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History of the Secret Service
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United States Secret Service Investigations
On November 5, 1990, Congress enacted legislation that gave the Secret Service concurrent jurisdiction with the Department of Justice to investigate fraud, both civil and criminally against any federally insured financial institution or the Resolution Trust Corporation. Annually, agents of the Secret Service review thousands of criminal referrals submitted by Treasury Department regulators. The Secret Service promotes an aggressive policy toward conducting these investigations in an effort to safeguard the soundness of our financial institutions.

The Secret Service has concurrent jurisdiction with the Department of Justice to investigate fraud, both civil and criminal, against federally insured financial (FIF) institutions. The FIF program distinguishes itself from other such programs by recognizing the need to balance traditional law enforcement operations with a program management approach designed to prevent recurring criminal activity.

A recent American Banking Association (ABA) survey concluded that the two major problems in the area of bank fraud today are:

  1. The fraudulent production of negotiable instruments through the use of what has become known as "desktop publishing,"
  2. Access device fraud.
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Credit Card Fraud
Credit Card Fraud
Recent Secret Service investigations indicate that there has been an increase in credit card fraud, fictitious document fraud, and fraud involving the counterfeiting of corporate checks and other negotiable instruments, as well as false identification documents created with the use of computer technology.

Title 18 United States Code, Section 514 was enacted into law in 1996 to prevent the increasing amount of fraud through the use of fictitious instruments. Congress passed this law through the joint efforts of the Department of Justice and the Department of Treasury. FCD is responsible for the investigations of Title 18, United States Code Section 514 (Fictitious Instruments).

Financial industry sources estimate that losses associated with credit card fraud are in the billions of dollars annually. The Secret Service is the primary federal agency tasked with investigating access device fraud and its related activities under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029. Although it is commonly called the credit card statute, this law also applies to other crimes involving access device numbers including debit cards, automated teller machine (ATM) cards, computer passwords, personal identification numbers (PINs) used to activate ATMs, credit card or debit card account numbers, long-distance access codes, and the computer chips in cellular phones that assign billing. During fiscal year 1996, the Secret Service opened 2,467 cases, closed 2,963 cases, and arrested 2,429 individuals for access device fraud. Industry sources estimate that losses associated with credit card fraud are in the billions of dollars annually.

What should do if you have been the victim of credit card fraud or identity theft? If your complaint is essentially a non-criminal dispute with a retailer or other business, you must immediately dispute the charge(s) in writing with the customer relations office of your credit card company. If you have been the victim of credit card fraud or identity theft, the following tips will assist you:

  • Report the crime to the police immediately. Get a copy of your police report or case number. Credit card companies, your bank, and the insurance company may ask you to reference the report to verify the crime.

  • Immediately contact your credit card issuers. Get replacement cards with new account numbers and ask that the old account be processed as "account closed at consumer’s request" for credit record purposes. You should also follow up this telephone conversation with a letter to the credit card company that summarizes your request in writing.

  • Call the fraud units of the three credit reporting bureaus. Report the theft of your credit cards and/or numbers. Ask that your accounts be flagged. Also, add a victim’s statement to your report that requests that they contact you to verify future credit applications. The following is a list of addresses and numbers to the three credit bureaus:

Equifax Credit Information Services - Consumer Fraud Div.
P.O. Box 105496
Atlanta, Georgia 30348-5496
Tel: (800) 997-2493
www.equifax.com
Experian
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, Texas 75013-2104
Tel: (888) EXPERIAN (397-3742)
www.experian.com
Trans Union Fraud Victim Assistance Dept.
P.O. Box 390
Springfield, PA 19064-0390
Tel: (800) 680-7289
www.transunion.com