An initiative to address the escalating problem of identity theft launched this week in San Francisco, Calif., and organizers hope the idea catches on.
The San Francisco Identity Theft Council is a nonprofit volunteer effort to educate and assist victims or potential victims, according to its director, Neal O’Farrell.
“It’s really a community response to identity theft,” he said.
The council is a working to create a national network of local partnerships between law enforcement, the business community and local volunteers to prove local and in-person support to ID theft victims and the communities in which they live. The idea is to not only provide long-term support for victims, but to also reduce the incidence of the crime by improving local awareness and education.
O’Farrell says law enforcement in the city is swamped with other cases, and don’t have the needed skills or financial resources to investigate ID theft cases.
He adds that while some of the reported cases are sophisticated computer attacks on banks and social networking sites, most are crimes of opportunity, such as a stolen purse or briefcase with personal information inside.
The council will offer victims help in dealing with debt collectors and checking credit reports, and will be launching ID theft awareness campaigns with local credit unions and in schools. Members also hop to find more effective ways to fight ID theft at the local level by:
• Providing victims with free access to local experts and trained volunteers to help with recovery.
• Working with local credit unions and banks to encourage their employees to become trained volunteers identity theft counselors.
• Partnering with law enforcement, providing them with free training and other resources, so they can provide a more positive response to victims.
• Working with a network of local partners, including financial, law enforcement, government, businesses and schools to spread the “prevention through education” message to the broader community.
The council also hopes to establish duplicate organizations across the country as a point of response and support, with each one stemming from and utilizing local resources.
