Dear Editor:
While every theft is a crime, few thefts are as personal or can cause as many problems as “identity theft.”
In an identity theft, someone assumes your identity to get credit in your name and steal from businesses, leaving you with the tab and the explanations.
The problem is a serious one. The numbers are unbelievable: almost 500 people have their identity stolen in America each day. That’s more than 176,000 people each year…and the number keeps growing.
On average, it takes a victim 12 months just to discover the theft. By that time, all kinds of credit and government records can be corrupted.
People can suffer financial loss when wages are garnished, tax refunds are withheld or liens are placed on property – all because someone is using their identity. Also, they may not be given credit, mortgage or education loans, government benefits, utility services and apartment leases when credit reports and background checks show debts or criminal records – compliments of the identity thief.
For example, in once recent case reported by Social Security’s Inspector General, a man assumed another individual’s identity for 12 years. He filed for and received Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits, ran up huge debts, committed crimes and became a fugitive from justice – all under that stolen identity. When an arrest warrant was issued, the wrong man was arrested and it took him a week to just get out of jail… and longer to clear up 12 years of jumbled records. Fortunately, in this case, the identity thief was caught, arrested, sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison and ordered to pay Social Security back more than $23,000. But damage had been done.
In one recent study by two California identity theft groups, victims spent an average of 175 hours per incident trying to unravel the problems caused by identity theft.
Unfortunately, an identity thief who wants a Social Security number has at times been able to use public birth records to get identifying information. While identity theft is mostly an adult crime, about 2 percent of identity thefts – more than 3,500 per year – involve a child’s Social Security number. The thief assumes the identity of the child. It’s then very difficult to discover if someone is using a child’s Social Security number, so I would urge parents to be on guard for mail that is sent to your child. For example, unsolicited credit cards in you child’s name may mean that someone is using you child’s number to establish credit.
If you think someone is using either you or your child’s Social Security number, call the Social Security Fraud Hotline at 1-800-269-0271 and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338). The Federal Trade Commission puts this information into a database, which is used by law enforcement agencies nationwide to look for thieves and for patterns in identity theft.
Yvonne Bryant
Social Security Manager in Jersey City, NJ