Red Flags Rule entension proliferates medical identity theft

For a fourth time, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has delayed enforcement of the Red Flags Rule, an identity theft law--now until June 1, 2010. The FTC announcement came late this afternoon. The Red Flags Rule is a law intended to help control the spread of identity theft.

The rule was scheduled to be enforced for millions of businesses on November 1, 2008, but FTC enforcement has been extended on four separate occasions. The rule has been in effect for those financial institutions regulated by federal banking and credit union authorities since the original deadline. There has been controversy surrounding enforcement of the rule for other types businesses regulated by the FTC.

Under the law, businesses that allow customers to purchase goods or services on credit must take reasonable and appropriate steps to authenticate that they are extending credit to a real person and not an identity thief. San Francisco Examiner