During the 2007 Legislative Session, Texas legislators passed bills to help Texans protect their identities from the cradle to the grave, including one bill that is the first of its kind in the nation. 

On March 1 of this year, the Texas Department of Banking launched the Closed Account Notification System (CANS).  This secure electronic notification system enables banks and credit unions to immediately notify all check verification companies when certain accounts have been closed due to fraudulent activity by identity thieves. 

Prior to implementing CANS, identity theft victims would close their compromised bank accounts, assuming that would be sufficient to stop unauthorized use of their identities.  Unfortunately, banks had no way of letting check verification companies know that an account had been closed.  As a result, identity thieves could pass fraudulent checks to merchants who were not yet aware that an account had been closed.

If you discover that an identity thief may have access to your bank account, file a police report and contact your financial institution immediately to close your account and request notification through CANS.

Children are some of society’s most vulnerable individuals.  Although it is difficult to believe, children may also be targets of identity theft.  Irresponsible and uncaring parents will open a credit account in the name of their child and then use the information, such as a Social Security number and birth date, to apply for credit cards.

If a parent, relative, or even some stranger uses a child’s identity, the crime might not be detected until the victimized child is old enough to apply for a job,  college financial aid, a car loan or anything else that requires good credit.  Additionally, most lenders require identity theft victims to file a police report to remove fraudulent account records.  This requirement could put the victimized child in a difficult situation, since it might lead to the prosecution, conviction and incarceration of a parent or other relative.

Last year, the Legislature passed House Bill 649, making it an offense if a person, with the intent to harm or defraud another, obtains, possesses, transfers or uses information of a child younger than 18 years of age, regardless of consent.  The offense is punishable as a state jail felony.

Prior to legislative action last year, it was an offense to possess or use another person’s identifying information with the intent to defraud.  There were, however, no protections provided for using or possessing the identifying information of someone who is deceased.  As a result we passed House Bill 460 last year which provides that it is an offense to use a deceased person’s information to harm or defraud another person.  The penalty for use or possession of a person’s identifying information ranges from a state jail felony to incarceration in a state prison, depending on the number of times the information was used.

These are three of the bills we passed to protect Texans from identity theft; however, you are the best protector of your identity. Guard it well.

Texas State Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) represents District 25, which includes part of Bexar County. He can be reached via e-mail at jeff.wentworth@senate. state.tx.us.