CCH Booklet Educates Consumers, Financial Services Staff About Identity Theft

(RIVERWOODS, ILL., October 1, 2001) – Today, many thieves aren’t content just to steal money from someone’s wallet, according to CCH INCORPORATED (CCH), a leading provider of banking, securities and insurance law information. These criminals are after something potentially more valuable than coins or bills: they’re targeting people’s identities. To aid individuals – and financial institutions – who can be victimized by identity theft, CCH is offering two new booklets, one for consumers and one for financial professionals, both entitled Identity Theft: What You Need to Know. (For more information or to order, call your CCH sales representative at 1-888-224-7377.)

Identity theft can be as simple as the one-time use of a stolen credit card or it can involve elaborate schemes to harvest thousands of Social Security and bank account numbers. What all identity theft has in common is the use of someone’s personal information to commit fraud or theft.

Both versions of Identity Theft: What You Need to Know are timely alerts to the existence of identity theft in its many forms and guises. They explain how to avoid becoming a victim and how to fight back if one is victimized.

The consumer version of the booklet is designed primarily for banks and other financial institutions to distribute to their customers. It is written in a direct, non-technical style. The professional version is suitable for training financial services employees. It provides a more complete grounding in the topic and includes discussions of relevant statutes, hearings and enforcement actions.

"For consumers, identity theft can mean an agonizing time spent clearing their name, with the potential for untold inconvenience and humiliation until the situation is corrected. For financial institutions, identity theft means financial loss, a great expenditure of time spent clearing up records and the potential for customer ill-feeling," said Karyn Blong, assistant marketing manager for CCH’s business and finance group.

"When an institution distributes these booklets to either their customers or their employees, it sends a clear message that it cares about financial safety. With that in mind, we’ve made it especially attractive for institutions to purchase them in large quantities with the added option they that can customize them with their institution’s name on the front cover," Blong added.

Thorough Guides

Both versions of Identity Theft: What You Need to Know are thorough guides to the subject. Contents include:

The Background on Identity Theft

What it is
The most common ways to commit identity theft
The extent of these practices, with charts and statistics

Identity theft Q&A

What the Industry is Doing About it

Preventative steps taken by both agencies and institutions

FTC investigations
List of state laws

How to Avoid Becoming a Victim

Safeguards
"How to" tips and checklists

Ways of Fighting Back if Victimized

Survival Q&A
Hotline numbers
FTC complaint forms
Resolving resulting credit problems

The Dangers of Pretext Calling

The risks of pretext calls
FTC actions
Tips for detecting pretext calls
Available remedies for victims

Availability and Pricing

For more information or to order either version of Identity Theft: What You Need to Know (consumer or professional version), call your CCH sales representative at 1-888-224-7377. Single copy price is $15 for the consumer edition and $25 for the professional version. Quantity discounts are available for both versions. Custom imprinting is available on orders of 1,000 or more for the consumer version and 750 more for the professional version.

About CCH INCORPORATED

CCH has been tracking, reporting and analyzing financial law since 1914 and is the publisher of industry-standard reference works such as Federal Banking Law Reports, the Bank Compliance Guide, State Banking Law Reporter, Federal Securities Law Reports, Commodity Futures Law Reporter, Blue Sky Law Reports and the Consumer Credit Guide. CCH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wolters Kluwer North America. The CCH web site can be accessed at www.cch.com. The CCH Business and Finance Group web site can be reached http://business.cch.com.

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