THE FEDERAL TRADE Commission (FTC) ranks Nevada the number two state in the nation for reports of identity theft per capita. In an effort to combat the impact of identity theft, the Nevada Legislature in 2005 enacted the Identity Theft Passport program. The program joins the Attorney General's office and local law enforcement in their efforts to assist victims of identity theft.

Who is the victim of identity theft? If your wallet is stolen, you are not immediately the victim of identity theft. If someone uses your personal identifying information in an unlawful way, such as to obtain credit, goods, services, or anything of value in your name without your permission, or attempts to establish a false identity using your name, then you may be the victim of identity theft.

The Attorney General's Office recently adopted procedures to allow victims of identity theft to apply for an Identity Theft Passport. An identity theft passport is a card issued by the Attorney General that identifies a person who has filed a written crime report with a local or state law enforcement agency alleging they are the victim of identity theft. The victim may present the identity theft passport to law enforcement officers to help prevent arrest for offenses committed by another person using the victim's identifying information. The victim can also present the identity theft passport to creditors to aid in the investigation of the existence of fraudulent accounts and/or fraudulent charges made against an account in the victim's name.

A person is eligible to apply for an identity theft passport if they: (1) are a resident of the State of Nevada, (2) are the victim of identity theft, and (3) have reported the theft of their identity to a local law enforcement agency in a written report.

For victims residing in Las Vegas, the first step is to create a written police report with local law enforcement officers, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. The reporting officer will then provide the victim with a pamphlet and instructions to contact a staff member of the Attorney General in Las Vegas if they wish to apply for an identity theft passport.

Once the application is completed, the Attorney General's staff will review the application and verify that the applicant is the victim of identity theft. If the application is approved, the Attorney General shall issue an identity theft passport to the victim.

By implementing this program, it is the goal of the Attorney General and law enforcement that the victim will be able to use the identity theft passport to assist in any legal inquiries which occur as a result of the theft of their identity.