Notaries Public, as the nation's professional identity screeners, play an integral role in combating identity fraud — the crimes committed after the identity theft.

"Identity fraud and its most offensive consequences will continue to expand and permeate our economies and our societies until there are uniform, sound and dependable systems in place to identify, authenticate and verify documents and individuals worldwide and, more particularly, here in America. ...Notaries should have no higher priority." — New Hampshire State Supreme Court Chief Justice John T. Broderick, Jr. at the Farewell Banquet of the NNA's 27th Annual Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada on June 3, 2005. (Full text of speech available here.)

Notaries serve as gatekeepers during sensitive transactions. In order to purchase a home, for instance, a document signer must appear before a Notary Public and be properly identified. In this official capacity, the Notary Public serves as a deterrent to would-be fraudsters and can assist law enforcement in detecting identity fraud schemes.

The National Notary Association, as a leader in identity screening issues, offers this Web page resource for those interested in learning more about identity theft, ID theft prevention, identity fraud and how Notaries serve to shield the public from these insidious crimes.

ID Theft in the News

• Prevent Identity Theft — Become a Hard Target (Sacramento Bee, November 8, 2005; registration required).
• Congress Debates Building Consumer Protections into Security Bill (eWeek, November 7, 2008).
• ID Theft Bill Approved Amid Griping (Washington Post, November 4, 2005).
• Picking Up the Pieces (Government Technology, April 27, 2005)
• NNA Public Service Alert in Response to ChoicePoint Identity Data Theft (February 16, 2005)

ID Theft Statistics, Reports & Speeches

• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the clearing house for Identity Theft statistics in the U.S.
• The FTC also offers the latest ID fraud and theft statistics by state.
• The Journal of Economic Crime Management released this report entitled, Identity Fraud: A Critical National and Global Threat (Winter 2004).

How Notaries Public Fight Fraud

• The NNA has led the way in educating Notaries Public on their fraud-fighting role and issued these tips to Notaries.
• Notaries play a crucial role in fighting fraud of all forms by maintaining a journal of official acts. By creating a paper trail that prosecutors can rely on to catch criminals, Notaries Public are an essential law enforcement ally.

Important Links

• The U.S. Department of Justice offers important information on identity theft and fraud.
• Contact a U.S. Secret Service Field Office in cases of credit card fraud.
• Contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in cases of mail fraud.
• Contact the Department of Motor Vehicles in cases of driver's license fraud.
• Contact your local Department of State office in cases of passport fraud.
• Contact the Social Security Administration in cases of Social Security number fraud.
• The International Association of Chiefs of Police.
• The International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators.
• The ID Theft Resource Center.
• The Better Business Bureau's ID Theft resource page.

Identity Theft Prevention

• The NNA's ID Theft Prevention brochure gives consumers valuable information on how to protect themselves from identity theft.

Identity Theft Recovery

States looking for ways to assist victims in the recovery process of identity theft and prevent fraudulent identity activities view the Identity Theft Passport Program as a unique and aggressive solution.

The NNA partnered with Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro to launch the Ohio Identity Theft Verification Passport Program.

A victim of ID theft can visit an Ohio police station equipped with the Passport program technology. After a police report is taken, the police officer — at the request of the victim — can file the victim's Passport application, which takes less than 10 minutes to fill out. Aside from personal information, the officer electronically captures the victim's fingerprint, photograph and signature using biometric technology called Enjoa.®

Originally developed by the National Notary Association as an electronic journal and all-purpose platform for performing electronic notarial acts, Enjoa (for Electronic Notary Journal of Official Acts) can be adapted by the NNA to fit a state's needs. The information is sent to the Attorney General's office, verified and a Passport card with a unique identifier number is issued to the victim.

When dealing with creditors and law enforcement personnel, Ohio ID theft victims can present their Passport card as conclusive proof that they have been exploited by a crime. For many, the most burdensome aspect of recovering from ID theft is proving time and time again that they are in fact a victim. As the Passport is only issued after a police report is taken, and requires the victim to leave biometric identifiers behind which can be used to conclusively prove identity, the Passport card greatly expedites the recovery process.

During the NNA's 27th Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, Senior Deputy Attorney General Jonathan Bowman spoke to U.S. State officials about the innovative program.

Other states are exploring the Passport program as a possible ID theft recovery solution. For more information, contact IDPassport@nationalnotary.org.