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With so many Americans falling victim to identity theft fraud,
this year's National Consumer Protection Week is focusing on how
consumers can better safeguard their personal information.
"Identity theft is one of those problems that needs serious
attention and effort on the part of both consumers and industry,"
said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation
of America in Washington, D.C. "There's an urgent need to raise
awareness."
What identity theft fraud thieves do is steal wallets and purses,
go through mail boxes, rummage through trash or send bogus e-mails
to try to get Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and other
personal information. They then use the information to drain a victim's
bank account or to open new accounts in the victim's name or to
take out loans for cars and even homes. The Federal Trade Commission,
which coordinates the government's consumer fraud prevention efforts,
recently reported that ID theft topped the list of complaints to
the agency in 2004 for the fifth year in a row, accounting for nearly
40 percent of the 635,000 complaints that were filed. "Ten
years ago, one person would complain about credit card fraud, another
would say their bank account was attacked, another would complain
about someone using their Social Security number – but nobody put
it together," she said. "Focusing on it for National Consumer
Protection Week helps consumers see that what they or their neighbors
or their family have experienced is part of a big picture – and
it's all ID theft." "It used to be that if you lost your
wallet, you'd have to worry about replacing your driver's license.
Now you have to worry about ID theft.
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