Community
Action
Many
state governments, agencies, and organizations are taking steps to curb
the identity theft epidemic. The following are just a few of those
steps:
- California became the first state to create an agency to protect the
privacy rights of consumers. The Office of Privacy Protection offers a
lot of advice on how to protect your privacy and prevent identity theft.
Their website-
www.privavyprotection.ca.gov – also provides links to other agencies
that can assist with identity theft issues.
- In Georgia, The Georgia Stop Identity Theft Network-
www.stopidentitytheft.org
– brings together federal, state and local law enforcement, federal and
local prosecutors, corporations and financial institutions to achieve
three primary goals: educate the public and businesses; provide training
for law enforcement; and establish a central database for victims to
report identity theft.
- In an attempt to prevent identity theft, Visa USA said it will stop
merchants that take Visa payments from displaying all but the last four
digits of a card number on receipts. The credit card issuer wants all
merchants to remove the first twelve digits of the card number and it’s
expiration date from receipts by July 2006.
While no one can guarantee you will not become a victim of identity
theft, you can greatly minimize the chances of becoming a victim by
implementing the safeguards laid out in
"Johnny May's Guide
to Preventing Identity Theft."
