Other LanguagesOLYMPIA – New laws requested by Attorney General Rob McKenna dealing with mortgage foreclosure schemes, identity theft, spyware and third-party marketing of cell phone numbers will go into effect on Thursday
CUT 1 -MCKENNA IDENTITY THEFT LAW (:32)
ANCHOR: NEW LAWS ON THE BOOKS TODAY, INCLUDING TWO LAWS THAT WASHINGTON STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB MCKENNA SAYS WILL PROTECT CONSUMERS FROM IDENTITY THEFT.
MCKENNA: “Consumers are safer today because police are now required to take reports when a victim of identity theft comes to them. Under the old law the police were not required to take a report even though it’s the first document you’ll be asked for when you go to your bank or your credit card company with evidence that you’ve become a victim of identity theft. Consumers are also safer today because prosecutors will now be able to charge each use of a stolen identity as a separate count of identity theft. Under the old law, even if your identity was stolen and used 50 times, it was still only one count of identity theft that the prosecutor could bring.”
ANCHOR: FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM IDENTITY THEFT ON THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S WEB SITE, ATG DOT WA DOT GOV.
CUT 2 – MCKENNA ID THEFT MULTIPLE COUNTS (:12) **SHORTER VERSION OF THE SAME STORY ABOVE**
ANCHOR: NEW LAWS GO INTO EFFECT TODAY IN OUR STATE, INCLUDING A CHANGE THAT WASHINGTON STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS WILL ALLOW THE AUTHORITIES TO GET TOUGHER ON IDENTITY THEIVES.
MCKENNA: “Today prosecutors are allowed to bring separate charges each time a stolen identity is used. Under the old law a stolen identity could be used 30 or 40 times but it still only counted as one count of identity theft.”
ANCHOR: FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PROTECTING YOURSELF ON THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S WEB SITE, ATG DOT WA DOT GOV.
CUT 3 – MCKENNA CELL PHONE NUMBERS (:12)
ANCHOR: A NEW LAW GOES INTO EFFECT TODAY PROTECTING YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER. IF YOU’RE CONCERNED ABOUT GETTING CALLS FROM SOLICITORS WHO’VE FOUND YOUR NUMBER IN A PUBLISHED GUIDE, WASHINGTON STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB MCKENNA SAYS THAT THANKS TO A LAW HIS OFFICE WROTE, YOUR NUMBER CAN’T BE RELEASED WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION:
MCKENNA: “Cell phone owners should be happy today because it’s now illegal for third parties to market their cell phone number if they come up with it, just as it’s been illegal for some time for the mobile company itself to market that number.”
ANCHOR: AS OF TODAY, THE THIRD-PARTY PUBLISHING OF YOUR CELL NUMBER WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PUNISHABLE BY A FINE OF UP TO $50,000.
CUT 4 – MORTGAGE RESCUE LAW (:36)
ANCHOR: AS OF TODAY, NEW PROTECTIONS AGAINST LOSING YOUR HOME IN A SO-CALLED MORTGAGE RESCUE SCHEME GO INTO LAW. ACCORDING TO WASHINGTON STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB MCKENNA, HOMEOWNERS ARE NOW BETTER PROTECTED.
MCKENNA: “Consumers who are at risk of foreclosure or are actually in foreclosure are better off today because the new law, which our office wrote, gives them added protections in the event that they try to save their home by entering into a transaction with a so-called rescuer. The person they’re dealing with is now required to provide a written contract that is clear, complete, signed and dated before the property actually transfers to the so-called rescuer. Consumers who are in foreclosure are better protected by this new law because they have a right to cancel a contract to transfer their property to a so-called rescuer within five days, in case they decide it wasn’t such a good deal after all.
ANCHOR: FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM MORTGAGE RESCUE SCHEMES BY GOING TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S WEB SITE, ATG DOT WA DOT GOV.
CUT 5-MCKENNA IKEEPSAFE.ORG (:18)
ANCHOR: WASHINGTON’S ATTORNEY GENERAL IS IN BELLEVUE TODAY, ACCEPTING AN AWARD FROM I-KEEP-SAFE-DOT-ORG, AN ORGANIZATION THAT TEACHES KIDS AND PARENTS HOW TO AVOID DANGER ON THE INTERNET.
MCKENNA: “Ikeepsafe is a wonderful organization that provides lots of tools to train parents and their children how to be safer on the internet. Just as you wouldn’t let your child go out the front door without knowing who they’re going to be with and where they’re going to be going, you shouldn’t let any child go out on to the internet without knowing who they’re going to be interacting with and how they’re going to protect themselves.”
ANCHOR: FIND OUT MORE ON THE I-KEEP-SAFE’S WEB SITE, I KEEP SAFE DOT ORG.
-30-
Contacts:
Dan Sytman, AGO Media Relations Manager, (360) 586-7842
Janelle Guthrie, AGO Communications Director, (360) 586-0725