Anyone who has seen those commercials where the victim of identity theft is lip syncing to the pathetic words of the thief who took their names and their money has probably chuckled, if not laughed out loud. Aside from being clever and witty, the ads bring the issue of identity theft to the national spotlight in a form that reaches millions and puts the phrase in people’s minds and mouths.
However, the real-life victims of this increasingly popular crime probably aren’t nearly as casual about it as the actors. And why should they be? For years now, the victims have had to act as their own advocates to learn more about the crime and gather, if not beg, for documents to help them prove their own cases to disbelieving businesses.
A new law waiting for final congressional approval could do a lot to change that. The law enables victims to acquire business records and even allows law enforcement to step in on their behalf to help obtain the records. Finally, victims are getting an advocate — and who better than law enforcement officials, who should obviously have access to such records for investigation purposes. Right now, it takes the average identity theft victim about 175 hours to clean up the mess a criminal made for them and their finances. That’s more than four weeks of work. Goodbye vacation. Then again, who would have the money for it after falling prey to such a crime and working to clean up the mess?
Victims need quick access to records in order to prove that they are indeed a victim, a process that can involve many different businesses depending on the nature of the identity theft. When the crime crosses state lines, as it often does, getting records can be even trickier. This law would smooth out that process and eliminate at least a little of the pain for victims and police, who won’t have to get a subpoena or a search warrant in another state in order to get the documents they need.
Earlier this fall, news articles reported that the crime is growing so quickly because financial institutions and lenders aren’t catching on to it — calling seven out of eight cases of identity theft simple credit losses. More often than not, what they think is an unpaid bill is really the first sign of this crime. Victims don’t necessarily catch on right away, either.
Hopefully this law, an amendment to the Federal Credit Reporting Act, means that our policymakers in Washington, D.C., are catching on, too. Nothing short of laws that allow victims and law enforcement to work together to solve these crimes across state lines is acceptable.
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