Identity Theft And Illegal Aliens
By Greg L | 1 February 2008 | Illegal Aliens, Crime | 81 Comments
Millions of illegal aliens steal the identities of American citizens each year in order to falsify documents that will allow them to unlawfully gain employment in the United States. Our state and federal governments know about this problem, and so far have chosen to do absolutely nothing to combat it. The easiest way to stamp out a majority of this criminal activity, which harms millions of Americans every year, is to require that employers use existing federal systems to ensure that a job applicant’s Social Security Number actually belongs to that person, which prevents the vast majority of these criminals from succeeding in their attempt to evade federal labor laws. This week a committee in the Virginia Senate decided to kill an initiative that would do exactly that.
What’s the scope of this problem? It’s positively enormous. Nine million workers are reporting income under Social Security Numbers that are not valid, or not theirs. Every year the IRS issues over one million Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) which are used to report income by those who do not have a valid Social Security Number, yet in order to work in the United States and obtain an income, a valid Social Security Number or visa is required. If you have one of those, you don’t need an ITIN, which suggests that the taxpayer applied for a job under a fake Social Security Number and then filed tax returns using the ITIN. The IRS routinely ignores it’s own rules that prohibit someone from filing returns using an ITIN against earnings reported with a Social Security Number. You’re supposed to have one of these, not one of each.
MSNBC took a look at this problem, and found that the incidence of children becoming the victims of identity theft was enormous, and illegal aliens were primarily responsible:
But many victims are very real. Recently, officials in Utah matched a database of children receiving welfare benefits with a database of workers paying state taxes and found 1,800 child victims. It’s impossible to know how many of the impostors were undocumented workers, but Utah Assistant Attorney General Rich Hamp says that behind most cases the agency has prosecuted so far, he’s found an immigrant using someone else’s papers.
The Utah Attorney General explained the threat posed by illegal aliens to children in his state like this:
“Identity thieves … will steal your children’s ID, ruin their credit and hurt them in ways never thought possible before they can graduate from grade school. Children are vulnerable even if parents do everything right.”
Identity fraud is nothing new to those who are protecting our borders. A 2002 GAO report pointed the scope of the illegal alien identity fraud industry was an extensive and pervasive problem:
According to Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officials, the use of fraudulent documents by aliens is extensive. At ports of entry, INS inspectors have intercepted tens of thousands of fraudulent documents in each of the last few years. These documents were presented by aliens attempting to enter the United States to seek employment or obtain other immigration benefits, such as naturalization or permanent residency status. The types of false documents most frequently intercepted by INS inspectors include border crossing cards, alien registration cards, nonimmigrant visas, and passports and citizenship documents (both U.S. and foreign). Also, INS has reported that large-scale counterfeiting has made fraudulent employment eligibility documents (e.g., Social Security cards) widely available.
When Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids a workplace, it’s pretty common that the illegal aliens they detain are charged with identity theft. Forbes Magazine has an example for us:
All but four of the 29 illegal immigrants arrested last week in a raid targeting workers at the world’s largest hog processing plant had stolen the identities of American citizens, federal prosecutors said Tuesday as they announced identity theft charges.
Two victims lost more than $10,000 because of the identity thefts, and one person nearly lost subsidized housing because of increased income reported on a Social Security number, prosecutor James Candelmo said.
And here’s another instance of the connection between illegal aliens and identity theft from a press release by ICE, following a workplace raid of Swift & Company:
Evidence uncovered during the investigation, which began in February 2006, indicates that hundreds of these illegal aliens may have illegally assumed the identities of U.S. citizens and improperly used their Social Security numbers and other identity documents in order to gain employment at Swift facilities. ICE and the FTC have identified hundreds of U.S. citizens whose stolen identities have been used by these aliens and have reported being victimized by this identity theft scheme. ICE and the FTC are working to identify other victims who may be unaware that their identities have been stolen.
This crime hits people from every walk of life, including welfare recipients, members of the armed forces serving in Iraq, newspaper reporters, teachers, and police officers. Although no study has been conducted in Virginia to determine the scope of the problem within the Commonwealth, it is certainly vast.
