credit bureaus� fraud units
below to report the crime. Ask to have a �Fraud Alert/Victim Impact�
statement placed in your credit file before opening any new accounts.
Monitor the status of the fraud alert. You are entitled to order
free copies of your credit reports when you have a fraud alert
in your file. Follow up all reports of fraud to the bureaus in
writing, by certified mail, return receipt requested.
TransUnion
Fraud Victim Assistance Department
Phone: 800-680-7289
Fax: 714-447-6034
Post Office Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92634-6790
Equifax
Consumer Fraud Division
Phone: 800-525-6285
Fax: 770-375-2821
Post Office Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
Experian
Experian�s National Consumer Assistance
Phone: 888-397-3742
Post Office Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013
5. Contact the Federal Trade Commission�s Identify
Theft Hotline to file a complaint. The phone number is toll-free
1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338); the mailing address is Identity Theft
Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue,
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580; the website can be found at www.consumer.gov/idtheft.
Update your complaint if you have any additional information or
problems.
6. Keep records of all transactions and any expenses
incurred. Once a case is resolved, problems can recur. Moreover,
you may be able to obtain tax deductions for your expenses, or,
if the thief is convicted, you may be able to seek restitution.
7. For more information on how to guard against
or recover from identity theft, read �Take Charge: Fighting Back
Against Identify Theft,� which is available at www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/idtheft.htm.
