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Attorney General Mike
Cox announced a two-week statewide campaign to raise awareness of identity theft
among Michigan's senior citizens. From September 12 until September 25, 2005,
Cox is providing educational materials and prevention tips to seniors via radio,
newspaper, Internet, videos, DVDs, and community-based informational kiosks
TEN WAYS TO PROTECT YOURSELF
You can minimize the risk of being victimized by taking the following steps:
1. Never leave your purse or wallet unattended, at work, at restaurants, at
health fitness clubs, in your shopping cart, at church, at parties. Never leave
your purse or wallet in open view in your car, even when locked.
2. Destroy all checks immediately when you close a checking account. Destroy or
keep in a secure place, any courtesy checks that your bank or credit card
company may mail you. Shred all financial offers, statements, etc.
3. Reconcile your check and credit card statements in a timely fashion and
immediately challenge any purchases you did not make.
4. Limit the
number of credit cards you have, and cancel inactive accounts.
5 Never give any credit card, bank, or social security or other personal information to anyone
over the telephone or on the internet.
6. Minimize exposure of your social security and credit card numbers. If you are
asked for your social security number by a business (i.e. doctor's office) and
they already have that number on file, refuse to write it down somewhere again.
7. Safeguard your credit and debit and ATM card receipts and shred them before
disposing of them. (Most places of business now will print only the last
four digits of your card number, as now required by law)
8. Scrutinize your utility and subscription bills to make sure the charges are
yours.
9. Memorize your passwords and personal identification (PIN) numbers. Keep your
PIN numbers somewhere that only you know about, anywhere but with your credit
cards. Don’t give out your PIN. Identity theft is often traced back to
family members. You may be held liable if the financial institution can
show negligence on your part.
10. Keep a list of, or photocopy all credit and identification cards you carry
with you, including front and back, so that you can quickly call the issuers to
inform them about missing or stolen cards. Keep the list or copies in safe
place.
PROTECT
YOURSELF FROM THE PROTECTORS!
Many
organizations and companies are popping up across the country offering Identity
Theft insurance, forms, data and services or protection for a fee. Be careful and
cautious before investing any money. Make sure you are dealing with a
reputable organization/company and that there is value to what you are
purchasing, even when it is offered through your financial institution or a
credit agency .
IF YOU ARE THE VICTIM OF IDENTITY THEFT
In addition
to the brief information below, we highly recommend the following site for a
step by step process, including forms:
"What to do
if you are a victim of Identity Theft"
1. Report the incident to the police immediately. If you know where your
identification was stolen, or where the incident of fraud occurred, that would be the jurisdictions you would
want to
report it to. Insist you be given a complaint number. Although the state and
federal government have departments that handle identity theft, Michigan legislation
also allows you to file a complaint in your own jurisdiction. Keep a
record of date, time and who you communicated with, throughout your ordeal.
2. Report all stolen cards to the issuers immediately and if desired, request new cards be
issued. Follow up with written notification.
3. Notify your bank in the event your checks were stolen and request that your
account be closed.
4. In order to prove your innocence, be prepared to fill out affidavits of
forgeries for banks, credit grantors and recipients of stolen checks. They are
joint victims with you and may suffer a financial loss. An general
affidavit is available through the FTC but different agencies may still
request you fill out their form.
5. Contact the social security office if someone is using your social security
number to establish credit or new accounts.
6. All three major credit reporting agencies in the United States have Fraud
Assistance programs, with toll free telephone numbers. Report the theft of your
credit cards and request that your account be flagged to all three of the
following companies:
Equifax Credit Information Services, Consumer Fraud Division, P.O. Box 740250,
Atlanta, GA 30374. Tel: (800) 525-6285 Fax (770) 612-2518 www.equifax.com
TransUnion Fraud Victim Assistance, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634. Tel:
(800) 680-7289 Fax: (714) 447-6034 www.tuc.com
Experian, Consumer Fraud Assistance, P.O. Box 1017, Allen, TX 75013 Tel:
(888) 397-3742, Fax: (214) 390-3527 www.experian.com
The Free File Disclosure Rule under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) becomes effective on December 1, 2004. The Rule requires each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to provide consumers with a free copy of their credit report, at their request, once every 12 months.
An amendment to the federal
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer
reporting companies to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at
your request, once every 12 months.
(www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm)
outlines the nine month roll-out period beginning with the Western states on December1, 2004; explains the ordering process by Web, toll-free telephone number, and postal address; gives general information; and includes a copy of the standard credit report request form. The publication also will be available in Spanish.
ID
theft victims, officials call for more protection 03/27/05
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HB 6169 of 2004 (PA 457 of 2004)
Criminal procedure; sentencing guidelines; sentencing guidelines for
crimes of identity theft and obtaining, possessing, or transferring
personal identifying information of another with intent to commit
identity theft; establish. Amends secs. 14h & 16o, ch. XVII of 1927 PA
175 (MCL 777.14h & 777.16o).