These stories have made a difference for some elected officials, who hear about cases of illegal alien identity theft regularly, but clearly not enough of them. Senator John Ensign (R-NV) told colleagues about some of the problems illegal aliens have caused his constituents during a 2006 floor debate:
He told the story of a woman named Audra, a stay-at-home mom who was sent a bill for $1 million in back taxes by the Internal Revenue Service only to find that 218 illegal immigrants had been using her Social Security number. To compound matters, when she tried to return to work, she was rejected by an employer who told her she was already employed at that very same company. She wasn’t. Someone misusing her Social Security number was, Ensign said..
There was the Nevada construction worker Ensign spoke of who couldn’t get unemployment because the state said his Social Security number showed he was working as a landscaper, another case of an illegal immigrant who had illegally used someone else’s number.
Ensign even had examples of children whose Social Security numbers had been stolen by illegal immigrants. “In one case in Utah, a child apparently owns a cleaning company and works as a prep cook at two restaurants in Salt Lake City. That is a lot of responsibility, especially for an 8-year-old boy,” Ensign said.
“These stories are shocking,” Ensign said. “It is clear that illegal immigrants are purchasing false papers and using stolen Social Security numbers to obtain jobs. They are victimizing hard-working Americans, Americans who want to work. They are also victimizing these young children.”
Scambusters walks us through how this all happens. Predictably, the main reason this is happening is because illegal aliens simply can’t get hired in many cases without some form of documentation. The current I-9 process discourages employers from rejecting falsified documents out of a concern they might get sued for employment discrimination, and employers have the incentive to hire illegal aliens because they’re cheaper to employ than American citizens. With an economic incentive to unlawfully hire illegal aliens, and a legal system that makes it somewhat risky to hold illegal aliens accountable for continued illegal activity, we get this perfect storm where American citizens end up getting harmed:
In order to get many jobs, illegal immigrants need Social Security numbers (SSNs). Since they obviously can’t apply for them from the Social Security Administration (SSA), they often buy a stolen SSN and use it to get work.
For example, MSNBC reported that a legal resident in the Chicago suburbs applied for a job at a local Target department store and was not hired because someone who had used her SSN already worked there.
That was bad enough, but further investigations uncovered that her SSN had been used to obtain work by 37 other employees, mostly illegal immigrants!
This is not unusual, according to ChoicePoint: the average number of times a SSN is used for this type of immigrant-based ID theft is 30 times.
Although no one knows the extent of the problem, here are some identity theft facts according to an article by Eduardo Porter in the New York Times last year:
- About seven million illegal immigrants are currently using stolen SSNs and paying Social Security taxes.
- Their payroll tax contributions could be as high as $7 billion a year.
- Their contribution to the Social Security system added about 10% of last year’s surplus.
- Illegal immigrants see Social Security withholding taxes as a cost of working in the US.
Each year, the Social Security Administration receives a very large number of W-2 forms with incorrect and sometimes fictitious SSNs; the withholding taxes from these incorrect SSNs are put in the “Earnings Suspense File,” which totals over $189 billion.
It is illegal for the SSA to notify victims that their SSNs are being used by someone else. Naturally, neither the illegal immigrant nor the rightful owner of the SSN gets the benefits of the taxes withheld — so billions of dollars are simply added to the general Social Security system each year.
Falsely using a stolen SSN is a felony in the US, and there is no question that this is a widespread problem.
Here is an even less known fact: many of the people whose SSN are stolen are children. Since many children don’t use their SSN until they turn 18 to get a job, an illegal immigrant can often use their SSN for years without getting caught.
Unfortunately, illegal immigrants also sometimes fail to make credit payments, file for bankruptcy, and harm victims’ credit in other ways. When the rightful SSN owners turn 18, they can have credit history problems, which results in being unable to get student loans, jobs or other kinds of credit.
If you’re one of those few holdouts who refuses to recognize the linkage between identity theft and illegal aliens, you’re in complete denial of a serious problem. If you also happen to be an elected official who is blocking attempts to address this problem, you are nothing but a traitor to our citizenry.
The opinions expressed here are solely the views of the author, and not representative of the position of any organization, political party, doughnut shop, knitting guild, or waste recycling facility, but may be correctly attributed to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. If anything in the above article has offended you, please click here to receive an immediate apology.
