HR0857 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0857 LRB096 16752 GRL 32045 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Approximately 15 million residents in the U.S. have their identities stolen each year; the costs associated with the theft is approximately $50 billion; and

WHEREAS, The average individual loss from an identity theft case is around $3,500; the average amount of time a person spends on recovering from the consequences of identity theft is approximately 25 hours; and

WHEREAS, There are many different types of identity theft, including financial identity theft, medical identity theft, criminal identity theft, and social security theft; the most common form of identity theft is financial identity theft; and

WHEREAS, Financial identity theft can lead to serious consequences, including damaged credit, credit and debit card fraud, checking and savings account fraud, investment account fraud, mortgage and other loan fraud, and tax fraud; and

WHEREAS, Identity theft is very difficult to recover from; while people with stable financial situations can deal with the consequences of identity theft and move on from the incident, lower-income families that are already struggling with their finances can find it harder to recover; and

WHEREAS, Education on financial concepts can assist individuals and families in securing a stable financial future by helping these individuals and families to learn the steps necessary to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft; and

WHEREAS, There are many ways for individuals to protect themselves from identity theft, including the purchase of a cross-cut shredder to shred any documents that may contain personal information in them, making sure that passwords for ATM or credit cards are not based on easily identifiable information, such as birthdays or Social Security numbers, ordering a credit report to check for any suspicious activity involving one's credit, and taking one's name off of pre-approved promotional lists; and

WHEREAS, State legislators can help address the growing problem of identity theft by implementing tougher penalties for people caught stealing someone's identity, providing help to victims of identity theft so that they do not have to suffer from the consequences permanently, and increasing awareness of identify theft; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we designate the month of December as Illinois Identity Theft Awareness Month; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we encourage all citizens to be informed about identity theft and to take action to protect themselves against identity theft.