COLUMBIA -- Sen. David Thomas (R- Greenville), Rep. Kris Crawford (R-Florence) and AARP South Carolina on Tuesday hailed the passage of S.453 as one of the strongest consumer identity theft laws in the country. Until now, South Carolina was one of only a few states in the country without consumer protections when it came to identity theft legislation. The bill faces a final vote in the House Tuesday and would then be sent to the Governor’s desk.

Thomas said this has been a priority issue for him and the Senate Banking and Insurance. “We worked with the Department of Consumer Affairs, AARP, consumer groups, industry specialists, SLED, and heard from consumers who have been victimized in our efforts to draft a bill that will protect South Carolinians against identity thieves,” he said.

The bill will allow South Carolina consumers the opportunity to place or lift a security freeze on their credit history without paying a fee. South Carolina becomes one of the only two states with this requirement.

-- Also, the bill allows for a temporary 15 minute lift – easy to place and easy to use. It’s only accessible with the consumer’s PIN number.

-- Businesses will be required to properly discard paper and electronic information so that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. They will incur penalties if a security breach occurs and the company fails to notify consumers.

-- Consumer reporting agencies will be required to remove incorrect information from a consumer’s credit report when properly notified or face penalties.

“For too long, we –- as consumers –- have lost some of the control over our own personal identifying information. With this Act, South Carolinians are given the tools to protect their own information from thieves,” said Rep. Kris Crawford, R- Florence. “Best of all, South Carolina will be one of only two states to allows consumers to place a security freeze on their information for free, hopefully encouraging citizens to protect their precious financial information from criminals.”

Victims of identity theft spend, on average, $1,180 and 60 hours cleaning up their credit record. Damaged credit makes it tougher getting a good interest rate on a car loan, home mortgage or credit card. In 2006, South Carolinians reported 2,408 incidents of identity theft and is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States. “The federal government has been attempting to enact legislation that would preempt states rights; however, as of yet they have not. This has left individual states the responsibility of protecting its consumers and South Carolina is stepping up to the plate,” Thomas said.

“Scammers are always trying to obtain personal information over the telephone from consumers. If you or your older family members have security freezes on your credit reports, then even an accidental disclosure of personal information would be much less likely to result in identity theft. I urge all AARP members to make use of this option as soon as it is available in January of 2009,” said Teresa Arnold, AARP South Carolina legislative director.

AARP’s Web site offers an online identity theft seminar that can be accessed from the following link: http://www.aarp.org/learntech/personal_finance/identity_theft_intro.html. The course teaches how identity theft happens; how thieves get and use other’s personal information; and what steps to take to guard against identity theft.

A leading consumer advocacy group praises South Carolina for getting tough on identity theft. “This bill will give every consumer in South Carolina the ability to lock up their credit files to stop new account identity theft – without paying fees for this protection. It also helps to prevent ID theft in other ways, such as by restricting the use and sale of Social Security numbers,” said Gail Hillebrand, Consumers Union’s Financial Services Campaign Manager.

“AARP South Carolina wants to thank Senator David Thomas, and Representatives Kris Crawford, Scott Talley, David Weeks, Bruce Bannister, and Jim Harrison along with our strong partner, Sue Berkowitz of SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center, for the hard work necessary to pass this bill, said Arnold.”

AARP is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. We produce AARP The Magazine, published bimonthly; AARP Bulletin, our monthly newspaper; AARP Segunda Juventud, our bimonthly magazine in Spanish and English; NRTA Live & Learn, our quarterly newsletter for 50+ educators; and our Web site, www.aarp.org. AARP Foundation is our affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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