Web Site Launched to Fight Identity Theft

WACO, May 6, 2008 – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has launched a new, consumer-friendly Web site to help Texans prevent or minimize the damage from identity theft. Among the helpful tools offered on the new site,www.texasfightsidtheft.gov, is the Identity Theft Victim’s Kit.

“Identity theft is the fastest-growing white collar crime in America,” Attorney General Abbott said. “Victims whose credit is ruined or whose bank accounts are emptied because their personal information has been compromised must take immediate steps to repair the damage. Our new Web site contains helpful tools to help identity theft victims and Texans hoping to prevent identity theft.”

The Attorney General’s Identity Theft Victim’s Kit offers a step-by-step priority checklist that victims can use as soon as possible to prevent further damage. Once the identity theft has been confirmed, for example, victims should quickly close all bank, credit, utility and service accounts. Next, victims should contact one of the major credit bureaus and request that fraud alerts or security freezes be placed on their credit reports. This action prevents new accounts from being opened fraudulently under victims’ names.

Victims also should report identity theft to both local law enforcement officials and to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which provides an identity theft affidavit at www.consumer.gov/idtheft. Many creditors will accept this affidavit on victims’ behalf in lieu of a police report about the crime.

A recent trend among identity thieves suggests the criminal may use victims’ personal information to obtain a driver’s license, file for bankruptcy, seek Social Security benefits or apply for a passport. In such cases, the Identity Theft Victim’s Kit instructs victims to immediately contact any government agencies approached by identity thieves.

Videos describing similar incidents are featured on www.texasfightsidtheft.gov, along with testimonials of actual victims of identity theft. In these candid interviews, the victims share with others their struggles to restore their reputations.

The Web site unveiled today is the latest in a series of efforts by Attorney General Abbott to combat identity theft in Texas, a state the FTC ranks as No. 2 in reporting incidences of the crime. In March, Attorney General Abbott reached a sweeping settlement with CVS Pharmacy, Inc., that requires the nation’s largest retail pharmacy to overhaul its information security program to protect its customers from identity theft. In 2007, Attorney General Abbott took action against both CVS and RadioShack for improperly dumping customer records in publicly-accessible garbage bins. He also filed identity theft actions against Select Physical Therapy Texas Limited Partnership and its parent company, Select Medical Corporation, as well as Minnesota-based LifeTime Fitness for improperly discarding customer records.