Senators want new identity theft laws

Senators want new identity theft laws

Victims need federal protection from criminals, lawmakers say

ASSOCIATED PRESS


WASHINGTON, March 20 — Victims of identity theft need new federal protection from criminals who damage credit histories and reputations, lawmakers said Wednesday.

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TWO SENATE BILLS that Sen. Dianne Feinstein is seeking to combine would “plug the loopholes in our financial services system that allow identity thieves to thrive,” the California Democrat said.
The measures would limit information printed on credit card receipts, penalize credit card companies that issue new cards when a “fraud alert” is on file, help victims get financial records from companies and expand the authority of local law enforcement agencies to deal with identity theft.
Identity thieves have targeted more than one in five American families, said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who introduced the second bill based on laws in her state.

“We need a stronger federal role in protecting consumers,” she said. “When your identity is stolen it could be stolen from anywhere.”
Cantwell said that since Sept. 11, the possibility of terrorists stealing identity information has made Americans “painfully aware that ID theft can threaten more than our pocketbooks.”

Congressional investigators said this month that reports of identity theft have been growing rapidly, and the resulting credit card fraud has surpassed $1 billion annually.
The Federal Trade Commission is working with the three major credit-reporting companies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — to develop a system where consumers can put fraud alerts on their accounts with a single phone call to the agency, said Howard Beales, the agency’s director of consumer protection.

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