Stop Atlanta Fraud Empower (SAFE Campaign)

The purpose of the FY2007 National Program to Directly Assist Victims of Identity Theft and Financial Fraud is to provide support to programs that provide assistance to victims of identity theft and financial fraud nationwide, to encourage expansion of existing services to reach this often underserved population, and to strengthen the ability of local law enforcement agencies and victim service providers to assist these victims.

The Atlanta Victim Assistance will create a public education campaign aimed at stopping identity theft and financial fraud in Atlanta, Georgia. The 'Stop Atlanta Fraud Empower (SAFE)' campaign consists of education, advocacy, and training to help reduce the incidences of fraud in the city and increase city resident awareness of their rights if victimized. The SAFE Campaign will include a triage and tracking center that will assess calls to its toll-free helpline. This initiative will educate consumers and provide a link to available community resources through a centralized location. A citywide marketing campaign will offer consumers a hotline number to call the triage and tracking center for questions, advice, or assistance with an identity theft or bank fraud case, and a trained consumer advocate will work with individuals and families providing direct advocacy in the form of employee intervention, court, and police assistance. AVA will educate community groups, law enforcement, and judicial personnel about consumer rights so identity theft cases can be recognized and handled properly. An Oversight Committee consisting of bank, state, and community representatives will oversee the campaign and look at the long-term stability of the initiative.

The goals/objectives of AVA's 'SAFE' campaign are to:

1. To increase awareness of identity theft and bank fraud scams.( To educate 2,000 Atlanta Residents on how to Avoid becoming a victim of Identity Theft and Bank Fraud and offer direct assistance in about 500 cases.)

2. To assist victims of identity theft and fraud in Atlanta reclaim their lives.(To provide direct victim assistance to 400 victims of identity theft and/or financial fraud.)

3. To educate law enforcement and judicial personnel about how to help victims of identity theft & financial fraud. (To train 150 law enforcement, judicial, and court personnel on how to handle victims of identity theft & financial fraud.)

4. To increase citywide capacity to handle identity theft and financial fraud victims. (To create an 8 or more person oversight committee to handle complex consumer cases to expand and enhance services and create a pool of 5 volunteers to assist with ID theft and bank fraud cases)

Their long-term plan is to replicate this campaign nationwide.

ca/ncf