LCEC announces that recently enhanced protection measures continue to ensure LCEC residential accounts are more secure than ever. In March, 2009, the same “Red Flag” protection measures will be applied to commercial accounts, which include builders, businesses, realtors and property managers.

For customers’ protection and in accordance with recent Federal Trade Commission regulatory requirements, LCEC requires additional information to help guard against identity theft and other fraud threats. LCEC has developed and implemented a program 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.

Manager of Customer Issues and Revenue Assurance Bernard Davis says the new procedures have been effective. “Customers have been very receptive to our efforts, saying they are glad we are paying close attention to protect their best interests,” Davis said. Since the inception of Red Flag in November, LCEC has prevented potential fraud cases and have been able to more fully complete and validate customer records. Below are a few details of Red Flag results for the month of December, 2008.

·      6.18 percent of calls were “red-flagged” for further investigation prior to service activation or account access.

·      LCEC ran 3,979 credit checks through credit reporting bureau Equifax. LCEC runs a credit check on new accounts, service transfers or to add additional locations to an account.

·      1.7 percent of the credit checks indicated that the customer’s credit was on fraud alert with Equifax, meaning that LCEC was able to catch potential fraud attempts on these accounts before they occurred.

Employees who regularly access customer accounts received training about the new processes and will be kept up-to-date as the program develops and changes to meet customer needs. The fraud landscape changes quickly, and LCEC will adapt as needed.

Established in 1940, Lee County Electric Cooperative, Inc. (LCEC) is a not-for-profit electric distribution cooperative serving Cape Coral, North Fort Myers, Marco Island, Sanibel and Captiva Islands, Pine Island, Everglades City, Immokalee, Ave Maria, and parts of Lehigh Acres.  LCEC is one of the largest employers in Lee County with nearly 400 employees. Among the charitable agencies LCEC supports through volunteerism and corporate sponsorship include the United Way, American Heart Association, Habitat for Humanity, Junior Achievement and local school districts. People. Power. Possibilities. Delivering the Power that Energizes our Community. Learn more about LCEC online at www.lcec.net.