This article shall be known as the "Identity Theft Prevention
Program."
For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply.
[NOTE: Other than "City" and "personal identifying information," definitions
provided in this section are based on the definitions provided in
16 CFR § 681.2.]:
The City of Rockwood.
An account that a financial institution or creditor offered
or maintains, primarily for personal, family, or household purposes,
that involves or is designed to permit multiple payments or transactions,
such as a credit card account, mortgage loan, automobile loan, margin
account, cell phone account, utility account, checking account, or
savings account; and
Any other account that the financial institution or creditor
offers or maintains for which there is a reasonably foreseeable risk
to customers or to the safety and soundness of the financial institution
or creditor from identity theft, including financial, operational,
compliance, reputation, or litigation risks.
The right granted by a creditor to a debtor to defer payment
of debt or to incur debts and defer its payment or to purchase property
or services and defer payment therefor.
Any person who regularly extends, renews, or continues credit;
any person who regularly arranges for the extension, renewal, or continuation
of credit; or any assignee of an original creditor who participates
in the decision to extend, renew, or continue credit and includes
utility companies and telecommunications companies.
A person that has a covered account with a creditor.
A fraud committed or attempted using identifying information
of another person without authority.
A natural person, a corporation, government or governmental
subdivision or agency, trust, estate, partnership, cooperative, or
association.
A person's credit card account information, debit card
information, bank account information and driver's license information
and for a natural person includes his or her social security number,
mother's birth name, and date of birth.
A pattern, practice, or specific activity that indicates
the possible existence of identity theft.
A person that provides a service directly to the City.
A.
The City is a creditor pursuant to 16 CFR 681.2 due to its provision
or maintenance of covered accounts for which payment is made in arrears.
B.
Covered accounts offered to customers for the provision of City services
include water and sewer utility accounts.
C.
The City's previous experience with identity theft related to
covered accounts is as follows: N/A.
D.
The processes of opening a new covered account, restoring an existing
covered account and making payments on such accounts have been identified
as potential processes in which identity theft could occur.
E.
The City limits access to personal identifying information to those
employees responsible for or otherwise involved in opening or restoring
covered accounts or accepting payment for use of covered accounts.
Information provided to such employees is entered directly into the
City's computer system and is not otherwise recorded.
F.
The City determines that there is a low risk of identity theft occurring
in the following ways (if any):
(1)
Use by an applicant of another person's personal identifying
information to establish a new covered account;
(2)
Use of a previous customer's personal identifying information
by another person in an effort to have service restored in the previous
customer's name;
(3)
Use of another person's credit card, bank account, or other
method of payment by a customer to pay such customer's covered
account or accounts; and
(4)
Use by a customer desiring to restore such customer's covered
account of another person's credit card, bank account, or other
method of payment.
A.
As a precondition to opening a covered account in the City, each
applicant shall provide the City with personal identifying information
of the customer, a valid government-issued identification card containing
a photograph of the customer or, for customers who are not natural
persons, a photograph of the customer's agent opening the account.
Such information shall be entered directly into the City's computer
system and shall not otherwise be recorded.
B.
Each account shall be assigned an account number and personal identification
number (PIN) which shall be unique to that account. The City may utilize
computer software to randomly generate assigned PINs and to encrypt
account numbers and PINs.
A.
Access to customer accounts shall be password protected and shall
be limited to authorized City personnel.
B.
Such password(s) shall be changed by the City Administrator or Police
Chief on a regular basis, shall be at least eight characters in length
and shall contain letters, numbers and symbols.
C.
Any unauthorized access to or other breach of customer accounts is
to be reported immediately to the City Manager and the password changed
immediately.
D.
Personal identifying information included in customer accounts is
considered confidential and any request or demand for such information
shall be immediately forwarded to the City Manager and the City Attorney.
A.
In the event that credit card payments that are made over the Internet
are processed through a third-party service provider, such third-party
service provider shall certify that it has an adequate identity theft
prevention program in place that is applicable to such payments.
B.
All credit card payments made over the telephone or the City's
website shall be entered directly into the customer's account
information in the computer database.
