Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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Samantha Hayes reportingThey want your number, your face, and especially your money. And all they have to do is steal your identity.
Salt Lake City police say it's easy to do and hard to track down, though they busted one operation over the weekend.
A much more effective way to prevent ID theft was passed over by Utah lawmakers.
Advocates of the Credit Feeze Legislation say the Credit Bureau lobby squashed the bill last session.
But it's coming up again. And it works like this: Even if a thief gets a hold of your ID, your credit cards, and your social security number, your credit could still be protected.
On average, someone's identity is stolen every four seconds across the nation.
Police believe Randy Jones was doing his part, here in Utah.
Det. Kevin Joiner/ Salt Lake Police Dept.: "And find some computers and id's and things like that to put together this fraud case."
This time, police found and arrested the suspect. More often, its the victim's problem.
Shauna Sloan's car, wallet, and computer were stolen a year and a half ago.
Shauna Sloan, theft victim: "Extremely frustrating to have so little protection against crimes like this and virutally no recourse."
There may be help on the horizon. Thirteen states passed legislation that enables invidiuals to control their own credit.
A similiar bill died in Utah last session, but will be introduced again.
Richard Hamp, Utah Financial Crimes Unit: "Finally for the first time consumers will be able to proactively take part in preventing identity theft."
Say this is your credit. By freezing it, you prevent anyone else from accessing it. Even with an id and social security number. That's because freezing it is essentially like locking it up and only you have the key, or in this case, the pin number."
Rich Hamp: "The beauty of that is any unauthorized user can't use it without the pin or obtain credit without the pin. So the consumer remains completely protected from someone obtaining credit in their name."
The credit freeze wouldn't affect your credit score. Advocates say it simply prevents anyone but you from using your credit to make purchases.