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HB 6172 of 2004 (PA 458 of 2004)
Criminal procedure; statute of limitations; tolling of statute of
limitations in certain cases of or related to identity theft; provide
for. Amends sec. 24, ch. VII of 1927 PA 175 (MCL 767.24).
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HB 6174 of 2004 (PA 459 of 2004)
Consumer protection; privacy; certain violations of identity protection
act; create remedy in Michigan consumer protection act. Amends sec. 3 of
1976 PA 331 (MCL 445.903).
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HB 6177 of 2004 (PA 460 of 2004)
Crimes; electronic surveillance; capturing certain personal identifying
information without consent; prohibit and provide penalties. Amends 1931
PA 328 (MCL 750.1 - 750.568) by adding sec. 539k.
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SB 0792 of 2003 (PA 0452 of 2004)
Consumer protection; privacy; identity theft protection act; create.
Creates new act & repeals sec. 285 of 1931 PA 328 (MCL 750.285). TIE BAR
WITH: SB 0793'03SB 0796'03SB 0797'03SB 0798'03
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SB 0793 of 2003 (PA 0453 of 2004)
Criminal procedure; jurisdiction; crime of obtaining personal identity
information of another with intent to unlawfully use the information;
clarify. Amends 1927 PA 175 (MCL 760.1 - 777.69) by adding sec. 10c to
ch. II. TIE BAR WITH: SB 0792'03
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SB 0798 of 2003 (PA 0455 of 2004)
Consumer credit; other; denial of credit to identity theft victims;
prohibit. Amends sec. 3 of 1976 PA 331 (MCL 445.903).
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SB 1384 of 2004 (PA 0456 of 2004)
Crime victims; rights; right of victim of identity theft to obtain
police report of identity theft from law enforcement agency; establish.
Amends 1985 PA 87 (MCL 780.751 - 780.834) by adding secs. 4a, 33b & 64a.
TIE BAR WITH: SB 0794'03
These bills
make it easier to prosecute identity thieves by:
- Strengthening the
definition of identity theft (SB 792)
- Expanding jurisdiction options (SB 793)
- Extending the statute of limitations (SB 803)
They also help prevent
identity theft by limiting how social security numbers can be used, since
improper use of SSNs is one of the primary ways identity theft occurs,
specifically: (SB 795 and 657)
- Prohibiting the
public display of SSNs
- Prohibiting the printing of SSNs on health care cards, school ID cards
and other cards, badges, permits or licenses
- Encouraging privacy policies addressing the use and disposal of
documents with SSNs
- Limiting a company’s right to require a customer to disclose his/her SSN.
Pending Legislation
SB 309 of 2005 would require businesses to notify customers when
their personal information has been hacked or otherwise improperly revealed.
This is a growing national problem, and this legislation that could help
stem the harm caused by identity theft. Michigan consumers should have the
right to know when the security of their personal information has been
breached.
SB 377 of 2005 would to give Michigan consumers more control over their
credit reports. The bill would allow consumers to place a "security freeze"
on their credit files. By placing a security freeze on your credit file,
identity thieves can't get credit in your name even if they have your Social
Security number or other sensitive information. With a security freeze in
place, if a thief applies for credit in your name, the creditor will be
prevented from viewing your credit report. As a result the imposter's
application will be denied, stopping the thief in his tracks. Should you
wish to apply for credit, you will be able to use a special password to
temporarily lift the freeze and allow a creditor to review your credit file.
Four states already have enacted security freeze laws - Louisiana,
California, Texas and Vermont.
SB 0539 of 2005
Consumer protection; privacy; employer requirement for use of social
security number to access a computerized system; prohibit. Amends sec. 3 of
2004 PA 454 (MCL 445.83). Prohibits display in public and use of entire
social security number as the account number.
Real ID Act of 2005 as referred to the US Senate by the House (H.R. 418of
2005)
Other
reference sites
Federal
Trade Commission, 877-IDTHEFT, (977-438-4338)
www.ftc.gov,
www.consumer.gov/idtheft/, www.consumer.gov/sentinel/
Identity Theft Resource Center
http://www.idtheftcenter.org/
PIRG
Credit Report and Identity Theft Pages
http://www.pirg.org/consumer/credit/
Identity
Theft Resource Center 858-693-7935 www.idtheftcenter.org
Social
Security Administration Fraud Line 800-269-0271
CheckRite
800-766-2748
ChexSystems
800-428-9623
CrossCheck
800-552-1900
National
Processing Co. (NPC) 800-262-7771
TeleCheck
800-710-9898
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