The Associated Press reports that a Huntington Beach woman used a fake identity to get breast implants and liposuction. She opened a line of credit using someone else’s name and Social Security number, and then rang up $12,000 in plastic surgery charges at the Pacific Center For Plastic Surgery.

Employees said she never returned for follow-up visits.

The woman turned herself in Tuesday and was released on $20,000 bail. She faces charges of commercial burglary, grand theft and identity theft.

The most common identity theft victims tend to be middle-aged married females, divorcees, or those who make more than $75,000 a year, according to a newly released survey from Nationwide Insurance.

CreditCards.com reports that the survey shows that it’s harder to bounce back financially after having your identity stolen in a bad economy. Four hundred adults, including 200 identity theft victims, were polled, and said that they didn’t know if they had enough money to recover from credit or debit card fraud. Ten percent of identity theft victims said they missed payments as a result of identity theft, and four out of five of those victims reported they also experienced lower credit scores, bankruptcy, repossession, foreclosure, or jail time. Victims also relayed additional difficulties resulting from identity theft, including family problems and time missed at work.

TrustedID CEO Scott Mitic, in partnership with Nolo Press and USA Today, has published a book that helps consumers prevent and resolve identity theft. Check it out–you’ll learn how to secure your bank accounts, keep personal and public records safe, store and dispose of personal information, limit your risk of medical identity theft, and keep your children and elders’ identities secure. In ten easy steps, you can reduce your chances of identity theft now — and should you ever become a victim, you’ll have all the information you need to stop the thieves and rebuild your good name.

Learn more about this book or purchase a copy at Nolo Press.

Identity Theft Daily reports that the President’s Identity Theft Task Force has adopted interim recommendations on measures that can be implemented immediately to help address the problem of identity theft.
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said that, in 1996, the President created the task force to “oversee the implementation of real and practical solutions at the federal level to defeat this ongoing intrusion into the lives of law-abiding Americans.” The recommendations will move this effort forward, he added.
The Identity Theft Task Force’s interim recommendations include the following:
1. Data Breach Guidance to Agencies: Covers the factors that should govern whether and how to give notice to affected individuals in the event of a government agency data breach, and the factors that should be considered in deciding whether to offer services such as free credit monitoring.
2. Development of Universal Police Report for Identity Theft Victims- An identity theft victim can complete online, print and take to a local law enforcement agency for verification and incorporation into the police department’s report system.

According to NBC29.com, the Virginia governor is expected to pass a bill that makes it easier for prosecutors to go after identity thieves. The state senate unanimously passed Albemarle County Delegate Rob Bell’s bill, which expands the existing identity theft law to include anything of value, including your credit rating.

“The reason identity theft is different is after the crime is over with, there’s a whole lot of clean-up that has to be done,” said Del. Rob Bell (R-58th District). “So this bill would empower the Attorney General to help the victim get his credit report back together and allow the court to assess costs to the criminal for the cost of getting your credit back together.”

The bill is headed to Governor Kaine to be signed into law.