Six years ago, New York became the 43rd state in America to enact an identity theft law.

This 2002 law established varying levels of crime against the unlawful possession and use of personal identification information. It’s been updated several times, but security studies consistently point to the fact that identity theft laws need to be as frequently revised as cybercriminals enhance their ability to break them.

Technology changes fast today, but the tactics of identity thieves change even faster. Identity theft is now considered our No. 1 financial and consumer crime, costing American consumers an estimated $50 billion a year. New York State ranks third in the nation in reported cases of identity theft, with upwards of 20,000 cases reported last year.

Identity theft is the most common consumer fraud complaint and the fastest-growing financial crime, affecting approximately 10 million Americans annually. Last year, New York ranked sixth in the country in per capita identity theft complaints, according to the Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

So the New York State Legislature does its best to continually focus efforts on staying ahead of identity thieves. Two years ago, for example, we approved a new law that allows consumers to place a "security freeze" on their credit reports if they suspect they are victims of identity theft. A security freeze prevents an identity thief from taking out new loans and credit under their victim’s name.

Another new law approved in 2006 established the "Anti-phishing Act" to provide law enforcement officials with the ability to pursue actions against criminals who defraud state residents through e-mail scams. Phishing is the act of sending an e-mail falsely claiming to be a legitimate business or other organization in an attempt to dupe e-mail recipients into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The word phishing comes from the analogy that Internet scammers are using e-mail lures to fish for passwords and financial data from the sea of Internet users. Phishing accounts for up to 25% of all Internet fraud.

In the closing days of the 2008 legislative session, comprehensive new identity theft legislation was approved to:

> restrict the ability of employers to use an employee's personal information, including prohibitions against posting or displaying more than the last four digits of an employee's social security number or placing social security numbers in files with open access;

> outlaw the possession of "skimmer" devices, which can obtain personal identifying information from credit cards, under circumstances where there is an intent to use the device to commit identity theft;

> enable identity theft victims to obtain restitution equal to the value of the time they spend fixing the damage of identity theft. According to one study, it takes identity theft victims as much as 330 hours to fix the damage done by identity theft. For the first time, victims will be able to be compensated for their lost time;

> allow, also for the first time, victims of identity theft to seek assistance from the state Consumer Protection Board’s (CPB) Identity Theft Prevention and Mitigation Program. The program will assist victims to undo the damage that identity theft has done to their financial and credit history; and

> enhance aspects of the 2006 security freeze law highlighted above and extend important confidentiality protections to public entities, preventing the intentional communication of social security numbers to the public.

So while identity thieves are elusive and fast-moving, the state Legislature keeps doing its best to keep pace and to protect consumers from a crime that takes its toll in time, money, and peace of mind.

For additional information on protecting yourself against identity theft, click below on CONTACT to submit our request for a copy of a popular Senate brochure, "Identity Theft."