STRATEGIC PARTNERS
February 19, 2003
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Prompted by a boom in financial fraud and identity theft, state legislators have drafted a package of House and Senate bills that would stiffen the penalties for such crimes, according to a report in the Seattle Times.
"We want to send a very strong message," said state Rep. Shay Schual-Berke, a Democrat. Schual-Berke, a credit-card fraud victim, is the sponsor of three anti-fraud bills.
State Sen. Shirley Winsley, a Republican whose husband was a victim of identity theft, is sponsoring three of the bills. "It's the crime that keeps on stealing," she said.
Denny Eliason, a lobbyist for the Washington Bankers Association, said Washington ranks in the top 10 among states for identity theft on a per-capita basis. He told the Times that financial institutions and retailers lose more than $110 million a year to financial fraud.
The state formed the Financial Fraud Task Force in 2002 to review possible strategies to fight this problem, and several bills recently emerged.
The task force found that financial crimes are often committed by organized-crime rings that move from town to town. House Bill 1842 would establish a "fraud-alert network" that would allow financial institutions, retailers and law enforcement to share information about crimes to try to prevent the same criminals from moving on to another location.
Some criminals -- often posing as waiters in restaurants or store clerks -- use small "skimmers" to record data from the back of credit cards. HB 1846 would make possession and use of those devices a felony by including it in an existing law.
Little can be done now to criminals who are caught with fake identification, blank ATM or credit cards or blank checks. HB 1844 would add new financial-fraud crimes to the list of offenses that can give rise to prosecution under the Criminal Profiteering Act.
Ken Johnson, vice president and manager for government relations for Bank of America, said Washington has the highest per-capita check fraud in the 23 states where his company operates. "This bill is "designed to bring statute up to date with technology," he said.
Another bill, HB 1843, would make it a felony to manufacture or sell fraudulent driver's licenses and identicards. And HB 1847 would void contract provisions some credit-card companies utilize that prohibit retailers from requesting verification of a customer's identity.
Australian legislators recently signaled their intent to introduce legislation that would make it illegal to manufacture, repair, traffic or possess any device adapted for use in connection with forging or falsifying credit cards. Illegally possessing, using or trafficking in credit card data would also be an offense. (See related storyPrompted by ATM scams, Australia considering anti-skimming laws)
