04-28-97
08-14-95
Legislative updates to the Fair Credit Reporting Act were passed in late November, 2003, which could provide welcome relief to identity theft victims soon.
Consumer-friendly provisions of the bill include:
- Home mortgage applicants will automatically receive a copy of their credit score.
- Credit reporting agencies must fix erroneous information blamed on identity theft within four business days of receiving a police report, and must inform the creditor who generated the inaccurate information.
- The right for victims to get application and transaction data from firms that extended credit to identity imposters. This provision helps victims who often find they must do their own investigations before they can interest law enforcement in their case.
- Several measures designed to stop identity thieves from obtaining more credit using a victim’s information once a victim reports the ongoing crime to authorities.
- Requires credit grantors, such as retail store credit card suppliers, to take extra steps to positively identify an applicant if a “fraud alert” has been placed on a consumer’s credit file. Also stipulates that fraud alerts must now be supplied even when the grantors ask only for credit scores rather than screening full credit reports.
REMEMBER:
What does the identity thief want?The KEYS to becoming YOU. The identity-thief wants to become you - and the better you look on paper, the more likely you are to be a target. Everything usually starts with the thief's ability to access key information about you, such as your Social Security Card, driver's license, bank/credit account numbers, PIN(s), and passwords.
Where doesthe identity thief
find these KEYS?
All around you! Your wallet/purse, mail box, glove compartment, trash can, office/desk, computer and even directly from YOU.
Remember that the easiest way for an identity-thief to steal your identity is to ASK YOU FOR IT, posing as your bank, insurance company, doctor's office or other business you use.
Good Luck!
-The University of Oklahoma Police Department
With an ever-changing Internet, and over one hundred external "links" in this identity-theft presentation, dead links will pop up from time to time. We'd appreciate your feedback if you find any of our links to be outdated! — OUPD Webmaster
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The Police Notebook, Copyright © 2004,
the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma.
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Last updated by Richard Hamilton on .
Sponsor: OU Police Department — Developer: Richard M. Hamilton, OUPD
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