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The illegal alien issues began back in 1986 and have escalated each year since. The Federal government choice not to close the southern US border then and as a result we have this hugh mess that no one can seem to get a handle on. I have researched these illegal alien problems for over five years now and the same issues continue to come forward, stolen documents, stolen SSN’s, over crowding, the use of medical care facilitues and ER’s as a doctor’s office and causing them to close because the reembursements from the federal government is so low, auto accidents - no insurance, gangs, and I could go on and on. We have all heard this time and time again. Since the federal government and state governments are slow or choose not to act at all, local governments are left to try and get some kind of control over the invasions into their cities and towns. Some chose to come down hard on the businesses that hire the undocumented workers by trying to at least get the businesses to e-varify these potencial workers to stop the unlawful hiring. Since the two important federal departments that could really stop a large percentage of these illegal practices, IRS and SSA, won’t talk to each other to varify, we the tax payer continue to have our taxes spent on illegal aliens and allow the businesses to go unchecked. We have a Congress and a VA General Assembly that want to welcome these illegal aliens with open arms. Could it be that they will be counted in the upcoming 2010 Census. We have lost key people in Congress and the VA General Assembly that were the fighters because they are just tired of the constant fights and the Democratics in both will do everything they can to vote against anything sponsored by Republicans. This unfortunately still is getting back at the Bush Administration when he got elected. When will it stop and what will the U.S. be like when it does? This only hurts U. S. Citizens.
“Millions of illegal aliens steal the identities of American citizens each year…”
It’s usually not a good idea to start off with a statement that you can’t back up and that may very well be false.
As I said before, the time for talking, listening, and voting is rapidly coming to an end.
Anonymous, even if it were thousands instead of millions it would still be an outrage. You can’t argue the fact so you are trying to nitpick.
Most estimates put the illegal population in the US at 20 million. I don’t think it’s too far off the mark that one in 20 persons already breaking the law are also using false identification to obtain employment.
Actually, only one estimate put the illegal population at 20 million. Most estimates put the illegal workforce far below that figure. But then again, I mean, come one, getting facts straight isn’t important.
Anonymous,
I remember a few years ago someone in government had a study conducted to determine whether the “Flintstones” was educational TV (it had to do with a law requiring so much educational TV per week). There’s a serious problem….let’s study it, talk about it, assess it, but under no circumstances should we do anything about it. My point…sometimes the most effective thing to do is not over analyze something.
I wonder if it would be possible for the victim of ID theft to sue the U.S. Government for damages?
Who gives a rat’s a$$ if it’s ‘million’ or ‘thousands’!!! uno es demasiados!!!
Anonymous said on 1 Feb 2008 at 2:24 pm:
Actually, only one estimate put the illegal population at 20 million. Most estimates put the illegal workforce far below that figure. But then again, I mean, come one, getting facts straight isn’t important.
———————————————–
You want facts, well here ya go…I can find plenty more. So, I suggest you go take your siesta!!
Our illegal immigration counters are based on an estimated twenty million illegal aliens having been present in our nation as of January 1, 2004.
In a letter dated February 2004, no less an authority than Arizona Senator John McCain recognized that Border Patrol apprehension figures demonstrated that “almost four million people crossed our borders illegally in 2002″ (read McCain’s letter) – experts on the subject agree that illegal crossings have only increased since then.
The Tucson sector Border Patrol union local 2544 on the number of illegal aliens in our nation: “There are currently 15 to 20 million illegal aliens in this country by many estimates, but the real numbers could be much higher and the numbers increase every day because our borders are not secure (no matter what the politicians tell you - don’t believe them for a second)”. (Visit the local’s website).
An independent study of the underground economy released in January 2005 by the Wall Street financial firm Bear Stearns, The Underground Labor Force is Rising to the Surface, produced estimates of 18-20 million illegal aliens present in the United States.
@ Anonymous
***“Millions of illegal aliens steal the identities of American citizens each year…”
It’s usually not a good idea to start off with a statement that you can’t back up and that may very well be false.***
Greg went above and beyond in citing references for this in the article.
And, we all know how either side can manipulate statistics to their advantage!
TDB said on 1 Feb 2008 at 2:48 pm:
Anonymous said on 1 Feb 2008 at 2:24 pm:
Actually, only one estimate put the illegal population at 20 million. Most estimates put the illegal workforce far below that figure.
————————————
Oh, which figure are you discussing? The total number of illegal aliens or just the illegal alien workforce? Typical smokescreen!!!
Anonymous said on 1 Feb 2008 at 2:24 pm:
Actually, only one estimate put the illegal population at 20 million. Most estimates put the illegal workforce far below that figure.
