ATTORNEY GENERAL LAUDS FORMATION OF STATEWIDE FRAUD, IDENTITY THEFT NETWORK 
Law Enforcement, Financial Institutions Combine Forces 

NEWS UPDATE: 04/16/04
Attorney General Greg Abbott helped launch an effort by the Texas banking industry to fight consumer fraud. Participating are the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Texas Department of Public Safety, SouthWestern Automated Clearing House Association, Independent Bankers Association of Texas, Texas Credit Union League, and the Texas Savings and Community Bankers Association. Link to Attorney General Abbott's Press Conference 

For Information Contact:
Deborah L. Matthews, AAP 
Director of Marketing and Member Services
SWACHA - The Electronic Payments Resource^â„¢
(214)953-4716 
Fax (214)720-0029 
deborah.matthews@swacha.org

Austin, Texas, April 5, 2004 - Attorney General Greg Abbott applauded efforts by several of the state's leading financial organizations last Friday in creating a comprehensive network to fight the ever-growing menace of consumer fraud touching the lives of more and more Texans each day. 

Attorney General Abbott appeared with leaders of the U. S. Secret Service, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), SouthWestern Automated Clearing House Association (SWACHA), Independent Bankers Association of Texas (IBAT), Texas Credit Union League (TCUL) and Texas Savings and Community Bankers Association (TSCBA) and other law enforcement officials in a news conference solidifying the new border-to-border alert system. 

"The combined efforts of this industry and law enforcement organization will provide a powerful new alert system to stop fraud and identity theft. It also broadens the net to catch con artists, counterfeiters and forgers," Attorney General Abbott said. 

"Identity theft hurts millions of Americans. By bringing together the combined resources of the state's banking institutions, law enforcement will have another weapon in its arsenal against the fastest growing crime in the country." 

The day-to-day management of the project will be handled by SWACHA, which is already operating a fraud alert system for its members. The network, known internally as the "Loss Avoidance Alert System" (LAAS), will alert financial institutions and law enforcement to any illegal occurrences, and allow participating members to post notices about forgeries, counterfeit checks, lost check stock and other problems. In turn, members can research to find past abusers for patterns of behavior and law enforcement can post information vital to the program. 

Dignitaries in attendance included:

Dennis Simmons, SWACHA
Chris Williston, IBAT
Mark Chatfield, TCUL
Eric Sandberg, TSCBA
Supervisory Agent in Charge Edna Perry, U.S. Secret Service
Inspector Michael Sullivan, U.S. Postal Inspection Service
Investigator Cathy Vance, Travis County District Attorney's Office
Investigator Mark Smith, Travis County District Attorney's Office
Crime Analyst Paula Martinez, Texas Department of Public Safety
Special Agent Donna Vernoski, U.S. Treasury Inspector General of Tax Administration
Special Agent Gregory Rosen, U.S. Treasury Inspector General of Tax Administration
Det. Ray Brown, Austin Police Department
Det. Scott Stephens, Austin Police Department

SWACHA - The Electronic Payments Resource^TM, a not-for-profit organization serving over 1,000 members across the Southwest, is the resource of choice in providing education, training, representation, and knowledge regarding electronic payments and payments system risks. We are dedicated to anticipating and meeting the needs of our constituents - which include financial service companies. As part of the NACHA family, SWACHA is an official source for the ACH Operating Rules and represents its members in national issues and the rule-making process. 

The Independent Bankers Association of Texas (IBAT), based in Austin, Texas, provides service provider packages for member banks of IBAT. IBAT performs thorough due diligence on each service provider and this information, gathered during the due diligence process, is shared with IBAT member banks upon request. For more information, please visit the association at http://www.ibat.org.

The Texas Credit Union League represents more than 600 of the state's credit unions - which in turn are owned by nearly 6.8 million consumers. Credit unions are not-for-profit cooperatives providing affordable financial services to people from all walks of life. Visit TCUL's web site at www.tcul.coop.

TSCBA-Texas Savings and Community Bankers Association has represented the thrift industry in Texas since 1922. It also represents thrift industry members from New Mexico. The combined membership of TSCBA represents over $40 billion in depositor's money and $60 billion in industry assets.