Illinois bankers promote measures to prevent identity theft

Northwestern Financial Review, May 1-May 14, 2004 by Hilgert, Jackie

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich proclaimed July 11-17 to be Fraud Awareness Week. The Illinois Bankers Association sought the proclamation in order to acknowledge that identity theft continues to be a problem in the state and to recognize the efforts Illinois bankers have taken to curb it, said Linda Koch, the association's executive vice president.

"Illinois bankers continue to provide assistance to customers who have been victimized by identity theft," Koch said. "It takes so many hours to clear your name after being victimized and bankers are more than willing to help their customers through that process."

The governor's proclamation was signed March 19 and was announced during IBA's annual Lobby Day at the Capitol, March 24. Fraud Awareness Week in Illinois coincides with the one-year anniversary of IBA's participation in FraudNet, the real-time, online database which allows bankers and law enforcement authorities to post and read fraud alerts on a secure, searchable message board. Since going live with FraudNet, Koch said more than 600 individuals from more than 150 financial institutions have participated.

The association even set aside its differences with state credit unions for the battle against identity theft. "Fraud is such a general problem for all of us," Koch said. "The more participants we get, the more sharing of information, the more it benefits us all." The Federal Trade Commission reports that 7,500 people in Illinois reported they'd become a victim of identity theft in the last year. Each occurrence cost individuals an average of $1,500; the cost to businesses and financial institutions averaged $5,000 per incident.

During Fraud Awareness Week, the IBA will provide its member banks with a no-cost Fraud Awareness Toolkit that includes press information, public service announcements, advertising, information on FraudNet and the association's thumbprint signature program, plus tips for bankers to help customers avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.

The association also is working with law enforcement officials throughout the state to identify an Illinois banker who is going to extraordinary means to either prevent fraud or bring a perpetrator of fraud to justice. That banker will be recognized at the group's annual meeting, this year scheduled for June 9-11 in Las Vegas.

Koch also said the association's initiative to amend the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act by eliminating social security numbers from health insurance cards is proceeding through the state assembly.

"The legislation would mandate the elimination of social security numbers from every health insurance card by January 2006," she said. The bill originally targeted January 2005 for the change but the [insurance] industry said it needed more time to phase in a new identification numbering system, she said. "It's all part of the association's push to combat identity theft," Koch added.

Nationwide last year, according to the FTC, nearly 10 million Americans were victimized by identity theft at a total cost of $5 billion.

By Jackie Hilgert