Ways In Which The Id Theft Deterrence Act Can Aid Victims Of Fraud
According to studies done by Gartner Inc only one in seven hundred people who commit identity theft are ever caught and brought to justice. In Oregon recently it seems like they may have caught the one.
Associate Press News Service reported that one identity thief showed up at a local bank in order to cash another fraudulent check. What gives this story such a weird twist is the person he victimized turned out to be the one that apprehended him. It seems that person was there at the exact time disputing the bogus charges showing up on his financial statement.
Regrettably for most people who have been the victims of identity theft the chances of physically apprehending the person doing the stealing are very slim. Identity theft and fraud affects eight to nine million people every single year. While certain forms of identity theft like check fraud are on the decline the same cannot be said for other types like phishing websites which have seen a sharp increase. The innovations in technology are making identity fraud a whole lot easier.
For instance cell phone users may be feeling the pinch thanks to downloading certain applications which have the capability of stealing any personal information you may have stored (like online banking logins and passwords)and routing it to a remote server where identity thieves are waiting to record the information.
The good thing is there is an excellent resource at your disposal. In 1998 The U.S Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. This law made identity theft a federal offense and with it comes stiffer penalties any time identity thieves are caught and found guilty.
This also in addition put the Federal Trade Commission at the vanguard of battling identity theft. The FTC and specifically their web site is filled with information such as preventions tips, videos and news item updates. Over the past decade they have performed a tremendous job in their work to inform the public at large on exactly how embedded this crime has become in our society as well as the measures necessary to safeguard from it.
A vital feature was the creation of the Identity Theft Clearinghouse data source. This is an online repository built to help local as well as federal law enforcement. All complaints regarding identity fraud are promptly put into the database that is updated continuously.
One other thing this law has accomplished is to help consumers with any credit issues they may have trouble resolving. Even if they know you’ve been victimized credit agencies for whatever reason are still slow moving in regards to removing it from your personal records. This process will often get speeded up once you have the United States government supporting you.
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