Bend
has earned the dubious distinction of being among five cities in Oregon
with the most reported identity thefts last year, according to a recent
federal report.
The
Federal Trade Commission's annual report on consumer fraud complaints
listed Bend with 79 cases of reported identity theft in 2005. The
figure placed Bend fifth among Oregon cities - its highest position
since the FTC report began six years ago.
Bend also placed in the top five in Oregon cities for fraud complaints. The city has placed fifth in that category since 2003.
Bend's
rankings for identity theft and fraud complaints surprised many,
including Laura Etherton, field director for the consumer organization
Oregon State Public Interest Research Group.
"That
really jumped out at me," Etherton said. "We'll be looking at that more
closely (in the future). I think this is an issue Central Oregon should
be very concerned about."
Oregon Fraud
Top Oregon cities for reported fraud complaints, 2005
1) Portland, 1,177
2) Salem, 343
3) Eugene, 341
4) Beaverton, 279
5) Bend, 185 |
Oregon cities with the most identity theft victims, 2005
1) Portland, 736
2) Salem, 175
3) Eugene, 143
4) Beaverton, 126
5) Bend, 79 |
The report said 686,683 fraud complaints were filed nationwide last
year, with more than 255,000 of those involving identity theft. That's
an increase of 5.2 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively, from 2004.
Close to half of all fraud complaints in 2005 were Internet-related, the report added.
"The
data really speaks for itself," said Jay Miller, manager of the
consumer sentinel program that compiled the report. "It means that
fraud is still perpetrated on the Internet."
But Miller added that the steadily increasing number of complaints isn't necessarily a bad thing.
"There's
been an increase every year in complaints, but we take it as a good
sign that people are coming to us with their complaints," he said. "It
helps the consumers."
Identity theft, often committed over the Internet, could drain a victim's bank accounts and damage his or her credit.
Local financial executives were surprised by Bend's numbers and haven't seen its effects firsthand.
But the overall national trend didn't come as much of a shock, they added.
"Fraud
is on the rise across the nation," said Bank of the Cascades CEO
Patricia Moss. "We haven't really seen any higher growth (of fraud
complaints) in Central Oregon."
Paul
Stednitz, LibertyBank's vice president and Central Oregon area manager,
thinks the number simply reflects the region's fast growth.
"We'll probably start to see a lot of things we're not used to," Stednitz said. "It's a function of growth."
Sarah
Douglas, a professor at University of Oregon's Department of Computer
and Information Science, said the people comprising Bend's growth could
be fueling its increasing Internet fraud and identity theft.
"I
would say that people are going to steal where there is money," Douglas
said. "In Bend, there is not only growth, but a very specific type of
growth. A lot of wealthy people are moving to Bend, and there are more
and more targets for criminals to prey on."
FTC's
Miller said victims of identity theft should contact their credit
report agencies and place a fraud alert on their credit reports before
calling the police.
But
OSPIRG's Etherton said state and federal governments need to introduce
stronger measures, such as security freezes, to protect consumers.
"Unfortunately,
fraud alerts don't prevent someone from getting credit in your name,"
Etherton said. "With a security freeze, it prohibits the issuing of
credit reports to anyone without a code, similar to a PIN number (with
a debit card). It's the only way for consumers to be sure."
University
of Oregon's Douglas and LibertyBank's Stednitz said it's important for
people to keep track of their personal information, such as bank
accounts and Social Security numbers, making sure it doesn't fall into
the wrong hands.
"We're
always putting out information on what people should and shouldn't do,"
Stednitz said. "For instance, don't just throw your bank statements
away."
"I shred everything," Douglas said.
The
state of Oregon is scheduled to release its own consumer complaints
report on Monday to kick off National Consumer Protection Week.
Those
who think they may be the victim of fraud or identity theft should
contact the FTC at 877-FTC-HELP or 877-ID-THEFT, respectively. They
also can find more information on the Web at www.ftc.gov.
For credit reports, people can contact the three major reporting agencies:
Equifax
(800-685-1111), TransUnion (800-888-4213) and Experian (888-397-3742).
