Criminals should think twice before using a stolen personal identification number to withdraw cash, because the state is considering a proposal to crack down on identity theives.
A proposal introduced Tuesday would tighten up and strengthen Wisconsin's laws on identity theft, an offense that has become increasingly problematic.
\It's the fastest-growing white-collar crime in the country,"" UW-Madison Family and Consumer Education Professor Karen Goebel said.
Changes in legislation would give state attorneys jurisdiction to prosecute individuals who commit identity theft in any state, as long as the victim in the case is from Wisconsin.
Also, the proposal would expand the definitions of ""personal identification information"" from names, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers, birth certificate and bank card information to encompass virtually any type of personal identifiers, such as account numbers and fingerprints.
The proposal is the result of a year-long study by a special task force on the issue of identity fraud in the state of Wisconsin.
State Rep. Mark Gundrum, R-New Berlin, served as chairman of the task force. He said he is confident the proposal will be signed into law.
""It has strong bipartisan support. There's nothing that we've heard any controversy about, and everyone is in agreement,"" he said.
Gundrum added that he is optimistic the proposal will be passed some time this summer.
Essentially, the bill would give law enforcement agencies more room to maneuver when prosecuting criminals for fraudulent identity crimes. Currently, if an identity theft case took place outside of the state, police may not even take a report since it is out of their jurisdiction.
""People in the past largely had to handle these things on their own,"" Goebel said.
Gundrum said he believes the issue of jurisdiction is one of the most important within the proposal. As well as giving state attorneys the ability to prosecute individuals from other states, the legislative reform would also save the state money on court cases, as attorneys would not have to fly themselves and witnesses to other states for a preliminary hearing. The proposal would allow telephonic and hearsay testimony, which means a police officer could testify to what a [witness] said to show there is enough evidence to go to trial.
To prevent identification fraud, Victims Assistance of America President Martha Steimel encourages people to take action.
""Pull a credit report once a year and check it. Doing that, you'll catch any fraud [quickly],"" she said.
