A press release from the ID Sure organization discusses the upcoming deadline for compliance with the Red Flags Rule Program. With companies needing to be compliant by August 1st, 2009, I am still amazed at the number of Accountants, Lawyers, and Title Companies that have no clue that they need to comply.
Yesterday, I spoke with a tax and estate planning attorney who had not heard of the program. In speaking with ID Sure, an ID Verification and Authentication services company, it was clear that the organizations and associations that these professionals belong to are doing nothing to address compliance or education. ID Sure will provide free seminars and webinars for groups of businesses or professionals who are affected by the Red Flags Rule and are happy to provide free education regarding ways to become compliant and to fight ID Fraud.
Shawn Walsh, a spokesperson for ID Sure tells me that they have been contacting the associations to offer up no cost education but are often told by the associations, that they do not know what the Red Flags Rule is or why it would apply to their members. They have recently added a simple presentation on their website so that the businesses that are affected can quickly understand the impact non compliance could have on their business. You can view that presentation here.
The whole concept is pretty simple – ID Fraud is on the rise. ID thieves are using services of various business to help pull off their criminal activity. Some examples – 5.3% of ID thieves filed a fraudulent tax return and 7% use legal services from an attorney. In an effort to shut this down and stop the propagation, the FTC is mandating that certain businesses have an Identity Theft Prevention Program in place. ID Sure offers a free Red Flags Rules Program for low risk businesses if you sign up for any subscription service for the ID Verification service. According to their website, the base plan is $100 a month and you can cancel at any time.
I say it is time to get off the couch and sign up with ID Sure, or another ID verification system and become Red Flags Rule compliant! It is not enough to just take a drivers license as a form of ID. Look at the post earlier this week where Corcas used a Fake Drivers License to buy a house! Good thing for the lawyers that set up his company and the title company who handled the closing, that the Red Flags Rules was not being enforced yet. When that happens next month, my guess is the law firm and the title company will be faced with public humilation, shame and some nasty fines.
