San Diego, CA. - "Risk Management in Today's Environment: Assisting Your Clients to Reduce Their Risk of Identity Theft and Fraud" was the title of the presentation made before Certified Financial Planners (CFP) at the 2006 annual meeting of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., by the ICFEs' executive director, Paul Richard, RFC, who is also a Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist. The presentation was made on August 4th at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The one hour session, attended by approximately 150 CFPs focused on the growing threat of credit and identity theft to clients and also the procedures practices CFP's must now employ to ensure their clients personal and private information doesn't fall into the wrong hands and place the CFP's at risk for legal and financial liability. Those CFPs who attended earned one Continuing Education (CE) credit hour.

About one quarter of the CFP's attending the session indicated they had been the victim of credit and identity theft and about the same number said they clients who were victims.

The session began with an identity theft quiz, on a PowerPoint presentation, from the U.S. Justice Department. It was followed by another PowerPoint show which helped the certificants understand the different types of identity theft such as financial, criminal, identity cloning and business/commercial identity theft.

The presentation covered credit reports and the free annual disclosures required by the new Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) law. Attendees were also warned about all the imposter web sites touting "free credit reports." Included in the free annual disclosures are specialty reports from such organizations as ChoicePoint which reports on insurance matters and check systems, which reports on non-sufficient funds checks written by business and consumers. Also covered were new consumer protections written into FACTA which included fraud alerts, active duty alerts, and credit freezes.

The presentation included a summary of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and enhancements to the disputing of credit reports, an explanation of the seven year clock which covers how long a negative item can remain on a credit file.

The principal areas of vulnerability for businesses, including financial planning firms, were explained. This included employees of businesses who are victims, the customers who are victims and the businesses who are holders of protected information. The responsibilities of businesses as holders of protected information were explained and what the legal and financial liabilities were to those who violated the FACTA law.

The limitations of credit monitoring, which is often offered as a feel good solution to victims, were presented and why it gives victims a false sense of security. Other identity theft services and insurances were also discussed. The session ended with numerous questions and answers.

Two ICFE programs are accepted by the CFP Board of Standards for CEs. They are ICFE Certified Credit Report Reviewer (5 CEs) and ICFE Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist (30 CEs).

For more information about the ICFE's certification programs or how to have an identity theft presentation made for your group or organization, please contact the ICFE @ 619-239-1401.