Potential ID theft victims
face lifetime of vigilance
BY RACHEL KONRAD
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO — Warren Lam
bert thought it was just another piece
of junk mail until he read the letter
more closely and learned that con
artists may have obtained his Social
Security number, name and address
— just what they need to steal his
identity and ruin his credit.
Lambert is one of nearly 145,000
Americans rendered vulnerable by a
breach of the computer databases of
ChoicePoint Inc., a leading trafficker
in a growing pool of information
about who we are, what we own,
what we owe and even where we go.
The Georgia-based company be
gan mailing the warning letters after
acknowledging this month that
thieves opened more than 50 Choice
Point accounts by posing as
legitimate businesses.
Lambert, a retired banker in San
Francisco, now spends several hours a
day phoning customer-service agents,
poring over credit-card statements, or
dering credit reports and checking
bank accounts.
He worries that thieves will eventu
ally do to him what sheriffs and detec
tives in Los Angeles say they’ve done
to more than 700 other people —
reroute his mail, ring up credit-card
debts, buy a car or even commit a
felony in his name.
“Now I have to be on a credit moni
toring service and look over my shoul
der for the rest of my life,” said Lam
bert, 67. “I feel sorry for the younger
victims who are eventually going to
buy a house or a car. They’ll try to buy,
and then they’ll discover that their
credit is ruined.”
More than 9.9 million Americans
were victims of identity theft last year,
crimes that cost the nation roughly $5
billion, not including lost productivity,
according to the U.S. Postal Inspection
Service. The Federal Trade Commis
sion ranks identity theft as the No. 1
fraud-related complaint.
Many victims are dumbfounded by
the dearth of federal and state laws
aimed at protecting their credit histo
ries and other information about
them that data brokers gather and
sell to institutions including news or
ganizations, banks and, increasingly,
companies vetting prospective em
ployees. Victims are also frustrated
by the amount of time it takes to re
establish identities.
According to a 2003 survey by the
San Diego-based nonprofit Identity
Theft Resource Center, the average
victim spends at least 600 hours over
several years recovering from identity
theft. And based on wages of people
surveyed, it cost the average victim
nearly $16,000 in lost or potential in
come, not including what they might
have paid for bogus purchases credi
tors wouldn’t reimburse.
Even worse than the drain on time
and income, victims say, is a sense of
helplessness and doom they feel — the
notion that thieves could strike again
at any time.
“I don’t think anyone fully recovers
from these events,” said the resource
center’s co-executive director, Linda
Foley, whose identity was used to get
credit cards and a cell phone in 1997.
“It alters the way you look at things for
the rest of your life. ”
One victim in the ChoicePoint attack
has already filed a lawsuit seeking
class-action status in Los Angeles Su
perior Court.
And on Thursday, Senate Judiciary
Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he
would schedule hearings on identity
theft and information brokers in wake
of the ChoicePoint fiasco.
The company’s chief executive,
Derek Smith, said in an interview
Thursday that he supports congres
sional hearings and tighter regulation
of the data collection industry, if nec
essary. And ChoicePoint issued a
statement this week that it was “go
ing to extraordinary lengths to assist
people whose identities may have
been compromised.”
But critics note that the ChoicePoint
breach, which was first detected by in
vestigators in October, didn’t become
public until the company began com
plying this month with a California law
requiring that people be notified when
their personal data are compromised.
Consumer advocates want the
data-brokering industry subjected to
federal oversight, as credit ratings
companies are. And even that in
dustry isn’t adequately regulated,
critics say.
In December 2003, President
Bush signed the Fair and Accurate
Credit Transactions Act, which al
lows consumers to put a free, 90
day fraud alert on their credit re
ports. The alert forces banks, car
dealers and other lenders to apply
additional scrutiny whenever any
one tries to apply for credit in that
person’s name.
Well aware of the law, many crimi
nals who obtain such data horde it for
use more than 90 days later.
Gail Hillebrand, a senior attorney
with Consumers Union, calls the so
called FACT Act relatively toothless.
