New legislation protects consumers

Governor Sonny Perdue signed three pieces of legislation to protect Georgia's consumers and prosecute identity thieves: House Bill 130, Senate Bill 388 and Senate Bill 24.

"This legislation will protect Georgia's consumers and prosecute identity thieves who would prey upon innocent, hardworking people," said Governor Sonny Perdue. "I want to thank the members of the General Assembly and consumer advocates who supported these important bills."

HB 130 enables Georgia's consumers to freeze their credit and keeps criminals from accessing their credit history. It also prevents unauthorized individuals from taking out new credit cards or loans. This legislation sets the credit freeze amount at $3 and strikes a reasonable balance between the fees credit bureaus need to charge while giving consumers the ability to quickly and effectively protect their credit.

SB 388, an initiative that Governor Perdue announced in January, establishes the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Identity Theft Task Force and transfers the authority to investigate identity theft from the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs to GBI. In addition to this legislation, Governor Perdue proposed and the General Assembly approved $1 million in the FY09 budget for the creation of this task force, which will support eight new agents.

SB 24 protects Georgia's consumers by increasing the penalties against identity theft by the use of Internet phishing, a method criminals use to steal an individual's identity through the Internet.

Governor sign identity theft bills

Identity theft is the target of three bills signed by Governor Sonny Perdue today. One bill allows Georgians to freeze their credit for a $3 fee. The second creates an Identity Theft Task Force within the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The third bill increases penalties for criminals who steal identities through Internet phishing.

Perdue wants ID theft task force

Governor Perdue wants to hire 8 agents for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to start an identity theft division. Currently I.D. theft is investigated by the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs.

GBI director Vernon Keenan says Identity fraud is a problem that needs to be handled by his agency, which has more resources and can work with lawenforcement and sheriffs around Georgia.

"I.D. theft is not limited to one jurisdiction," says Keenan.

"A Georgia citizens personal information can be stolen in Tifton, used to open a bank account in Atlanta, and then to purchase jewelry in Dalton Utah California or even a foreign country. "

Governor Perdue says Georgia is 7th in the nation in identity theft per capita.

In 2006 he says the damage was 25 million in theft. Perdue is asking the legislature for 1 million dollars to fund the GBI's I.D. theft task force. The legislation is being carried by Republican Senator Joseph Carter of Tifton.

Georgia ID theft groups gets federal grant

A Georgia-based identity theft victims organization is getting $200,000 from the federal government. Atlanta Victim Assistance Incorporated helps both victims and witnesses of identity theft and fraud. The group will use the money to educate people on how to prevent identity theft and what their rights are if it happens.

Atlanta 14th for identity theft

Atlanta ranks 14th in the nation for identity theft. That’s according to the website secureyoursignature.com. The website suggests protecting your identity by removing your social security card from your wallet and not giving out personal information over the phone in public. The website ranks Phoenix, Arizona as the top city for identity theft.

Fort Benning ID theft

Two Atlanta teenagers are charged with opening credit cards using the identities of soldiers from Fort Benning. Police say they arrested 19-year-old Lakeith Johnston and 18-year-old Justin Walker with bags of expensive goods. Investigators say Johnston and Walker stole the identities of 15 Fort Benning soldiers, all of whom were training to go to Iraq.

Police arrest student by mistake

Police mistakenly arrested an Atlanta-area college student after someone used his ID to steal a car.

Kennesaw State University student Andrew Garrett spent days in the DeKalb County Jail on auto theft charges.

Police did not know that someone had stolen Garrett's wallet earlier this year.

The thief had used Garrett’s ID to convince a friend’s mother to let him borrow her car and drove away.

The woman told police Garrett was innocent.

He is now out of jail, and all charges against him have been dismissed.

Identity theft scheme linked to Atlanta man

An Atlanta man has been sentenced to 3-and-a-half years in prison for running a worldwide identity theft scam. Prosecutors say 27-year-old Sarp Yaman used 225 stolen identities to draw credit lines worth $1.5 million dollars. They say he got the identities off the Internet from people in the U.S. and 27 other countries. Once he gets out of prison, he will be handed over to immigration authorities to face deportation.

ChoicePoint reaches settlement with states

Alpharetta-based ChoicePoint Inc. says it will tighten security as part of a legal settlement reached with 43 states and the District of Columbia.

The agreement ends one of the biggest lawsuits against the consumer data provider that stemmed from a 2005 security breach that exposed thousands of consumers' personal information.

As part of the settlement, spokesman Chuck Jones says ChoicePoint will do a better job of vetting companies that want access to the data it collects and verifies.

For example, Jones says ChoicePoint will "not just take their word for it that they are a business, not just accept a photocopy of a business license, but actually send an individual to their place of business so that everyone can be assured it is a business that has a valid reason to view a consumer's data."

ChoicePoint will also pay $500,000 for consumer education in the states involved in the lawsuit.

Georgia is not one of those states. Jones says ChoicePoint has briefed the state attorney general's office on the security upgrades the company has made since the break-in.

Choicepoint settles security breach cases

ChoicePoint Incorporated has reached a settlement with 43 states and the District of Columbia over a 2005 database breach. The Alpharetta-based company collects personal and financial information on millions of consumers. In February 2005, identity thieves accessed data on 163,000 Americans. Under the settlement, Choicepoint agreed to adopt stronger security measures, conduct periodic audits, and pay a total of a half million dollars to the states for public education campaigns about identity theft.