FTC Request - Identity Theft Interviews

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of
Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 3084-0159)
TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Interviews – Identity Theft
PURPOSE: The FTC’s Division of Consumer and Business Education provides free
information to help people reduce the risk of identity theft as well as to assist identity theft
victims in the recovery process. An Executive Order requires that the FTC “reduce the burden
on consumers who have been victims of identity theft, including by substantially reducing the
amount of time necessary for a consumer to remediate typical incidents.” We wish to conduct
interviews with identity theft victims to inform our next steps. User interviews will help us to
understand attitudes of this audience as well as to identify areas of confusion and inefficiency in
the remediation process. This research will allow us to make meaningful improvements to our
materials and address unmet needs.
DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:
Respondents will be people who have experienced and dealt with identity theft in the past year.
TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)
[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form
[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software
[ ] Focus Group

[ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey
[ ] Small Discussion Group
[x] Other: In-depth interviews

CERTIFICATION:
I certify the following to be true:
1. The collection is voluntary.
2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.
3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal
agencies.
4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.
5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential
policy decisions.
6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have
experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.
Name: Jessica Skretch
To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:
Personally Identifiable Information:
1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [x] No
2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the
Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No
3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No [x] N/A

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Gifts or Payments:
Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to
participants? [x] Yes [ ] No
There will be a $40 incentive. Participation will take approximately 60 minutes per person
(including a 10-minute phone screening). In addition, other organizations pay respondents for
these types of studies.
BURDEN HOURS
Category of Respondent
Private sector (In-depth interviews)

No. of
Respondents
16

Totals

16

Participation
Time
60 minutes

Burden
16 hours
16 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $25,000.
If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please
provide answers to the following questions:
The selection of your targeted respondents
1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential
respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe?
[x] Yes [ ] No
If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan). If
the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of
respondents and how you will select them?
Half of the participants (8) will be recruited from a list of people who have: (a) contacted the
FTC to report identity theft; and (b) opted to allow further communications from the FTC.
Potential participants will first be contacted by the FTC to get permission for the researchers to
contact each individual.
The other half of the participants (8) will be pulled from a database of willing participants who
have opted to participate in this type of study. Participants can opt into the database by filling
out a form on a recruiting website. Candidates will be screened by phone and asked if they are
willing to participate in a 50-minute interview.
The sessions will not ask for any personally identifiable information, and responses will be
stored anonymously.

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Administration of the Instrument
1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)
[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media
[x] Telephone
[ ] In-person
[ ] Mail
[ ] Other, Explain
Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [x] Yes [ ] No
Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the
request.

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