"As we approach the madness

of the holiday shopping season - and this year Hanukkah, Christmas and

Kwanzaa are all just six days apart - we have to know that it's

a great time of the year for identity thieves," said Roll. "We

particularly know it this year thanks to Citibank and its memorable ad

campaign on the subject.

"In the last year alone,

consumer victims reported $5 billion in identity-theft-related out-of-pocket

expenses," he added. "To fight back, consumers are often left

to fend for themselves or purchase expensive stand-alone policies that

can cost $10-20 per month. But that's a high price to pay."

According to Roll, another

barrier to online shoppers, although not so dramatic as identity theft,

is the high cost of shipping.�Consumers can save in the 10-30 percent

range on the cost of products by comparison-shopping online, he pointed

out, but "consumers usually get a rude awakening at checkout, where

shipping costs on such items as CDs, DVDs and toys can add 20-50 percent

to their bills, thereby wiping out their hard-won savings."

Such leading merchants as Amazon,

he said, have led the way by offering free-shipping deals for a couple

of years now. But most often, free shipping is available only at certain

times for a limited period of time, on certain items and on orders of

certain sizes, typically a lot more than what a couple of CDs or toys

would cost.

The final blow, said Roll,

is that the consumer can forget about speedy delivery with these special

shipping offers, which usually restrict delivery to the slowest method

of "standard delivery." This means that delivery of goods often

takes more than a week, an especially irksome factor as the holidays approach

and consumers are engaged in a lot of last-minute shopping.

In an attempt to remove these

two formidable barriers, Roll reports that AHA has just introduced a unique

online shopping service for AHA members. Called Froople! (www.froople.com),

it provides the best in comparison shopping, letting consumers find the

lowest prices, and also allows consumers to shop at top-brand online retailers

and have their shipping charges rebated up to $25 per order, up to $500

a year, through cash-back rebates, which apply regardless of order size

or delivery speed. "This will become more and more important to consumers

as the number of days left till the holidays tick away," he said.

Besides knocking down the shipping-cost

barrier, Roll says that AHA also is helping to remove the concern about

identity theft. "Shoppers who sign up at www.froople.com�or call

1 866-FROOPLE to join the association, receive identity-theft coverage

that includes income protection, expense reimbursement, an ID recovery

kit and 24/7 toll-free assistance, included as part of membership,"

said Roll. "Our group policy will cover member out-of-pocket costs

up to $2,500, which, after a $250 deductible, is twice the reported average

$1,200 in out-of-pocket expenses experienced by identity-theft victims.

In addition, the typical case requires 175 hours to correct 'mis-identity,'

which can be vastly shortened by the support line.

"The attention that Congress

is paying to the issue of identity theft in this country is laudable,"

added Roll, whose testimony before Congress - in 1993 before the

U.S. House Banking Committee and in 1997 before the U.S. Senate Banking

Committee - influenced mortgage-related legislation that has reduced

costs to homeowners by billions of dollars. "But we still need to

find ways in our own backyard to help. Giving shoppers peace of mind is

AHA's individual effort."

For more information, go to

www.froople.com�or visit www.ahahome.com.

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