California tightens identity theft laws

SACRAMENTO
September 28, 2006 11:32am

Legislation cracking down on criminals who possess stolen personal information that they then use to commit large-scale identity theft has been signed into law in California.

The legislation increases penalties for repeat offenders and possessing the data of 10 or more persons used for trafficking and financial fraud.

"Last year, one million Californians were victimized by identity theft - this is one of the fastest growing crimes in America, an offense that can have a profound and lasting impact on its victims,” says Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a written comment. "This legislation targets sophisticated crime operations that commit large-scale identity theft."

Assembly Bill 2886 by Assembly Members Dario Frommer, D-Glendale; Ted Lieu, D-Torrance; Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, and Sen. Charles Poochigian, R-Fresno, enacts the “Personal Information Trafficking and Mail Theft Prevention Act.”

The bill also makes mail theft a misdemeanor offense on the state level.

The legislation proportionately sentences repeat offenders and increases penalties for identity theft by punishing the crime as a felony in some cases. The mail-theft provisions help alleviate the United States Postal Inspection Service's caseload by granting authority to California law enforcement to investigate and prosecute cases involving mail theft.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, in 2004, California ranked third in the nation in identity-theft victims per capita.

Mr. Schwarzenegger also signed the following bill that deals with identity theft:

Assembly Bill 2043 by the Committee on Banking and Finance extends financial protections, such as temporary debt relief, given to consumer debtors who have been a victim of identity theft to non-consumer debtors, such as firms, corporations, and other businesses. Like consumers, businesses can fall victim to identity theft.