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Legislative Issues

Identity Theft

In 2004, over 5650 residents of Washington State became victims of identity theft. To help address this growing problem, I recently hosted a Forum on Identity Theft in Shoreline, WA. This page is full of tips and advice from our panelists.

You may be interested to know that I am working in Congress on ways to protect your SocialSecurity number, and to require that you are notified if the safety of your personal information is compromised due to a security breach by a data-sharing company.

I have also written legislation designed to help prevent identity theft on your computer, called the Computer Software Privacy and Control Act (HR 4255). Currently many “Spyware” programs use the Internet to invade computers and take personal information without the user’s knowledge or permission, making them a valuable tool for identity thieves. My legislation will require a computer user’s notice and consent before personal information may be collected from your computer.

Click below to learn:

• TIPS to Avoid Becoming a Victim of Identity Theft
• TIPS to Prevent Identity Theft on Your Computer
• TIPS to Follow if Your Identity Has Been Stolen

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TIPS to Avoid Becoming a Victim of Identity Theft

• Do not carry your Social Security card, credit cards or other ID cards you do not need.
• Before throwing them away, shred: receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements, bank checks and statements, and expired charge cards.
• Do not give your Social Security number, mother’s maiden name or account numbers to strangers who contact you. Be cautious when responding to promotions; identity thieves may create phony promotional offers to get you to give them your personal information.
• Guard your mail from theft. Take outgoing mail to a collection box or your local post office, and promptly remove incoming mail from your mailbox. If you are planning to be away from home, call the U.S. Postal Service at 1-800-275-8777 to request a vacation hold.
• If a regular bill does not arrive on time, call the creditor to make sure an identity thief has not changed your billing address to keep you from discovering phony charges.
• Keep your purse or wallet in a safe place while at work.
• When ordering new checks, pick them up from the bank instead of having them mailed to you.
• Put passwords on your credit card, bank and phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information like your mother’s name, your birthdate,your phone number, etc.
• Use direct deposit for your paycheck, Social Security check and other regular payments you may receive.
• If you are a member of the military and away from your usual duty station, you may place a one-year active duty alert on your credit reports to help minimize the risk of identity theft while you are deployed.

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TIPS to Prevent Identity Theft on Your Computer

• Update your operating system and virus protection software regularly.
• Do not open files or click on links sent to you by strangers.
• Remember that identity thieves often “phish” for information by misrepresenting themselves in an e-mail and encouraging you to go to fake web sites asking for personal information.
• Use a firewall program.
• Use a secure browser to encrypt information sent over the Internet during online transactions.
• Do not store financial information on your laptop.
• Look for web site privacy policies when surfing online.
• Before disposing of any computer, delete all the personal information.

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TIPS to Follow if Your Identity Has Been Stolen

1. Contact the fraud department of any one of the three major credit bureaus to place a fraud alert on your credit file.
   The company you call is required to contact the other two companies, and they each will place an alert on their versions of your report. You may ask for an initial fraud alert, which will stay in your file for at least 90 days, or for an extended alert, which will stay in your file for seven years. If you ask for an extended alert, you will have to provide a copy of a report you have filed with a law enforcement agency, and possibly additional information.
   
   • Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; Address: P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA, 30374-0241
   • Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN; Address: P.O. Box 2104, Allen, TX, 75013
   • TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; Address: P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022
2. Close the credit card and bank accounts that you know or believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently.
   Follow up in writing, and send your letters with copies of supporting documents to the bank and credit card companies by certified mail, return receipt requested, so you can document what the company received and when. When you open new accounts, use new Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) and passwords. Avoid using easily available information like your mother’s maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your Social Security number, your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers.
3. File a police report with your local police or the police in the community where the identity theft took place.
   Get a copy of the report to submit to your creditors and others that may require proof of the crime.
4. Write to the consumer reporting agencies listed under tip number one (above), and ask them to block information in your file that you believe resulted from the identity theft.
   You must identify the information to block, and provide the consumer reporting agency with proof of your identity and a copy of your police report.
5. Be prepared for contacts from creditors who may want you to pay the debts of ID thieves who used stolen or fake checks to make purchases or pay bills in your name.
   Explain to them that you have been the victim of identity theft, and provide them with a copy of your police report. If this crime against you has already been prosecuted and you have obtained an Order Correcting Records (this is a Court Order used to correct public records damaged by identity theft), send the creditor a copy of the Order as well. Once the collection agency has been notified that the debt is a result of an identity theft, under the law the collection agency may not continue to call you. Although calls might stop, you may still be subject to legal action by credit agencies, but there are limits on what a collection agency can do to try to collect a debt from you. You can call the Washington State Attorney General’s consumer line at 1-800-551-4636 for more information about what to do in this situation.
6. Ask businesses to provide you with information about transactions made in your name.
   Businesses must give you this information, but they may require proof of your identity. If you need to obtain your fingerprints for this purpose, the Washington State Patrol provides this service for a fee.
7. Report the identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission.
   By sharing your identity theft complaint with the FTC, you will provide important information that can help law enforcement officials across the nation track down identity thieves and stop them. You can file a complaint online at: www.consumer.gov/idtheft. If you don’t have Internet access, call the Identity Theft Hotline, toll-free: 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338); or write: Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20580.