LCEC - Billing

Billing Information

Identity Theft

What is Identity Theft?

Identity theft occurs when someone uses your name or other personal information, such as your Social Security number, Driver's license number, utility information, telephone number or other account information, without your permission. Identity thieves could use this information to open a new account or to add to your existing one. Identity theft can result in damage to your credit rating and even deny you electric service.

For more information about identity theft visit: Federal Trade Commission

What LCEC is doing to protect you?

For your protection, LCEC will be requiring additional information to help guard your identity. This measure is in accordance with recent Federal regulatory requirements.

LCEC recently developed a plan to comply with two new sections of the Fair and Accurate Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA), also known as Red Flag regulations. The LCEC Red Flag Program is designed to help combat identification theft on new and existing accounts. The ultimate goal of the national Red Flag program is to reduce the billions of dollars individuals and businesses lose to identity theft each year. According to a 2008 study published by Javelin Strategy & Research, this amount reached $45 billion in 2007. Prior to regulatory requirements, LCEC had several procedures in place to detect fraud and comply with existing regulations. However, we have worked hard to and strengthen our existing processes. There are specific activities and patterns that indicate possible identity fraud. The key is being able to understand what is relevant to LCEC customer account records. These include risk factors such as how accounts are opened and accessed, the amount of data we require from customers, where it is stored, and if accounts are linked to people using social security numbers or another type of identifier. Another component of the program is how we respond to a Red Flag. A good response plan is critical. Red Flags will differ in each situation, and LCEC is required to provide an appropriate response equal to the degree of risk posed.

LCEC is committed to maintaining compliance with these new Red Flag rules to help ensure that we're doing everything possible to protect our customers from identity theft and possible fraud.