February 10, 2006

More than 60 percent of the people who reported being victimized by identity theft last year did not notify their local law enforcement agency. One reason for this surprising statistic, recently released in a Federal Trade Commission report on 2005 identity theft complaints, is because many states have not enacted laws that require law enforcement agencies to take a police report and investigate the crime.

“California leads the nation when it comes to critical privacy protection laws,” said Charlene Zettel, director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs. “California law [Penal Code section 530.6] enables California residents who believe they have been victimized by financial fraud and identity theft to request a police report -- regardless of whether the crime was committed in the victim’s location or somewhere else in the country.”

The most common type of identity theft is financial, in which the victim’s information is used to get access to credit or bank accounts. When this happens, the first steps for the victim to take are contacting creditors on fraudulent accounts, contacting the credit bureaus to place a “fraud alert” on credit files, and reporting the facts to the police. Filing a police report of identity theft is critical, as copies of the report are needed to clear up the damage done by the thief.

A less common occurrence is “criminal” identity theft, in which a criminal record is created using the victim’s information. This can result in repeated arrests and the inability to get a job, as well as credit problems.

“If you have been the victim of criminal identity theft, having factual documentation may just keep you out of jail,” said San Diego Sheriff Bill Kolender. “If a thief commits a crime in another person’s name, it is important that -- once the victim finds out -- he or she reports this to law enforcement so the evidence can be presented in a court of law to establish the person’s ‘factual innocence,’” he said.
California has enacted nearly 80 privacy protection laws during the past six years. “Having civil and criminal identity theft penalties in place and continuing to inform Californians on how to prevent the theft of their personal or financial information will help stem this invasive crime,” Zettel said.

A helpful Identity Theft Victim Checklist is available from the California Department of Consumer Affairs’ Office of Privacy Protection at www.privacy.ca.gov. There is also a Guide for Victims of Criminal Identity Theft. The California Office of Privacy Protection provides information, advocacy, training, and “best practice” guidelines for consumers, businesses and other organizations.
For more information on identity theft and other privacy issues, Californians can contact the Office at (866) 785-9663.

California’s advanced identity theft prevention and education efforts take front stage when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger presents the second identity theft summit, Teaming Up Against Identity Theft: A Summit on Solutions, on Thursday, February 23, 2006, at the Los Angeles Convention Center.