Ohio AG Unveils Identity Theft Passport

December 2004

One of the most galling challenges for identity theft victims is to convince the authorities that they are victims — and to keep from being arrested for crimes committed in the victim's name. Ohio's new Identity Theft Verification Passport program aims to address this dilemma. "The Passport program provides victims of identity theft a method of demonstrating to law enforcement and creditors that their identity has been stolen," said Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro. "It also helps victims begin the process of rehabilitating their credit history and identifying any fraudulent criminal charges."

The groundbreaking program was launched with help from the U.S. Department of Justice, which awarded the Ohio Attorney General's office a $250,000 grant to develop the project. "The Department of Justice provided funding for this unique program in hopes to use it as a pilot for other states to replicate," Petro explained.

The Passport program has two main components: Biometric identification cards that enable the bearer to demonstrate victim status, and state-of-the-art equipment used by Ohio law enforcement to authenticate the new victim IDs.

How to apply

To apply for the card, the victim must fill out a police report, which must be verified by the attending officer — a streamlined process that ideally should take no more than ten minutes. The application is then filed by the law enforcement agency through the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway (OHLEG). The law enforcement agency transmits the application and police report instantaneously to the Ohio Attorney General's Office, which verifies the information and issues a unique identifying number to be placed on the card issued to the victim.

Among other security features, the program uses biometric and other identifiers — including picture, fingerprint, and signature — to enable Ohio law enforcement to authenticate the Passport's bearer. The digital identifiers are captured using equipment created by the National Notary Association (NNA), then matched against a database available to Ohio law enforcement statewide.

In addition to the Justice Department grant, the Ohio Identity Theft Verification Passport program was created with the support of the Buckeye State Sheriffs' Association, the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, the Ohio Department of Public Safety, the Federal Trade Commission, and the National Notary Association.