US regulators are planning to order banks to adopt a new
“red flag” system to help counter the growing problem of identity
theft.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) said banks should
adopt an identity theft prevention programme, including “red flags”
against suspicious account activity.
Among other changes, the new practices would require credit and
debit card issuers to assess the validity of requests for a change
of address when followed by requests for additional cards.
The proposed regulations would also mean that every bank and
creditor would have to adopt procedures for detecting, preventing
and mitigating identity theft.
It is estimated that around 10 million Americans were the
victims of some sort of identity theft in 2003.
The FDIC proposals are out for public consultation until
mid-September.
Vote for your IT greats
Who have been the most influential people in IT in the past 40
years? The greatest organisations? The best hardware and software
technologies? As part of Computer Weekly’s 40th anniversary
celebrations, we are asking our readers who and what has really
made a difference.
Vote now at:
www.computerweekly.com/ITgreats