DEARBORN – State Representative Gino H. Polidori (D-Dearborn)is holding a town hall meeting in Dearborn to warn residents about identify theft and to share methods on how to protect their identity.
The meeting will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday, May 12, at the HenryFordVillage in the Edison Room located at 15101 Ford Road in Dearborn.
"People fall victim to identity theft every day and this crime must come to an end," Polidori said. "We must educate our residents about how they can protect themselves and avoid all of the headaches that come with identity theft. Identity thieves can ruin a victim's credit, economic stability and their overall well-being."
Polidori has pushed a plan to the Legislature that will force financial institutions and businesses to obtain explicit written permission from a consumer before any financial information can be released or sold. Federal law currently allows companies to sell such information after including a so-called "opt-out" clause, in fine print.
"The town hall will be a great opportunity for people to learn various methods and steps they need to know to protect their identity, their finances and their quality of life," Polidori said. "We want to give people the proper tools to avoid what could be a huge mess."
The litany of potential ID theft cases is growing by the day. Recently, thieves stole 30,000 Social Security numbers from Lexis-Nexis research, hacked credit card numbers from more than 100 DSW Shoe Warehouse stores and bought information on 145,000 people from the ChoicePoint data clearinghouse, including data on 2,319 Michigan residents, according to a Detroit News article in March.
The federal government said more than 650,000 people were victims of identity theft last year, with 7,300 cases reported in Michigan.