Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: Significant enhancements made to FTC identify theft website, (Jan 28, 2016)
By Michael Menzhuber, J.D., LL.M.
As a result of significant enhancements to the FTC’s IdentityTheft.gov website, identify theft victims can now go online and get a free personalized identity theft recovery plan, the agency announced today. An initial version was launched in May 2015 with checklists for consumers that were based on certain types of identity theft.
Because this new one-stop website, which is mobile and tablet accessible, is integrated with the FTC’s complaint system, consumers who are victims of identity theft can rapidly file a complaint with the FTC and then get a personalized guide to recovery. A range of new features are designed to make the recovery process as easy as possible. Consumers are walked through a simplified step-by-step checklist, tailored to the specific type of identity theft that they are facing, and the advice that they receive is customized for their individualized needs.
When a consumer initiates a response plan through the website, affidavits and pre-fill letters and forms to be sent to credit bureaus, businesses, police, debt collectors and the IRS will be automatically generated. The site will also suggest alternative approaches if there are issues with a consumer’s recovery. After completing their initial report on the site, consumers will receive follow up emails. They also can return to their personalized plan online to continue the recovery process.
In 2015, over 490,000 consumer complaints about identify theft were received by the FTC. This represents a 47 percent increase over the prior year and it was estimated that 17.6 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2014.
IdentityTheft.gov is also available in Spanish at RobodeIdentidad.gov. The site allows Spanish-speaking consumers to: (1) view the automatically generated letters and documents in Spanish; and (2) print the letters and documents in English for sending to the relevant recipients.
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