Identity-theft complaints rise in Va.

Identity-theft complaints rose 21 percent in the Richmond area in 2008, according to a Federal Trade Commission report.

The region ranked 239th among the 380 largest metropolitan areas in the nation. The ranking is based on the number of identity-theft complaints per 100,000 residents. In 2007, the area was No. 244.

The FTC received 1,162 identity-theft complaints among consumers in the Richmond area in 2008, compared with 961 in 2007.

The Brownsville-Harlingen area of Texas, by comparison, ranked No. 1 for 2008 and had a 62 percent spike in complaints: 1,422, compared with 876 in 2007.

Virginia saw a 19 percent increase in identity-theft complaints -- 6,349 complaints, compared with 5,319 in 2007.

The state is ranked No. 22 for 2008.

"It is a very serious problem here in the Richmond area and actually all over Virginia," said Gene Fishel, chief of the computer-crime section at the Virginia Attorney General's Office.

The Virginia Beach-Norfolk area had a nearly 16 percent increase in complaints. The Roanoke market saw a 35 percent spike -- 299 complaints in 2008, compared with 221 in 2007.

Nationwide, identity-theft complaints rose 21 percent, the FTC said. Identity theft was No. 1 on the agency's list of top consumer complaints for the ninth year in a row.

Identity thieves were busiest in Arizona, followed by California and Florida. Arizona had 9,683 complaints.

"One, it shows that people are doing a better job of reporting this crime, and two, it really shows that this crime is growing at an epidemic rate," said Mike Prusinski, spokesman for the Arizona identity-theft protection firm LifeLock.

Crooks stole people's identities by fraudulently using credit cards, phones, government documents/benefits, bank accounts, electronic funds transfers or employment data.

Prusinski said consumers unwittingly expose themselves to identity theft when they disclose their Social Security number to their employer, doctor or Internal Revenue Service.

"It's not all about people stealing your trash or mail anymore," he said.

Companies are not in the business of protecting data, he said. Even those with deep-enough pockets to afford the best security systems have data breaches. "Nothing's foolproof."

Fishel said the state has received more than 115 data-breach letters since July, when a state law went into effect requiring Virginia companies and organizations to report data breaches.

"We can definitely say that thousands of citizens are at a greater risk of becoming victims of identity theft because of those breaches," Fishel said. "It doesn't mean that a person is going to be a victim of identity theft. But their risk greatly increases."

LifeLock's Prusinski said, "We need the government to really throw out stronger penalties for companies that lose their information." Also, it needs to stiffen penalties for identity thieves, he said.

Contact Iris Taylor at (804) 649-6349 or .