HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-32RESOLUTION 2008-32
RESOLUTION ADOPTING AN IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION PROGRAM
WHEREAS, the Town Council of the Town of Pulaski, Virginia desires to
enhance the security of the Town's records to protect the citizens of the Town
from identity theft; and,
WHEREAS, Federal regulatory agencies, as part of the Fair and Accurate Credit
Transaction Act of 2003, require financial institutions and creditors, including
municipalities, to provide for the identification, detection and response to
patterns, practices, or speck activ~ies that could indicate identity theft; and,
WHEREAS, the Virginia Municipal League, of which the Town of Pulaski, Virginia
is a member, has drafted a policy for use by its members which will meet the
guidelines for compliance issued by the federal agencies;
NOW, THEREFORE be it RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of
Pulaski, Virginia sitting in session this 21St day of October 2008 that the Town
does hereby adopt the Identity Theft Prevention Program as shown in
Attachment A, attached hereto and expressly made part of this resolution.
This resolution is effective upon adoption and is hereby adopted this 21St day of
October 2008 by the duly recorded vote of the Town Council of the Town of
Pulaski, Virginia as follows:
David L. Clark -Aye
Larry G. Clevinger, II -Aye
H.M. Kidd -Aye
ATTEST:
Patricia Cruise, Clerk of Council
Joel B. Burchett, Jr. -Aye
Robert A. Bopp -Aye
Morgan P. Welker -Aye
THE TOWN OF PULASKf, VIRGINIA
BY: / , ,
~y orrel ,Mayor
Attachment A-Resolution 2008-32
Identity Theft Prevention Program
Purpose
The purpose of the program is to establish an Identity Theft Prevention Program designed
to detect, prevent and mitigate identity theft in connection with the opening of a covered
account or an existing covered account and to provide for continued administration of the
Program in compliance with Part 681 of Title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations
implementing Sections 114 and 315 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act
(FACTA) of 2003.
Definitions
Covered account means:
1. An account that a creditor offers or maintains, primarily for personal, family,
or household purposes that involves or is designed to permit multiple
payments or transactions. Covered accounts include utility accounts; and
2. Any other account that the creditor offers or maintains for which there is a
reasonably foreseeable risk to customers or to the safety and soundness of the
creditor from identity theft, including financial, operational, compliance,
reputation or litigation risks.
Credit means the right granted by a creditor to a debtor to defer payment of debt or to
incur debts and defer its payment or to purchase property or services and defer payment
therefor.
Creditor means any person who regularly extends, renews, or continues credit; any
person who regularly arranges for the extension, renewal, or continuation of credit; or
any assignee of an original creditor who participates in the decision to extend, renew, or
continue credit.
Identifying information is any name or number that may be used, alone or in
conjunction with any other information, to identify a specific person, including: name,
address, telephone number, Social Security number, date of birth, government issued
driver's license or identification number, alien registration number, government passport
number, employer or taxpayer identification number, unique electronic identification
number, computer's Internet Protocol (IP) address, or routing code.
Identity theft means fraud committed or attempted using the identifying information of
another person without authority.
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Identification of Relevant Red Flags
In order to identify relevant Red Flags, the locality considers the types of accounts that it
offers and maintains, the methods it provides to open its accounts, the methods it
provides to access its accounts and its previous experience with Identify Theft. The
locality identifies the following red flags, in each of the listed categories:
A. Notifications and Warnings From Credit Reporting Agencies
Report of fraud accompanying a credit report;
Notice or report from a credit agency of a credit freeze on a customer or
applicant;
• Notice or report from a credit agency of an active duty alert for an applicant;
and
Indication from a credit report of activity that is inconsistent with a customer's
usual pattern or activity.
B. Suspicious Documents
• Identification document or card that appears to be forged, altered or
inauthentic;
Identification document or card on which a person's photograph or physical
description is not consistent with the person presenting the document;
Other document with information that is not consistent with existing customer
information (such as if a person's signature on a check appears forged); and
Application for service that appears to have been altered or forged.
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Red flag means a pattern, practice or specific activity that indicates the possible existence
of identity theft.
The Program
The Town of Pulaski, Virginia establishes an Identity Theft Prevention Program to detect,
prevent and mitigate identity theft. The Program shall include reasonable policies and
procedures to:
1. Identify relevant red flags for covered accounts it offers or maintains and
incorporate those red flags into the program;
2. Detect red flags that have been incorporated into the Program;
3. Respond appropriately to any red flags that are detected to prevent and
mitigate identity theft; and
4. Ensure the Program is updated periodically to reflect changes in risks to
customers and to the safety and soundness of the creditor from identity theft.
The program shall, as appropriate, incorporate existing policies and procedures that
control reasonably foreseeable risks.
C. Suspicious Personal Identifying Information
• Identifying information presented that is inconsistent with other information
the customer provides (example: inconsistent birth dates);
• Identifying information presented that is inconsistent with other sources of
information (for instance, an address not matching an address on the credit
report);
• Identifying information presented that is the same as information shown on
other applications that were found to be fraudulent;
• Identifying information presented that is consistent with fraudulent activity
(such as an invalid phone number or fictitious billing address);
• Social Security number presented that is the same as one given by another
customer;
• An address or phone number presented that is the same as that of another
person;
• A person fails to provide complete personal identifying information on an
application when reminded to do so (however, by law social security numbers
must not be required); and
• A person's identifying information is not consistent with the information that
is on file for the customer.
