Rhode Island identity theft laws were created for two reasons: to safeguard innocent victims from the crime of identity theft, and to prosecute the criminals who are stealing others’ identities.

If you suspect that you’re a victim of identity theft, contact the credit bureau right away. It is not necessary to call all three credit bureaus, because whichever one you call will notify the other two. Let them know that you need a fraud alert placed on your account. This will not remove charges that are already on there (you have to take other steps to accomplish this) but what it will do is give you protection from anyone using your identification to open more accounts. So this can at least minimize the damage.

Once this is accomplished, go ahead and close bank accounts, credit cards, or other financial accounts you feel might have been affected. You can reopen more with safety measures in place, like using passwords in order to access the accounts and make transactions. Then get copies of your credit report from all three credit bureaus. They will even delete the first part of your social security number from the report if you ask them. Go over these reports with a fine-tooth comb, looking for discrepancies. If you see any errors, tell the credit bureau right away.

You should notify local law enforcement of the theft, and get a copy of the police report for your files. You also should notify the federal trade commission. They can track identity thieves all across the U.S., as well as share information with other law enforcement agencies.

If your personal information has been compromised due to a company or business sharing it, either on purpose or inadvertently, there are legal remedies. Civil penalties may be as much as $3,000 per incident.

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 20th, 2006 at 9:43 pm and is filed under Criminal Laws, Identity Theft Laws. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.