Were You Satisfied/Dissatisfied With Your ID Theft?

Would you say you were very satisfied, satisfied, somewhat satisfied, dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with your post-ID theft experience? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants to know.

Last week, the agency announced plans to survey consumers who reported ID thefts to the FTC between Jan. 1 and May 30, 2008. By studying the experiences of victims who’ve exercised the remedies available to them via the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, the FTC aims for greater advocacy on consumers’ behalf.

The proposed eight-page Identity Theft Victim Survey would examine each consumer’s “experience as a victim of identity theft and…interactions with one or more credit bureaus.” Questions address consumers’ initial contact with credit reporting companies (whether a live person was available and/or useful), as well as their experiences with fraud alerts, free credit reports, the dispute process, and policies that allow them to block the release of fraudulent information on credit reports.

Notice of the proposed study and an invitation for comment was published July 1 in the Federal Register, which includes instructions for filing comments electronically.

The FTC should be applauded for its effort to explore victims’ experiences. After all, identity theft was the top consumer fraud complaint filed with the agency in 2007 — for the seventh year in a row.