FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 14, 2019
UTAH ATTORNEY GENERAL SEAN D. REYES JOINS 31 ATTORNEYS GENERAL IN SIGNING MULTI-STATE LETTER SUPPORTING FTC IDENTITY RULES
SALT LAKE CITY – On Friday, Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes joined a coalition of 31 attorneys general and sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) urging the FTC to continue its Identity Theft Rules, which were originally adopted in November 2007. The letter cites the proliferation of identity theft in many states, and the growth in technology since the rules were adopted.
“Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States of America and one of the most disruptive and damaging to victims’ lives,” said Attorney General Reyes. “The Utah Attorney General’s Office-led SECURE Strike Force focuses tremendous resources on protecting the identities of Utah. We ask the FTC to do the same.”
The current rules require certain financial institutions and businesses that grant credit or issue debit or credit cards to take steps to detect, prevent and mitigate identify theft by implementing reasonable safeguards. The letter also suggests adding a requirement that a cardholder must be notified by email or cell phone if an email address or cell phone number is changed. This is in addition to the existing requirement to mail notification upon change of account address. The attorneys general also ask that suspicious account activity include account access by new and previously unknown devices and repeated unsuccessful access attempts.
David Sonnenreich from the Tax & Financial Services Division of the Utah Attorney General’s Office said, “Identity theft is a serious and rapidly growing problem that harms our citizens both financially and emotionally, and that increases costs for our businesses. Since 2007 the FTC’s ‘Red Flag’ and ‘Card Issuer’ rules have provided critical early warnings of identity theft to businesses and consumers and have helped to stop countless fraudsters in their tracks when they try to use stolen personal information. However, as cyberthieves become more sophisticated, we need to adopt better responses.”
Attorney General Reyes joined the Attorneys General of Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin in signing this letter.
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A copy of the letter can be found here: https://attorneygeneral.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/AG_Comment_Letter_to_FTC.pdf