November 1, 2010

Re: Fiscal 2010 Identity Theft Annual Report

The Honorable Ted Strickland

Governor, State of Ohio
77 S. High St., 30th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215

The Honorable Bill Harris The Honorable Capri Cafaro

President, Ohio Senate Minority Leader, Ohio Senate
1 Capitol Square, 2nd Floor 1 Capitol Square, 3rd Floor
Columbus, OH 43215 Columbus, OH 43215

The Honorable Armond Budish The Honorable William Batchelder

Speaker, Ohio House of Representatives Minority Leader, Ohio House of Representatives
77 S. High St., 14th Floor 77 S. High St., 14th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215 Columbus, OH 43215

Dear Colleagues,

Identity theft is one of the most pervasive crimes in the United States. The Federal Trade
Commission estimates it strikes nearly 10 million U.S. consumers and imposes $50 billion in
unnecessary costs on the nation’s businesses each year.

This fiscal 2010 Identity Theft Annual Report details my office’s work to provide information,
education and support on this topic to Ohio consumers and law enforcement agencies.

As you know, identity theft occurs when someone wrongfully obtains and uses another
individual’s personal data in a fraudulent or deceptive way, typically for economic gain. The
scope of the problem is difficult to gauge, especially because many more people are known to be
victimized by identity theft than to report it.
However, one thing is certain: The toll is heavy. Americans spend an estimated 300 million
hours annually addressing the fallout when their personal information — contained in credit card
and utility statements, bank records, tax returns, medical documents and more — slips into the
hands of identity thieves.

The FTC received 7,525 identity theft complaints from Ohioans in 2009, an 8.6 percent decline
from the 2008 figure. The decline followed a national trend that saw total identity theft
complaints filed with the FTC fall 11.5 percent, from 314,484 in 2008 to 278,078 in 2009.

Ohio ranked 29th per capita among the states in 2009, with 65.2 identity theft complaints filed
with the FTC per 100,000 people. In contrast, Florida ranked first with 122.3 complaints and
South Dakota ranked last with 29.1 complaints per 100,000 people.

None of Ohio’s metropolitan areas was among the top 100 nationwide in terms of complaints
filed with the FTC. The three Ohio areas with the highest number of complaints per capita were
Akron, which ranked 115th; Springfield, 126th; and Wooster, 137th.

Phone and utilities fraud was the No. 1 type of identity theft Ohioans reported to the FTC in
2009, accounting for 27 percent of all complaints. The other common types of complaints were
credit card fraud, 16 percent; government documents or benefits fraud, 12 percent; bank fraud, 9
percent; employment-related fraud, 6 percent; and loan fraud, 4 percent. All other types of fraud
combined accounted for 22 percent of the complaints, while 6 percent of the filings involved
attempted identity theft.

An early leader in helping citizens cope with identity theft, Ohio was among the first states in the
nation to create an Identity Theft Verification Passport Program to help victims deal with the
aftermath of identity theft.

My Identity Theft Unit (part of the Crime Victims Assistance and Prevention Section) runs the
program, which provides participants with a wallet-sized card that verifies their status as an
identity theft victim. The card — when presented to law enforcement, financial institutions,
creditors and others — can help victims resolve problems more quickly.

Since the Passport program was introduced in Ohio in late 2004, Attorney General’s Office staff
members have conducted 982 training sessions for Ohio law enforcement personnel on how to
assist victims through the Passport program. Approximately 860 of Ohio’s 980 law enforcement
agencies have the equipment used to create Passport IDs for victims.

Here is a look at some other telling developments during fiscal 2010 in my office’s fight against
identity theft:

• The Identity Theft Unit responded to more than 1,800 phone inquiries, mostly from
victims or potential victims seeking help in responding to specific incidents.
• The unit conducted more than 70 identity theft prevention and Passport presentations for
law enforcement, financial institutions, senior groups, community organizations and
victim advocates across the state.
 • The Attorney General’s Office issued 83 Passport cards, bringing the total number
distributed since the program’s inception in 2004 to 1,633.
• My office makes available to consumers statewide an Identity Theft Repair Kit, which
provides valuable information, guidance and checklists for avoiding and recovering from
identity theft.

While our progress is encouraging, we are keenly aware that we need to do more to help Ohioans
prevent identity theft and to deal with it effectively when it does occur. My office’s Identity
Theft and Consumer Protection units will continue their statewide outreach to educate citizens on
this debilitating crime and how to avoid being victimized.

Sincerely,

Richard Cordray
Ohio Attorney General