Alpharetta, Ga. — PatriotDealer.com will offer a complete Red Flag Rule compliance solution to dealers everywhere starting Dec. 1. In addition to identity theft prevention technology, the company’s updated SmartID will bring dealers into full compliance quickly and easily.

"Auto dealers are classified as financial institutions, and, as such, they are now subject to the Red Flag Rules. Although the regulations won’t come into effect until Jan. 1, dealers are already confused about proper procedures," warns J. R. Wilson, president of PatriotDealer.com. "But we have made it easy for dealers to comply by enhancing SmartID into a full Red Flag Regulation solution. It will be available on Dec. 1 so that our integration partners can incorporate it into their services before the regulations come into effect in January."

The new regulations call for dealers to create and implement a policy to identify and evaluate identity theft risks or "red flags" in an applicant's credit file. However, if handled incorrectly, executing and maintaining such a policy can be a complex and burdensome task. Add to that a confusing array of products dealers will have to choose from.

"There are some companies that don't understand the root cause of identity fraud, but they are offering so-called solutions," said Wilson. "While these services may address the Red Flag Rule, they only provide a ‘guide’ to the regulations. The dealer is still left to complete a time-consuming manual evaluation — much of which is open to interpretation. It can leave the dealer confused, non-compliant and unprotected."

Experts who truly understand identity theft prevention created the SmartID service.

"While SmartID has been successfully protecting dealers from fraudulent purchases since 2005, it has now been enhanced to automate the compliance process. Along with the technology, each of our customers will receive a written policy that's easily customizable and simple to implement," Wilson said. "It's like having your own personal FTC representative handling all of your compliance issues from the inside."

Credit bureaus and other agencies only offer a partial solution. They either report basic discrepancies or provide a confusing “risk” score — they don't match the identity presented to the person standing in the dealership.

“This minimalist approach technically addresses Red Flags, but it does not prevent identity fraud and relies heavily on dealership employees to interpret the results,” Wilson said. “SmartID takes it a step further and does all of the work for the dealer through advanced technology.”

SmartID uses a database of 33 billion records from 4,000 sources to identify discrepancies and create identity-related questions from the individual's historic background. Only when the applicant correctly answers all the questions can the person's identity be authenticated.

"Our technology gives a clear and immediate picture of the applicant's identity in one step and the results are concisely reported," Wilson said. "Dealers are looking for a simple, automated compliance solution and SmartID provides that. No one else can bring dealers into full compliance and provide true protection against identity theft. It just doesn’t get any easier." To find out more about SmartID, log onto www.patriotdealer.com or call 888-648-9786.