C.
Account statements and receipts for covered accounts shall include
only the last four digits of the credit or debit card or the bank
account used for payment of the covered account.
All employees responsible for or involved in the process of
opening a covered account, restoring a covered account or accepting
payment for a covered account shall check for red flags as indicators
of possible identity theft and such red flags may include:
A.
Alerts from consumer reporting agencies, fraud detection agencies
or service providers. Examples of alerts include but are not limited
to:
(1)
A fraud or active duty alert that is included with a consumer report;
(2)
A notice of credit freezes in response to a request for a consumer
report;
(3)
A notice of address discrepancy provided by a consumer reporting
agency;
(4)
Indications of a pattern of activity in a consumer report that is
inconsistent with the history and usual pattern of activity of an
applicant or customer, such as:
(a)
A recent and significant increase in the volume of inquiries;
(b)
An unusual number of recently established credit relationships;
(c)
A material change in the use of credit, especially with respect
to recently established credit relationships; or
(d)
An account that was closed for cause or identified for abuse
of account privileges by a financial institution or creditor.
B.
Suspicious documents. Examples of suspicious documents include:
(1)
Documents provided for identification that appears to be altered
or forged;
(2)
Identification on which the photograph or physical description is
inconsistent with the appearance of the applicant or customer;
(3)
Identification on which the information is inconsistent with information
provided by the applicant or customer;
(4)
Identification on which the information is inconsistent with a readily
accessible information that is on file with the financial institution
or creditor, such as a signature card or a recent check; or
(5)
An application that appears to have been altered or forged, or appears
to have been destroyed and reassembled.
C.
Suspicious personal identification, such as suspicious address change.
Examples of suspicious identifying information include:
(1)
Personal identifying information that is inconsistent with external
information sources used by the financial institution or creditor.
For example:
(2)
Personal identifying information provided by the customer is not
consistent with other personal identifying information provided by
the customer, such as a lack of correlation between the SSN range
and date of birth.
(3)
Personal identifying information or a phone number or address is
associated with known fraudulent applications or activities as indicated
by internal or third-party sources used by the financial institution
or creditor.
(4)
Other information provided, such as fictitious mailing address, mail
drop addresses, jail addresses, invalid phone numbers, pager numbers
or answering services, is associated with fraudulent activity.
(5)
The SSN provided is the same as that submitted by other applicants
or customers.
(6)
The address or telephone number provided is the same as or similar
to the account number or telephone number submitted by an unusually
large number of applicants or customers.
(7)
The applicant or customer fails to provide all required personal
identifying information on an application or in response to notification
that the application is incomplete.
(8)
Personal identifying information is not consistent with personal
identifying information that is on file with the financial institution
or creditor.
(9)
The applicant or customer cannot provide authenticating information
beyond that which generally would be available from a wallet or consumer
report.
D.
Unusual use of or suspicious activity relating to a covered account.
Examples of suspicious activity include:
(1)
Shortly following the notice of a change of address for an account,
the City receives a request for the addition of authorized users on
the account.
(2)
A new revolving credit account is used in a manner commonly associated
with known patterns of fraud patterns. For example:
(a)
The customer fails to make the first payment or makes an initial
payment but no subsequent payments.
(4)
An account that has been inactive for a long period of time is used
(taking into consideration the type of account, the expected pattern
of usage and other relevant factors).
(5)
Mail sent to the customer is returned repeatedly as undeliverable
although transactions continue to be conducted in connection with
the customer's account.
(6)
The City is notified that the customer is not receiving paper account
statements.
(7)
The City is notified of unauthorized charges or transactions in connection
with a customer's account.
(8)
The City is notified by a customer, law enforcement or another person
that it has opened a fraudulent account for a person engaged in identity
theft.
E.
Notice from customers, law enforcement, victims or other reliable
sources regarding possible identity theft or phishing relating to
covered accounts.
A.
