CRIME State offers passport cards for victims of identity theft

Ohio ranks 30th nationally for frequency of identity theft.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- By January, identity theft victims will be able to get ID cards from the state to show creditors, banks and police while they try to recover from financial losses or crimes others committed using a victim's personal information.
Attorney General Jim Petro introduced the wallet-size Theft Verification Passport cards Tuesday.
"It can take a perhaps a year or two for someone to have the restoration of a good name, and it's the restoration of the good name we are trying to assist with for a person made a victim through identity theft," Petro said.
The cards will verify a person's identity through a photograph, fingerprint and signature. The victim also must undergo a background check to receive the card.
Petro estimated that more than 100,000 Ohioans are victims of identity theft every year.
"I personally have been subject to identity theft three times," he said.
As part of the program, the victim must report the identity theft to police and the crime must be confirmed. Then the victim fills out an application with their personal information entered into a Web site maintained by Petro's office.
The U.S. Department of Justice provided $400,000 in startup costs. Police officers can verify a card has been issued by calling a toll-free number.
10 million per year
The National Notary Association, based in Chatsworth, Calif., near Los Angeles, helped develop the program. Executive Director Tim Reiniger said Ohio's identity theft passport "is the most aggressive effort by law enforcement in the country to help victims of identity theft."
Reiniger said he hopes other states will work with the association on similar programs. He said Arizona, Nevada, California, Texas and Florida are the top five states for frequency of identity theft, and Ohio is 30th nationally.
Linda Foley, executive director of the San Diego-based Identity Theft Resource Center, said California established a victims database about four years ago, and several states have established some form of program to assist victims.
Foley said misuse of a Social Security number or a credit card number are common forms of identity theft.
The Federal Trade Commission estimates that more than 10 million Americans have their identities stolen each year.
"The problem is that once it happens, it can keep happening to a victim over and over again," Foley said.