InfoBytes Blog
House passes measures to address identity theft
On April 18, the House passed H.R. 2905 by a vote of 403-3. The “Justice for Victims of IRS Scams and Identity Theft Act of 2017,” would direct the DOJ and the Treasury Department to submit reports to Congress detailing identity theft prosecutions. The DOJ’s report must contain the number of identity theft cases referred to the agency during the previous five years, along with recommendations for improving fraud deterrence, prevention, and interagency collaboration. The bill would also require Treasury to report on efforts to assist in the prosecution of individuals who fraudulently posed as IRS agents, in addition to trends and resources needed to improve the prosecution of IRS impostors. All reports would be due 120 days after the bill's enactment.
On April 17, the House voted 420-1 to pass H.R. 5192, which would, among other things, require the Social Security Administration to provide a database for financial institutions to validate fraud protection data (an individual’s name, social security number, and date of birth) when attempting to “reduce the prevalence of synthetic identity fraud.” In particular, H.R 5192 is designed to protect the needs of vulnerable consumers, including minors and recent immigrants, and limits inquiries to those with a permissible purpose in accordance with section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Further, prior to submitting a verification request, a financial institution must receive electronic consumer consent.