According to the FBI, identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America. In 2003, more than 9.9 million Americans were victims of ID theft, a crime that cost them roughly $5 billion. Many of these crimes involved the granting of instant credit to identity thieves at department stores, electronic stores, home improvement stores, or with credit card companies. The criminals walk away with thousands of dollars of merchandise, while the ID theft victim is left to clean up the mess. We want a 5 day waiting period placed upon any merchant, bank or credit card company for so-called \'instant credit\' applications. There will be financial and administrative penalties for any business that violates the rule. Further, a business that violates the rule and leads to an ID theft crime, the victim will have the right to sue the businesses for both compensatory and punitive damages. A waiting period will allow sufficient time for a credit application to be verified and to assure that the applicant is not an ID thief. It will also reduce ID theft costs for merchants and the government. There is little harm to merchants or credit card companies because consumers that truly want to purchase items will do so despite a waiting period. The waiting period will work to deter ID thieves from pursuing this method of stealing and ruining innocent peoples credit. We intend to submit this petition to all levels of government, national and local media, and to major businesses that offer such instant credit. We intend to make this a national movement to help stop ID theft and consumer fraud. Please join us. For more information on the petition, please visit our web site at www.itvictims.org.

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