Is The Government Undertaking Anything To Protect You From Identity Theft?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the federal financial institution regulatory agencies have sent to the Federal Register for publication final guidelines on identity theft red flags and address discrepancies. discount flags. The final guidelines implement sections 114 and 315 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003.

According to a report of the Presidents Identity Theft Task Force, identity theft (a fraud attempted or committed employing identifying details of one more person without having authority), results in billions of dollars in losses each year to individuals and corporations.

The final rules demand each and every monetary institution and creditor that holds any consumer account, or other account for which there is a reasonably foreseeable risk of identity theft, to develop and implement an Identity Theft Prevention Program for combating identity theft in connection with new and existing accounts. The System must include reasonable policies and procedures for detecting, stopping, and mitigating identity theft and enable a financial institution or creditor to:

Identify relevant patterns, practices, and particular forms of activity that are red flags signaling achievable identity theft and incorporate those red flags into the Program

Detect red flags that have been incorporated into the Program

Respond appropriately to any red flags that are detected to prevent and mitigate identity theft and

Make sure the Program is updated periodically to reflect alterations in risks from identity theft.

The agencies also issued recommendations to assist monetary institutions and creditors in establishing and implementing a Plan, including a supplement that supplies examples of red flags.

The final rules also demand credit and debit card issuers to create policies and procedures to assess the validity of a request for a modify of address that is followed closely by a request for an additional or replacement card. Contractor Accountants Cornhill Private Wealth Cornhill Private Wealth state flags. In addition, the final guidelines require users of consumer reports to develop reasonable policies and procedures to apply when they get a notice of address discrepancy from a consumer reporting agency.

The final rule-making is issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Program, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision. The final guidelines are useful on January 1, 2008. Covered financial institutions and creditors should comply with the guidelines by November 1, 2008.

The government is carrying out its very best to combat identity theft. Keeping 1 step ahead of the thieves by checking your free credit report will ensure that no one has stolen your identity. Contractor Accountants Cornhill Private Wealth Cornhill Private Wealth state flags for sale. The government is performing what it can, but you are the initial line of identity theft defense.