GARCETTI TARGETS IDENTITY THEFT; NEW LAW SHARPENS PENALTY FOR CRIME.Byline: Peter Hartlaub Daily News Staff Writer For the past two years, Mari Frank has spent more than 500 hours and $10,000 to clear her name because a Ventura woman assumed her identity, stole her credit record and racked up debt along the way. ``She got a red convertible Mustang mustang [Sp. mesteño=a stray], small feral horse of the W United States. Mustangs are descended from escaped Native American horses, which in turn were descended from horses of North African blood, brought to the New World by the Spanish c.1500. in my name. . . . I think she's still driving it,'' Frank said. Prosecutors say Frank was the victim of the fastest-growing crime in America: identity theft. Starting Friday, California will become only the ninth state to prosecute identity theft as a felony. The new law is the latest in a series of recent local and federal guidelines set up to protect Americans from the misappropriation misappropriation n. the intentional, illegal use of the property or funds of another person for one's own use or other unauthorized purpose, particularly by a public official, a trustee of a trust, an executor or administrator of a dead person's estate, or by any of a name, Social Security number, driver's license Noun 1. driver's license - a license authorizing the bearer to drive a motor vehicle driver's licence, driving licence, driving license license, permit, licence - a legal document giving official permission to do something or any other form of identification for monetary gain. The Secret Service estimates that identity theft cost U.S. citizens $750 million last year, up from $450 million in 1996. ``Identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in America, maybe even the world,'' Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County District Attorney Gil Garcetti Gilbert "Gil" Garcetti (b. August 5, 1941) served as Los Angeles County's 39th District Attorney for two terms, from 1992 until November 7, 2000. Background Gil Garcetti received a bachelor's degree in Management from the University of Southern California and a Juris said at a news conference Wednesday to explain the new law. Penalties will include prison sentences of up to three years and fines up to $10,000. Until a year ago, there was no legal punishment in California for identity theft. In January, it became a misdemeanor, infrequently prosecuted by most district attorney's offices in the state. In July, a new civil law became effective, forcing credit agencies to clear the records of identity-theft victims who can present a police report documenting the fraud. Garcetti said the law will give his prosecutors the ammunition they need to fight identity theft. Identity theft also became a federal felony this year, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Officials said increased use of computers, along with the ease of getting a credit card by mail, is responsible for the rise in identity crimes. But an identity thief doesn't need to be a master hacker A person who writes programs in assembly language or in system-level languages, such as C. The term often refers to any programmer, but its true meaning is someone with a strong technical background who is "hacking away" at the bits and bytes. to get sensitive information. Frank, who suggests people shred discarded mail, said some criminals find personal identity information in a trash bin. Frank said her alter ego A doctrine used by the courts to ignore the corporate status of a group of stockholders, officers, and directors of a corporation in reference to their limited liability so that they may be held personally liable for their actions when they have acted fraudulently or unjustly or when , who was prosecuted under credit card fraud Credit card fraud is a wide-ranging term for theft and fraud committed using a credit card or any similar payment mechanism as a fraudulent source of funds in a transaction. The purpose may be to obtain goods without paying, or to obtain unauthorized funds from an account. laws and sentenced to a work furlough fur·lough n. 1. a. A leave of absence or vacation, especially one granted to a member of the armed forces. b. A usually temporary layoff from work. c. program, got the credit information from a computer database that private investigators use. Within a few months, the identity thief had obtained checks, a driver's license and even business cards in Frank's name. After Frank found out about the crime, the Laguna Niguel lawyer spent hundreds of hours talking on the phone and writing letters before her record was clean. ``I am the true, real Mari Frank and it was not very easy to prove that,'' she said. Tips Thomas Papageorge, head deputy in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's consumer protection division, offered three tips for fighting identity crime. Prevent the crime in the first place. ``Carefully safeguard your personal identity information,'' Papageorge said. ``It's every bit as important as locking the door to your house.'' Check your credit history at least once a year with the three major credit bureaus: Esperian, Equifax and Transunion. If you've been victimized, report the crime. Papageorge said. ``This is the kind of white collar crime white collar crime n. a generic term for crimes involving commercial fraud, cheating consumers, swindles, insider trading on the stock market, embezzlement and other forms of dishonest business schemes. where a remedy can be attained right away if you report it to the police.'' Identity theft prevention Mari Frank had to clear her name after someone assumed her identity. She developed an identity theft prevention and survival kit to help others. Here are a few suggestions from that kit: Buy a cross-cut shredder to shred all papers with financial information and identities. Put passwords on accounts, but do not use mother's maiden name maiden name n. A woman's family name before she is married. Used of a surname that is replaced by a woman when she marries. Also called birth name. or pet's name. Don't put your Social Security number on anything unless legally required. Cancel all excess credit cards. Take your name off all promotional lists from credit reporting agencies and credit grantors. Frank also has a Web site at www.identitytheft.org. CAPTION(S): 2 boxes Box: (1) Identity theft prevention (2) Tips |
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