Dive Brief:

• In response to an executive order by President Barack Obama in 2014 to support consumers in the face of rising levels of identity theft, the Federal Trade Commission last week unveiled enhancements to its IdentityTheft.gov website.

• The FTC also said that it received more than 490,000 complaints about identity theft last year, a 47% increase year over year.

• Going beyond the checklist approach it unveiled last year, the revamped site makes it easier to consumers to notify businesses, law enforcement, debt collectors, and others through affidavits, letters, and forms. The site also generates customized follow-up to ensure that consumers can follow through on plans to report issues and protect their credit and identity.

Dive Insight:

The FTC’s revamped approach to help consumers recover from identity theft could also help expose the problem in more detail.

New chip-enabled cards could help stem the problem, although it remains to be seen how protective the cards ultimately are, considering that they don’t require a PIN as they do elsewhere in the world. Furthermore, several retailers have yet to ready their point-of-sales systems for the more secure cards, and many consumers haven’t even yet received them. 

Meanwhile, though mobile is potentially a more secure way to pay for purchases, that mode of payment has so far failed to catch on in the U.S., though that could change. 

In any case, with retailers a major portal for identity thieves, the issue is gaining importance as the problem appears to be expanding rapidly.

“Millions of Americans have been victims of identity theft, and until now, there has not been a single site where they can quickly file an official complaint and then get real, personalized help,” FTC chairwoman Edith Ramirez said in a statement. “The FTC’s new IdentityTheft.gov website empowers consumers to fight back faster and more effectively against identity thieves.”