Stenehjem: AG's office will help identity theft victims DALE
WETZEL BISMARCK, N.D. - Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said North Dakotans who have been victims of identity theft may file reports with his office, which trigger credit-bureau alerts and other moves intended to limit financial damage. Normally, identity theft complaints are filed with a local police or sheriff's department, but authorities are sometimes reluctant to accept them because of jurisdictional questions, Stenehjem said. Federal law requires an identity theft victim to file a police report before credit agencies must take additional steps to safeguard a victim's credit rating. On Friday, the Web site of the attorney general's office began featuring forms that identity theft victims may fill out to satisfy the police report requirement. The office took 81 reports of identity theft in 2002, and the number jumped to 127 in 2003, Stenehjem said. "We will walk (victims) through what they have to do," he said. "But most of the legwork, no matter what happens, is going to have to be done by the victim. And that's unfortunate, but a reality." Stenehjem, a Republican, is running for re-election this year. His Democratic opponent, Fargo attorney Bruce Schoenwald, said the changes were useful, but that Stenehjem should also support incentives to help identity theft victims recoup money damages. Schoenwald said the Legislature should allow victims who sue identity thieves to collect their own legal fees, as well as compensation for the thefts themselves. Under the present system, a theft victim would have to suffer large financial losses to make it worthwhile to take the thief to court, Schoenwald said. "The most important thing is to help the victims, and help to get a (financial) recovery for the victims," Schoenwald said. "And it would take some of the pressure off of the attorney general's office." Identity theft is used to describe instances when a thief uses another person's personal information, such as Social Security or credit card numbers, to assume that person's identity. Often, the thief applies for credit in the victim's name and goes on a buying spree. At a news conference Friday, Stenehjem said he will ask the 2005 Legislature to lengthen the maximum penalty against identity thieves from five to 10 years in prison, and give authorities six years to prosecute, rather than the current three. Repeat offenders should face a maximum 20-year sentence, said Stenehjem, who wants to put the crime in the same category as rape and murder. "It
is very serious (punishment), and I think it needs to be for the simple reason
that you're doing more than just taking somebody's property," Stenehjem said.
"You're also ruining their life and their credit, and it's something that
... often is a problem for them for years to come." Courtesy of: http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/state/9693643.htm |