Since 1998, the State of California has had an Identity Theft statute on the books. Prior to that, only banks, credit card companies and other creditors could be victims of Identity Theft.  According to the Federal Trade Commission, the federal agency charged with tracking identity theft, there have been 27.3 million victims of identity theft in the past five years in the United States.  There have been 9.9 million in the past year alone.  In the City of Pasadena in 2003 there were 622 identity theft crime reports made and an additional 198 other crimes of forgery and credit card related crimes reported for a total of 820 Identity Theft related crimes.

 What is Identity Theft?

 In California, Penal Code Section 530.5 provides that every person who willfully obtains personal identifying information for any unlawful purpose, including obtaining credit, goods, services or medical information in the name of the other person without the consent of that person, is guilty of a public offense.

This could be when someone uses your social security number to apply for a line of credit or to obtain a credit card.  These identity thieves then use that credit to make large purchase and then abandon the account to leave the collection agencies chasing you with the bill.

Identity theft could also be when someone opens up a checking account in your name or even establishes a new one, using your personal identifying information. The identity thief then writes numerous checks with total disregard and again leaving a bad mark on your good name.

What can I do to prevent becoming a victim of identity theft?

 Always safeguard your personal information. Never give your information to someone over the phone unless you initiated the telephone call yourself. Never just take someone’s word that they are who they say they are. Ask for a call back number and then obtain the number from an independent source. The same applies to the Internet. Never give your personal information to anyone that you did not initiate contact with. 

 Protect your incoming and outgoing mail. Do not mail your outgoing mail from your home. A favorite target of identity thieves is to steal your outbound mail to obtain your credit and banking information. Take this mail to your local post office, your corner U.S. Postal mailbox or personally hand it to your letter carrier. Try to obtain a locking mailbox or a door-slot mailbox. Your stolen mail oftentimes is the source of the information leak.

When you destroy documents that contain personal banking or credit information or other sensitive information such as your social security number, shred those documents rather than just tear it up, especially pre-approved credit card offers. 

Minimize the number of credit cards that you have. The more you have, the higher the odds that one can be lost, stolen or otherwise compromised.

Monitor your bank accounts and credit card accounts as often as you can to catch any unusual activity before it gets out of control. This can be done using the financial institution’s automated telephone systems or telephone teller or over the Internet. You should try not to just rely on your monthly statement to keep track of your accounts, as a lot of damage can be done over that period of a monthly billing cycle.

You should also order a credit report from each of the three credit reporting bureaus at least once per year or more often depending on your individual situation.

If I become an identity theft victim, what do I do?  

Make a police report with your local police department. It is important to obtain this report and write a letter to the institution that is telling you that owe them money.  Include a copy of the police report with this letter. You must then contact the three credit reporting bureaus and advise them of the fraudulent activity and have it removed. This process will take time and oftentimes is frustrating and discouraging. Just remember, eventually you will recover you just have to stay the course.

For more information on Identity theft refer to www.consumer.gov/idtheft.  To contact our Identity Theft office call: 626-744-7484.  

The Pasadena Police Department has begun a new innovative program combining the use of citizen volunteers and Detectives from the Financial Crime Unit. This new program is called  “Community Response to Eradicate and Deter Identity Theft” or “C.R.E.D.I.T.” This is a first of its kind program designed to meet local area community needs regarding Identity Theft.  The large volume of cases received makes it difficult to give each victim personalized attention during this difficult and traumatic time.