“The crooks are getting smarter,”
Hillebrand said. “Unfortunately, the
way the law is structured, con
sumers have to do their own leg
work. You have to follow up, write
letters, give information.”
The “databasification” of informa
tion — Internet-connected computer
servers that store billions of pieces of
information on almost every Ameri
can — has made it ever easier for
thieves to make purchases using per
sonal information stolen from the
elderly and the deceased or even to
clone someone else’s identity and
live and work under it.
The ChoicePoint attack may be
an example of something else —
fraud perpetuated by an organized
crime ring. A Nigerian was sen
tenced to 16 months in jail for his
alleged role in the scam, which au
thorities say spanned about a year.
He has refused to cooperate with
authorities, they say, but the vol
ume of compromised data is so
huge he can’t have acted alone.
ChoicePoint also won’t reveal
details of the crime, citing an ongoing
investigation. And that’s incredibly
frustrating for Lambert, who can’t
find out what exactly is in his Choi
cePoint dossier beyond his name, ad
dress and Social Security number.
After spending hours on the
phone with ChoicePoint representa
tives, he was told Thursday that he
had to sign a release simply to find
out what information the company
kept on him.
“They have no damage control.
Nobody knows what they’re doing,”
Lambert said of ChoicePoint. “It’s be
yond comprehension that in the 21st
century this could happen.”
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Voyager: Tuition breaks pay
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Continued from page 1
they or their families will pay for it.”
If approved, the program will
begin at all seven of the state’s
public universities for the fall term
of 2005.
“UO is very pleased to partici
pate in this process,” John Mose
ley, University senior vice presi
dent and provost, said in an
e-mail. “We do not know if it will
result in an increase in enrollment,
but any increase will be small.”
According to the agenda for the
State Board of Higher Education’s
March 4 meeting, OUS estimated
approximately 94 eligible under
graduates would attend the Uni
versity and take advantage of the
fee remission in 2005-06.
“We would be happy to accept
all those qualified who do apply,”
Moseley added.
The federal government already
awards up to $4,500 in tuition sup
port for military personnel who also
attend school full time. The Voyager
Program is intended to pay the dif
ference between the federal support
and cost of college tuition.
Jonathan Jacobs, an OUS em
ployee who is familiar with the
program, said the amount of the
fee remission will vary from cam
pus to campus.
“It depends where you’re a stu
dent at,” Jacobs said. “At Western
Oregon, the $4,500 benefit will re
sult in a full coverage of fees and
tuition. At the University of Ore
gon, there’s $1,170 remaining.”
The average tuition cost for OUS
institutions is $5,670, Jacobs added.
The University and Western Oregon
represent the highest and lowest tu
ition costs, respectively.
OUS calculated that 612 total
undergraduates would use Voy
ager statewide for a total payout of
approximately $316,900.
The program will be above the
proposed 10 percent statewide cap
on fee remissions, according to an
OUS fact sheet.
Elizabeth Bickford, director
of Student Financial Aid, said she
had input in the planning process
for the program.
“From the conversations I’ve
had, everyone seemed to be
supportive of this for the very
same reasons,” Bickford said. “It’s
a way to honor the Oregon Nation
al Guard and those members that
serve in the Reserve. This is our
way of being able to give back
to those men and women for
their sacrifice.
The only eligible individuals are
those called to active duty since
Sept. 11, 2001, and stationed in an
area of combat. Other eligibility re
quirements are that the student is
an Oregon resident, is admitted to
the campus and is a degree-seek
ing undergraduate working on his
or her first degree. Students must
exhibit satisfactory academic
progress for continued eligibility,
according to the OUS fact sheet.
There also will be a limit on the
duration a student may receive the
assistance.
“We probably won’t have appli
cations or the process for at least a
couple of months,” Bickford
added. “If people are curious, they
might want to give us a call
around the first of April.”
“The Voyager Program is just
one way that Oregon can say
‘thank you’ to the men and
women and their families who
have made tremendous sacrifices
for our country and state,”
Pernsteiner said.
“I do think this program
is a very appropriate recognition
and hope that qualified veterans
will take advantage of it,” Moseley
said.
adamcherry@ daily emerald, com
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