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Consumer Protection During my time in Congress, I have worked hard to provide sufficient consumer protections to South Dakotans and fight the growing crimes of identity theft and fraud. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that identity theft topped its annual list of consumer fraud complaints, comprising accounting for 255,000 of more than 686,000 complaints filed with the agency in 2005. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act), which we helped lead through the Senate, creates a number of new programs to stem the tide of identity theft and protect the billions of dollars that victims, as well as the banking and credit industries, lose to ID theft each year. The FACT Act, which took effect in 2005, requires financial companies to help victims of identity theft and creates a number of programs to increase financial literacy among consumers. Previously, victims of identity theft had only two years to bring actions for violations—often before identity theft victims even knew there was a problem. This legislation extends that time period, allowing victims two years from the date they discover the crime or five years from the date of the crime itself to deny their financial liability. Moreover, the FACT Act ensures that every consumer can receive one free credit report each year. By reviewing credit reports annually, consumers can determine whether there are any inaccuracies, whether they are accidental or result from identity theft. As well, I am a sponsor of the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act (S.153) to increase criminal penalties for aggravated identity theft. The FTC’s report also found that Internet-related complaints accounted for nearly 55 percent of all complaints in 2003, up from 45 percent in 2002. I am hopeful the CAN SPAM Act (S. 877), which became effective on the first of this year, will help reduce some of that fraud by targeting unsolicited commercial e-mail messages, many of which contain fraudulent routing information or header information that is intentionally false or misleading. I will continue to encourage victims of identity theft and all other consumer fraud to report such crimes to the FTC online at www.ftc.gov. I am pleased that so many of our local banks and credit unions are already actively involved in helping South Dakotans improve their financial literacy, and I hope that the increased national attention on this issue will encourage people across America to learn how to take control of their personal finances. Read
my handout regarding identity theft
and obtaining your free credit report.
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