WISPIRG
applauds efforts by Representative Fitzgerald to begin to give
consumers the tools they need to protect themselves against fraud and
identity theft. AB 912 is before the Assembly today and WISPIRG asks
legislators to support the legislation.
AB
912 allows consumers to protect themselves against fraud and identity
theft by placing a Security Freeze. A Security Freeze is the right to
control access to one’s own credit report by protecting it with a
passcode, akin to your ATM PIN. A potential creditor won't issue credit
without reviewing a consumer’s credit report, and if only the consumer
can grant access to their credit report, thieves won't be able to get
new credit in the consumer’s name. Consumers can lift the freeze when
they want to access new credit. With the right to a Security Freeze,
Wisconsinites can end new account fraud and identity theft.
New
account fraud cost business $10,200 per victim, totaling of $32.9
billion a year. On top of the cost to business, new account fraud cost
victims an average $1,180, totaling $3.8 billion a year.
Identity
theft is a terrible and growing problem, largely because personal
information is a hot commodity. According to the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC), 2,646 Wisconsin residents were victims of identity
theft in 2004. Victims of identity theft spend an average of $808 of
their own money and 175 hours actively working to clean up their credit
reports and other complications.
AB
912, while a good first step for Wisconsin, is not as consumer-friendly
as WISPIRG would have liked. The most important aspect of a security
freeze bill is that it has to be easy to use for the consumer or they
won’t use it and the fraud prevention goal is lost. The bill allows
credit reporting agencies to assess up to a $10 fee at each end of the
process which makes it cost-prohibitive for many individuals. If the
goal is for consumers to actually utilize credit freezes to prevent
fraud, these fees need to be dropped or significantly lowered since
consumers will have to multiply each fee by three since there are three
reporting agencies. The New Jersey Security Freeze law, which is the
strongest in the nation at the moment, only authorizes a $5 fee when
the consumer lifts the freeze. WISPIRG would encourage legislators to
revisit the fee issue at a later date to ensure that Wisconsinites are
only paying for the actual cost of the service thereby encouraging more
consumers to take advantage of this fraud prevention tool
WISPIRG
does appreciate that AB 912 will provide this service to all consumers
who requests a freeze and is not limited to victims of identity theft
as other states have done.
