The main support group for any identity theft victim is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The commission aims to help the victims, warn the industry, and assist law enforcement groups in combating the crime. The commission also serves as the execution body of the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act.
During the implementation of the Act, it is important to have the coordinated efforts from the commission and the government. The victims of this crime do not only need local assistance but also the government's protection. Facilitation and sharing of information to the public and private entities is FTC's main role.
In order to fulfill its role, the commission has developed three major components: a toll-free hotline, an identity fraud complaint database, and a group for facilitating consumer education.
FTC's toll free identity theft hotline is 1-877-ID THEFT (438-8338). Victims of the crime can call this hotline and report their issues. The hotline is composed of a team of counselors and specially trained personnel who can provide help to victims by providing assistance on how to resolve credit-related effects for example. The counselors also log the complaints onto an Identity Theft database that is being shared to law enforcement groups. This way, authorities could have pertinent information that can be used to tract opportunists of crime rings.
The Identity Theft Data Clearing House is a database containing the detailed information taken from the calls reported through the Identity Theft Hotline. It contains a log of the reported complaints. The information will then be made available to law enforcement agencies nationwide through FTC's law enforcement website named Consumer Sentinel. The database also provides the authorities information on possible patterns of illegal activities, thereby making it easier to track identity thieves.
As a proactive method, the Commission also established a way to provide consumer education. They have coordinated with other government agencies in the dissemination of information for victims of id fraud and those concerned in preventing the crime. They have provided multi-media campaign ranging from print materials, mailings, interviews and finally, a website. FTC still continues to update even the private sector institutions, especially those involved in finance.
The Commission also distributed a 22-page educational booklet entitled Identity Theft: When Bad Things Happen to Your Good Name. The booklet contains information on what id theft is about, what the symptoms are, what to do when consumers fall victims of this crime, and how consumers can guard themselves against it. It also contains the resources on federal and state groups where victims can seek help. Since February 2000, over 100,000 copies of this booklet had been distributed to the public. Its online version also received over 142,000 hits from February to July 2000 alone. The site also contains links to testimonies, press releases, related state laws, and more importantly, a web-based complaint from which is directly linked to the Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse.
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Orignal From: Id Theft And The FTC
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