What are the FACT Act Red Flag Rules?
Section 114 of the FACT Act requires that financial institutions and creditors establish a written Identity Theft Prevention Program designed to “detect, prevent and mitigate identity theft in connection with existing accounts, and the opening of new accounts.” Additionally, section 114(B) requires issuers of credit and debit cards to verify the validity of a change-of-address request matched with requests for additional or replacement cards. Section 315 deals with identity theft in the new account environment, specifically when there is a discrepancy between the consumer address on an application and the address held on file by the credit bureau. Because identity thieves commonly attempt to open new credit accounts at a different address than where their victim resides, Section 315 requires that a creditor first must form a reasonable belief of “true identity” when they observe an address mismatch between the application and what is on record with the bureau.
