US moves to stamp out ID fraud

The US Senate has met to work out how to combat the growing problem of ID theft.

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government held a hearing yesterday where proposals to introduce new legislation which would require more vigorous checks from credit agencies were discussed.

The committee also discussed possible legislation which would allow consumers to obtain copies of credit card applications and bills issued in their names. The group said legislation should be introduced by the end of the year.

The US Federal Trade Commission warned last month of the growing menace of identity theft as a massive 42 per cent of its 204,000 complaints for 2001 involved stolen identities.

The FTC said up to 750,000 other US citizens will have their identities stolen this year. Thieves are stealing IDs though various means, such as following an electronic trail from computers, paying backhanders to internet data providers or even searching through household rubbish for credit card payment slips.