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Consumer Protection

Alabama's families also suffer at the hands of unscrupulous criminals who, through illegal and deceptive business practices, take advantage of and prey on consumers who are too trusting or too busy. Attorney General King directed his Office of Consumer Affairs to intensify its fight to prosecute and stop these criminals. By tying the Consumer Division's mission to this new unit, unprecedented efforts are now being made to rededicate our effort to help victims deal with the consequences, and insofar as possible, to help make them whole from their losses. A major initial project will focus on identity theft, striving to combat this growing threat to the financial well-being of Alabama families, which is made all the more ominous by society's ever increasing dependence on information technology. Victims of identity theft face an enormous struggle to repair their damaged finances and credit history. Attorney General King has committed to provide information and assistance to help protect Alabamians from this threat, to ease the burden for those who have been victimized, and to pursue new laws and better hold those responsible accountable.

1. Identity Fraud Initiative
• The Consumer Fraud Division, which has been made a part of the Family Protection Unit, will look for ways that they can address issues of concern for Alabama families. An increasingly frequent crime plaguing Alabama families is the crime of identity theft. Identity theft is the misappropriation of an individual's personal information, such as their social security number or driver's license number, and the misuse of that information for financial gain. When a person is victimized by identity theft, it has devastating consequences for a family. The steps that are necessary to rehabilitate a person's credit and expunge inaccurate records that occur in the wake of identity theft can be daunting, often leaving ramifications that can continue for years. To date, there has been no central clearinghouse to provide victimized Alabamians with assistance as they fight to restore their good names.
2. Identity Theft Mail Out
• The Family Protection Unit, through the Consumer Fraud Division, will prepare one comprehensive packet that will provide identity theft victims with the steps necessary to report the crime to the appropriate officials, to rehabilitate their credit, to insulate themselves from further instances of theft, and to put these families back on the road to financial solvency. While there is no silver bullet for protecting families that have fallen prey to this insidious crime, Alabama families will now have a centralized resource to access when they have been victimized in this manner.
3. Identity Theft/Law Enforcement Partnership
• The Consumer Protection Hotline will be made available to all law enforcement entities that investigate and prosecute these offenses. All of these entities are encouraged, as part of their victim services, to inform the victims of these offenses that they now have a partner in their effort to restore their names and put their family back on the road to financial viability.
4. Public Service Announcements
• A series of public service announcements will be launched informing Alabama families that they now have a partner if their identities have been stolen. Victims of this crime may contact the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division and consumer specialists will work to see that victims' rights are protected and that their good names are restored.
5. Consumer Protection Initiatives
• The Consumer Protection Division will continue to be highly proactive in the areas of home repair fraud, automobile sales and repair fraud, and state and national class action lawsuits designed to restore Alabamians who have been harmed by negligent or corrupt corporate entities.