Identity Theft in Automotive Financing is the the topic for the National Automotive Finance Association's educational forum to be held from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 9 at the Embassy Suites, DFW Airport North in Dallas.

Presentations from lawyers, regulators and law enforcement officials will define the scope of the problem and present methods for dealing with it and, most importantly, ways of protecting

businesses from becoming victims of identity theft.

The forum will open with a legal panel, "ID Theft: How To Get To 'Gotcha.'" Among the panel's topics will be federal, state law and common law liability, Huggins vs. Citibank case (where the

issue of negligent enablement of identity theft was ruled upon), related litigation and proposed revisions to the Fair Credit Reporting Act that have an impact on identity theft.

Panel members are Larry Young, partner, Hughes, Watters & Askanase, LLP; Robert Curtis, partner, Curtis Hinton PLC; and David Szwak, partner, Bodenheimer, Jones, Szwak & Winchell, LLP.

Brad Elbein, director, Federal Trade Commission, southwest region, will offer a session entitled "Regulatory View of ID Theft." He will discuss the role of the FTC in monitoring the occurrence of identity theft, the burden of this type of crime on the economy, what the agency is doing to curtail it and what consumers and NAF

Association members can do to protect themselves.

"Investigative Agencies That Address ID Theft" is the topic to be covered by Robert L. Smith, chief investigator, cyber crimes unit, office of the Texas Attorney General. In addition to outlining the roles of the agencies that deal with identity theft criminals, Smith will also talk about how businesses can help combat and prevent the crimes.

In the final session, John T. Dibble, vice president, risk and operational oversight, CitiGroup, auto division, will present "ID Theft Realities in a Live Operating Environment." This session will address the impact identity theft has on finance company operations and will present tools and "best practices" used to combat the crime.

The forum is open to members and guests. Registration fee is $125. Register online at www.nafassociation.com, download a registration form from the Web site, or for information, e-mail jtracey@nafassociation or call (800) 463-8955.