NEWARK - With the holiday shopping season underway, Attorney General Peter C. Harvey and Consumer Affairs Director Reni Erdos are cautioning consumers to take extra care to protect against identity theft as they purchase gifts and use ATMs.

"Identity theft is now the fastest-growing financial crime in our country," Attorney General Harvey said. " Nearly 10 million Americans were victimized last year, resulting in $5 billion in individual losses and $45 billion in corporate and banking losses."

The most common ways in which criminals obtain personal information include:

• "Shoulder surfing" - looking over someone's shoulder - as a PIN number is entered at an ATM machine;

• Sending phony e-mails with official-looking credit card or bank company logos that ask you to click on a link and respond with account information to fix an alleged problem;

• Calling and claiming to be a credit card company or bank representative and requesting account information;

• Calling on behalf of a purported charity and asking for an immediate donation via credit card;

• Stealing credit card receipts.

Consumers purchased an estimated $8 billion in retail merchandise on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that marks the traditional start of the holiday shopping season.

"Reams of receipts were printed out from those transactions and the receipts are an inviting target for ID thieves," Director Erdos said. "Consumers should not leave a receipt in a shopping bag that a thief can reach into or steal. Protect a receipt just as you would a credit card or cash."

Once a consumer's personal and account information is stolen, the identity thief typically will empty bank accounts and charge expensive items on the credit card account. The thieves also open new bank, credit card and store accounts in the victim's name.

Attorney General Harvey and Director Erdos noted that consumers can take several actions to protect themselves against identity theft, including:

• Not giving personal information out over the telephone, unless you placed the call and know the other party's identity;

• Not clicking on links contained in e-mails that claim to be from banks or credit card companies and ask for account information. Instead call your bank or credit card company or type in the real Web address;

• Entering your credit card information for purchases via the Internet only after ensuring that the Web site is a valid one and that it utilizes security measures to protect credit card information;

• Protecting your credit card receipts.

Victims of identity theft should contact their local police department and also the three major credit bureau fraud hotlines:

• Equifax800-525-6285

• Experian 888-397-3742

• Trans Union 800-680-7289

Attorney General Harvey noted that his office wrote legislation that is now law that gives victims of identity theft new court remedies to clear up their credit. The new law offers the best protections available in the United States for victims of identity theft. Under NJSA 2C:21-17.4 and 17.5, any victim of identity theft can seek an order from the Superior Court directing credit reporting agencies to remove from a victim's credit file adverse credit information attributable to the identity theft. Identity theft victims may also be awarded up to three times the amount of their costs, including attorney's fees, court costs and out-of-pocket losses.

###