Identity Theft

• In April 2007, approximately 75,000 Fulton County residents had their personal information compromised when voter registration cards were discovered in the trash.
• In April 2007, the Georgia Department of Community Health lost a disk with the personal information of 2.9 million PeachCare and Medicaid recipients.
• In February 2007, in a second major security breach, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs lost a hard drive containing the personal information of 500,000 veterans and 1 million non-VA physicians.
• In January 2007, a computer was stolen from Emory University containing personal information on more than 38,000 cancer patients treated at or by Emory physicians. 
• In May 2006, a laptop containing personal data on 26.5 million veterans was stolen.
• In March 2006, a computer server of the American Insurance Group was stolen containing Social Security numbers (SSNs) and medical records for over 900,000 people.
• In March 2006, the Georgia Technology Authority database was hacked. Thieves made off with SSNs and account numbers for 573,000 current and former state employees.
• Between April 2005 and May 2006, personal data was breached at four public research universities in Georgia.

In 2006, there were 8,084 reported complaints of identity theft from Georgia consumers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that there are 263,000 incidents of identity theft in Georgia each year, which ranks seventh in the nation in victims per capita. The financial cost to the victim is more than $1,000 per incident of identity theft, in addition to countless hours of letter writing and phone calls. The cost to business is more than $10,000 per incident.

New account fraud occurs when an identity thief uses a victim’s name and SSN to apply for new credit. Legislatures in 40 states and the District of Columbia have responded by enacting credit freeze laws that allow consumers to stop credit reporting agencies from releasing their credit file. By restricting access to the consumer’s file, potential creditors and lenders are forced to deny credit to the criminal applying for it. For example:

A thief steals John Doe’s personal information and applies for new credit in Doe’s name. The creditor contacts Equifax, Experian or TransUnion for information on Doe’s credit worthiness. If Doe has placed a credit freeze on his account, the reporting companies must refuse to release any information, leaving the thief empty-handed.

Although a credit freeze cannot stop abuse in existing accounts, it is the single most effective tool against new account fraud. In fact, credit freeze is the only way to stop new account fraud before it starts.

In 2008, Georgia legislators passed a bill that gave Georgia consumers the option of credit freeze for the low cost of $3. The fee is waived for age 65 and older, and for victims of identity theft. The bill was signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue in May 2008, and will take effect August 1.