About 10 million Americans had their identities stolen last year. There has been an abysmal failure on the part of the banking industry, retailers and, of course, the credit bureaus. The bureaus have an uncaring attitude in regard to identity theft and Clark says they belong in the “Hall of Shame.” As a result of all of this apathy, prosecutors have a very tough time putting away identity thieves. It’s very hard to get the level of proof required to send someone to prison. But that is about to change. The House and Senate have passed the “Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act.” Now it goes to President Bush, and Clark knows of no reason why he would not sign this bill into law. What it does is allow prosecutors to send someone to prison just for having information about you or your identity. Currently, prosecutors had to prove that someone actively used your information in the commission of a crime. Now, simply being in possession of the information is enough to send someone away. ID theft has been able to grow so much because cases are very time consuming and it’s very confusing to present the case in court. Yes, we need more legislation, but this is a big help. One of the biggest perpetuators of identity theft is the retail industry. Retailers continue to issue instant credit, which is one of the easiest ways to steal someone else’s identity. If someone steals your identity, the first place he or she will go is to a store that sells merchandise that is easy to fence. That includes computers and electronics. So, the thief goes to that store acting as you, gets credit and buys up the store on your bill. So, the retail sector needs to be reigned in. How? Consumers should try to prevent instant credit by writing to their representatives in Congress. If people had to wait a day or two for their identities to be verified, it would prevent identity thieves from racking up huge debts in your name. But it would also stop people from “impulse buying,” which scares retailers to death. We’ll keep you posted!