~ ID theft education ~

I hope those private investigators who are planning on attending the State of California's ID Theft Summit, Tuesday, March 1, will talk some sense with the attendees who have spoken negatively about private investigators. I'm thinking particularly of Mari Frank. I heard her studio audience presentation on PBS, working the scare tactic angle. She didn't recognize private investigators as having a valuable place in uncovering identity theft and protecting people from fraud. Just the opposite. We're lumped in with the quick-buck-meisters running wild on the Internet.

Now in the olden days, you really have to actually go to maybe get court records or do some other things to commit identity theft. That would take much longer. So, yes, there was identity theft. And there were people who were able to do that as a profession, people who were very smart about getting your information--people like private investigators, information brokers. Now they put that online. There are hundreds and hundreds of sites that you can go to. You don't have to spend a great deal of money or a great deal of time. It's transferred to you in just a second.

Read the whole transcript to get a sense for her approach.

The Office for Victims of Crime is having an online forum TODAY, Wednesday, February 9, on Identity Theft. The presenters are from the Identity Theft Resource Center.