Beginning this month contact centers including teleservices firms that handle consumer financial information are required by Federal law have formal written plans to identify, detect, and respond to patterns, practices, or specific activities that could indicate ID theft.rnThe Federal Trade Commission (FTC), federal bank regulatory agencies, and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) mandate formal written and current ID theft prevention programs (ITPPs). Firms must have their senior executives sign off on ITPPs and educate and train their, staff on complying with them.rnThese regulations are known as the 'Red Flags' rules, technically sections 114 and 315 of the federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act of 2003. They apply to banks, credit card issuers, lenders, government agencies, nonprofits and their outsourcers such as teleservices agencies, that hold consumer and small business credit information, known as 'covered accounts'.rnThe Red Flags rules are designed to stanch the losses from ID theft, which, reports the President's Identity Theft Task Force, costs billions of dollars each year to individuals and businesses. They are also aimed at ending the unaccountable fear, aggravation, and time spent in responding and recovering from such crimes.
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