D. Suspicious Account Activity or Unusual Use of Account
• Change of address for an account followed by a request to change the account
holder's name;
• Payments stop on an otherwise consistently up-to-date account;
• Account used in a way that is not consistent with prior use (example: very
high activity);
Mail sent to the account holder is repeatedly returned as undeliverable;
• Notice to the locality that a customer is not receiving mail sent by the locality;
• Notice to the locality that an account has unauthorized activity:
Breach in the locality's computer system security; or
• Unauthorized access to or use of customer account information.
E. Alerts from Others
• Notice to the locality from a customer, identity theft victim, law enforcement
or other person that it has opened or is maintaining a fraudulent account for a
person engaged in Identity Theft.
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Detection of Red Flags
A. New Accounts
In order to detect any of the Red Flags identified above associated with the opening of a
new account, the Town's personnel will take the following steps to obtain and verify the
identity of the person opening the account:
• Require certain identifying information such as name, date of birth, residential
or business address, principal place of business for an entity, driver's license
or other identification;
• Verify the customer's identity (for instance, review a driver's license or other
identification card);
• Review documentation showing the existence of a business entity; and
• Independently contact the customer.
B. Ezisting Accounts
In order to detect any of the Red Flags identified above for an existing account,
the city's /town's /county's personnel will take the following steps to monitor
transactions with an account:
Verify the identification of customers if they request information, whether in
person, via telephone, via facsimile or via a-mail;
• Verify the validity of requests to change billing addresses; and
• Verify changes in banking information given for billing and payment
purposes.
Response to suspected identity theft
In the event the Town's personnel detect any identified Red Flags, such personnel shall
take one or more of the following steps, depending on the degree of risk posed by the Red
Flag:
• Continue to monitor an account for evidence of Identify Theft;
Contact the customer:
• Change any passwords or other security devices that permit access to
accounts;
• Not open a new account;
• Close an existing account;
• Reopen an account with a new number;
• Notify the Program Administrator for determination of the appropriate step(s)
to take;
• Notify law enforcement; or
• Determine that no response is warranted under the particular circumstances.
y
In order to further prevent the likelihood of identity theft occurring with respect to utility
accounts, the town will take the following steps with respect to its internal operating
procedures to protect customer identifying information:
• Ensure that its website is secure or provide clear notice that the website is not
secure;
• Ensure complete and secure destruction of paper documents and computer
files containing customer information;
• Ensure that the office computers are password protected and that computer
screens lock after a set period of time;
• Keep offices clear of papers containing customer information;
• Request only the last 4 digits of social security numbers (if any);
• Ensure computer virus protection is up to date; and
• Require and keep only the kinds of customer information that are necessary
for utility purposes.
Updating the Program
The Program shall be updated periodically to reflect changes in risks to customers or to
the safety and soundness of the organization from identity theft based on factors such as:
• The experiences of the organization with identity theft;
• Changes in methods of identity theft;
• Changes in methods to detect, prevent and mitigate identity theft;
• Changes in the types of accounts that the organization offers or maintains;
• Changes in the business arrangements of the organization, including mergers,
acquisitions, alliances, joint ventures and service provider arrangements.
Administration of Program
The Finance Director shall be responsible for the development,
implementation, oversight and continued administration of the Program.
The Finance Director shall train staff, as necessary, to effectively implement
the Program; and
The Finance Director shall exercise appropriate and effective oversight of
service provider arrangements.
Oversight of the Program
1. Oversight of the Program shall include:
a. Assignment of specific responsibility for implementation of the Program to the
Town Manager;
b. Review of reports prepared by staff regarding compliance; and
c. Approval of material changes to the Program as necessary to address changing
risks of identity theft.
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2. Reports shall be prepared as follows:
a. Staff responsible for development, implementation and administration of the
Program shall report to the Town Manager at least annually on compliance by the
organization with the Program.
b. The report shall address material matters related to the Program and evaluate
issues such as:
• The effectiveness of the policies and procedures in addressing the risk
of identity theft in connection with the opening of covered accounts
and with respect to existing covered accounts;
• Service provider agreements;
• Significant incidents involving identity theft and management's
response; and
• Recommendations for material changes to the Program.
Oversight of Service Provider Arrangements
In the event the locality engages a service provider to perform an activity in
connection with one or more accounts, it will take the following steps to ensure the
service provider performs its activity in accordance with reasonable policies and
procedures designed to detect, prevent, and mitigate the risk of Identity Theft:
• Require, by contract, that service providers have such policies and
procedures in place; and
Require, by contract, that service providers review the locality's Program
and report any Red Flags to the Program Administrator.
Duties Regarding Address Discrepancies
The locality shall develop policies and procedures designed to enable the organization to
form a reasonable belief that a credit report relates to the consumer for whom it was
requested if the organization receives a notice of address discrepancy from a nationwide
consumer reporting agency indicating the address given by the consumer differs from the
address contained in the consumer report.
The locality may reasonably confirm that an address is accurate by any of the following
means:
1. Verification of the address with the consumer;
2. Review of the utility's records;
3. Verification of the address through third-party sources; or
4. Other reasonable means.
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If an accurate address is confirmed, the locality shall furnish the consumer's address to
the nationwide consumer reporting agency from which it received the notice of address
discrepancy if:
1. The organization establishes a continuing relationship with the consumer; and
2. The organization, regularly and in the ordinary course of business, furnishes
information to the consumer reporting agency.
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