Larson, Reed Reintroduce Bill to Help Victims of Identity Theft

Washington, D.C. – Today, House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John B. Larson (CT-01) and Ranking Member Tom Reed (NY-23) reintroduced the Improving Social Security's Service to Victims of Identity Theft Act. This bill would require the Social Security Administration (SSA) to provide identity theft victims with a single point of contact within SSA when the misuse of their Social Security number (SSN) results in the need to resolve one or more issue(s) with SSA. A companion piece of legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senators Sinema, Grassley, Wyden, and Crapo.

“Americans are increasingly vulnerable to the hacking of their identities. As hackers get more creative, it is critical that victims of identity theft have a single point of contact they can reach out to resolve problems with their Social Security number. That is why I, along with Ranking Member Reed, have reintroduced the Improving Social Security's Service to Victims of Identity Theft Act. This legislation will provide a single point of contact in the Social Security Administration that will be responsible for resolving Social Security-related issues in connection with the theft. This will hopefully ease the burden for people who are victims of identity theft," said Larson.

“Identity theft causes significant damage and frustration to its victims. The last thing victims of identity theft need is more frustration by getting bounced around from one federal employee to the next when they’re trying to undo the damage. This is why I’m proud to join Chairman Larson in reintroducing the Improving Social Security’s Service to Victims of Identity Theft Act, which will help ensure that dealing with the SSA to resolve an issue related to identity theft is one less thing to worry about,” said Reed.

The bill text can be found here.

A fact sheet on the bill can be found here.

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