In the event that any City employee responsible for or involved in
restoring an existing covered account or accepting payment for a covered
account becomes aware of red flags indicating possible identity theft
with respect to existing covered accounts, such employee shall use
his or her discretion to determine whether such red flag or combination
of red flags suggests a threat of identity theft. If, in his or her
discretion, such employee determines that identity theft or attempted
identity theft is likely or probable, such employee shall immediately
report such red flags to the City Administrator. If, in his or her
discretion, such employee deems that identity theft is unlikely or
that reliable information is available to reconcile red flags, the
employee shall convey this information to the City Administrator,
who may in his or her discretion determine that no further action
is necessary. If the City Administrator in his or her discretion determines
that further action is necessary, a City employee shall perform one
or more of the following responses, as determined to be appropriate
by the City Administrator:
(1)
Contact the customer;
(2)
Make the following changes to the account if, after contacting the
customer, it is apparent that someone other than the customer has
accessed the customer's covered account:
(3)
Cease attempts to collect additional charges from the customer and
decline to sell the customer's account to a debt collector in
the event that the customer's account has been accessed without
authorization and such access has caused additional charges to accrue;
(4)
Notify a debt collector within 24 hours of the discovery of likely
or probable identity theft relating to a customer account that has
been sold to a debt collector prior to the discovery of the likelihood
or probability of identity theft relating to such account;
(5)
Notify law enforcement, in the event that someone other than the
customer has accessed the customer's account causing additional
charges to accrue or accessing personal identifying information; or
(6)
Take other appropriate action to prevent or mitigate identity theft.
B.
In the event that any City employee responsible for or involved in
opening a new covered account becomes aware of red flags indicating
possible identity theft with respect an application for a new account,
such employee shall use his or her discretion to determine whether
such red flag or combination of red flags suggests a threat of identity
theft. If, in his or her discretion, such employee determines that
identity theft or attempted identity theft is likely or probable,
such employee shall immediately report such red flags to the City
Administrator. If, in his or her discretion, such employee deems that
identity theft is unlikely or that reliable information is available
to reconcile red flags, the employee shall convey this information
to the City Administrator, who may in his or her discretion determine
that no further action is necessary. If the City Administrator in
his or her discretion determines that further action is necessary,
a City employee shall perform one or more of the following responses,
as determined to be appropriate by the City Administrator:
The City Council shall annually review and, as deemed necessary
by the Council, update the Identity Theft Prevention Program along
with any relevant red flags in order to reflect changes in risks to
customers or to the safety and soundness of the City and its covered
accounts from identity theft. In so doing, the City Council shall
consider the following factors and exercise its discretion in amending
the program:
The City Administrator is responsible for oversight of the program
and for program implementation. The City Administrator is responsible
for reviewing reports prepared by staff regarding compliance with
red flag requirements and with recommending material changes to the
program, as necessary in the opinion of the City Administrator, to
address changing identity theft risks and to identify new or discontinued
types of covered accounts. Any recommended material changes to the
program shall be submitted to the City Council for consideration by
the Council.
A.
The City Administrator will retain an annual report on compliance
with the red flag requirements. The report will address material matters
related to the program and evaluate issues such as:
(1)
The effectiveness of the policies and procedures of the City in addressing
the risk of identity theft in connection with the opening of covered
accounts and with respect to existing covered accounts;
(2)
Service provider arrangements;
(3)
Significant incidents involving identity theft and management's
response; and
(4)
Recommendations for material changes to the program.
B.
The City Administrator is responsible for providing training to all
employees responsible for or involved in opening a new covered account,
restoring an existing covered account or accepting payment for a covered
account with respect to the implementation and requirements of the
Identity Theft Prevention Program. The City Administrator shall exercise
his or her discretion in determining the amount and substance of training
necessary.
In the event that the City engages a service provider to perform
an activity in connection with one or more covered accounts, the City
Administrator shall exercise his or her discretion in reviewing such
arrangements in order to ensure, to the best of his or her ability,
that the service provider's activities are conducted in accordance
with policies and procedures, agreed upon by contract, that are designed
to detect any red flags that may arise in the performance of the service
provider's activities and take appropriate steps to prevent or
mitigate identity theft.
