CPB program to combat ID theft

The New York State Consumer Protection Board (CPB) launched a program January 7 designed to help New Yorkers prevent identity theft and aid those who have fallen victim.
The Identity Theft Prevention and Mitigation Program was created under Governor David Paterson’s July 2008 ID theft prevention law. The law authorizes the CPB to serve as a liaison between consumers affected by ID theft and governmental and non-governmental organizations that help victims get back on their feet.
The program - which CPB Executive Director Mindy A. Bockstein says will help consumers save “time, money and aggravation” - features advisors who have been trained to assist victims of identity theft by acting as intermediaries between the victims and creditors, financial institutions, utility companies, credit-reporting agencies and employers.
The CPB’s outreach effort also includes a mock quiz show video titled “Are You Consumer Savvy?” which is available on the agency’s website, www.nysconsumer.gov.
Additionally, the CPB has created the Identity Theft Victim Journal and the Identity Theft Victim Restitution Journal, which will help victims detail expenses related to their time spent repairing the damage to their credit and financial records.
The program will also help consumers sort out a provision of Paterson’s law that stipulates that victims of ID theft may be entitled to restitution for time spent fixing the resulting damage. Victims can spend up to 330 hours dealing with breaches to their personal identifiable information, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s Identity Theft Resource Center.
Also detailed under the CPB program is a component of Paterson’s directive that augments the state’s Security Freeze law - making it easier for consumers to block access to their credit reports - and another that extends confidentiality protections to Social Security numbers accessed by employers and other entities.
“No longer will New York consumers who are already on overload dealing with the fallout of identity theft need to hunt for assistance and information,” Bockstein said in a statement.