DaytonDailyNews.com

State gives residents added ID-theft protection

A Web site allows a check to see if someone has gotten a fake driver's license in your name.

By William Hershey

Staff Writer

COLUMBUS — Ohioans have a new tool in the fight against identity theft.

The Bureau of Motor Vehicles this week announced a new Web site aimed at helping drivers find out if someone else has used their personal information to obtain a fraudulent driver's license.

"This Web site is intended to fight the large-scale identity theft cases in which a person's entire identity is appropriated and used fraudulently," Franklin R. Caltrider, the state registrar of motor vehicles, said in a press release.

"The reliance on a driver's license as a form of identification means that a criminal who obtains another person's license number and Social Security number can do incredible damage to their victims' credit and reputation."

The Web site asks the applicant to enter selected information from his or her license — including the date it was issued — onto a secure site.

The applicant is informed if the date of issue on the license matches the most recent date of issue on file with the BMV.

If the dates don't match, "there is a strong possibility" that the applicant's personal information has been used by someone else, the release said. If that happens, the applicant should call the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or

whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.

To use the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles's online feature to guard against identity theft:

Visit www.ohiobmv.com

Click on "Online Services"

Click on "verify the most recent date a driver license was issued in your name" and follow the instructions.

If the date your license was issued differs from the state's records, you should call the BMV at (614) 752-7500.