————————————
Oh, which figure are you discussing? The total number of illegal aliens or just the illegal alien workforce? Typical smokescreen!!!
I’ve been thinking about this vote a lot and I believe this action is so egregious and biased towards corrupt employers and toward stubborn politicians who are ignoring real issues that we HAVE TO RESPOND.
I suggest we focus on Saslaw - and do something big.
Ideas?
I always start with some research. You know… know your enemy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_L._Saslaw
http://sov.state.va.us/SenatorDB.nsf/be032c3005b9a5bb85256bf3006d57e2/fa719e196928fb0c85256aa00071999d?OpenDocument
http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=5110
Is tar & feather still a viable option?
Someone need to find out who does his landscaping.
TBD, i made the same point on another thread. I wonder if there is some means of having him removed from this committee. I doubt it, but he obviously showed a lot of bias with his comments about not letting any anti-illegal legislation out of committee. He certainly had not seen all of the pending bills when he made that statement.
Hey, go easy on the illegals. They are just stealing the identities that Americans aren’t willing to steal……
“He certainly had not seen all of the pending bills when he made that statement.”
Saslaw is just flexing his muscles. There are bills and pork which will benefit his district. He is using this as a bargaining chip to get things he wants passed. Some of the less-contraversial bills coming from the house may make it through the committee, but he will exact a high price from the patrons of the bills to make it happen.
Somewhat off topic, but there is a new bill floating around Congress that will give Judges discretionary authority to allow illegal’s to stay in the U.S. if their children were born here. Need to start burning up the phone lines again.
http://afdan.blogspot.com/2007/03/child-protection-act-keeping-families.html
Here is some info concerning the bill maureen mentioned: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.01176:
BTW, AFDAN stands for
American Families of Deported and Detained Arab Nationals. hmmm…
So Advocator, what are you advocating for folks do?
I thought that many of you might appreciate the email that I just sent our illustrist Governor, Mr. Kaine.
Dear Governor:
As I realize that this message most likely will never be read by you that it is still an avenue of frustration venting for me.
I read the article in the 2/1/2008 edition of the Washington Post (Metro section). In this article your stances are put forth, which I extremely oppose. You state, “many of the draconian bills would hurt Virginias economy and reputation”. Do you realize that our reputation now consists of (1) The Sniper, (2) Hot bed of MS-13, (3) mentally deranged killer at Virginia Tech, (4) Virginia Beach sanctuary city and (5) Michael Vick’s dog fighting business. It is also known as a state of separation between the constiuents belief and that of their political leaders. Many counties are trying to implement immigration laws which is the right thing to do if only because the state and federal government do nothing, so what do you expect. Only one county’s politician ran on the sole platform of immigration reform and he WON. Others had it as a concern, but would not run on that platform, so obviously they lost.
In regards to those who campaigned, with immigration reform as part of their platform, they did not lose because of the platform they lost because of the message that was being sent of disapproval of President Bush. They were making a point, they were not voting against immigration reform.
Also you mentioned that you “would not sign into law any goofy, harsh or punitive bills (such as stated in the same paragraph education and social services bills. I persume that you EXPECT the Virginia taxpayer pay for the illegals to access these services because you don’t want to damage the reputation of Virginia (but please don’t worry about the legal residents of Virginia, please make us a secondary concern because we all make as much as our politicians so we can affort paying the taxes for those services.
You might want to send questionairres to the people of Virginia, because you obviously do not realize how much they are expecting you to stand up for them and put them as the priority.
Respectfully
Anon said on 1 Feb 2008 at 3:27 pm:
I’ve been thinking about this vote a lot and I believe this action is so egregious and biased towards corrupt employers and toward stubborn politicians who are ignoring real issues that we HAVE TO RESPOND.
I suggest we focus on Saslaw - and do something big.
Ideas?
As I posted yesterday, send him a plaque with truck nutz attached and an inscription stating “to replace yours.”
This is good news:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/article/valley-park-mayor-citys-attorneys-hold-news-conference-discuss-federal-judges_460928_1.html
This is good news getting better:
http://www.diggersrealm.com/mt/archives/002678.html
For those of you concerned about credit, you are entitled to a free credit report from each of the major reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union). You can get all three at the same time or get one from each; it’s up to you. Some savvy types have recommended getting from only one of them, but rotate which one every four months. The web address to get this information is www.annualcreditreport.com (be careful not to mistype this or you may get an importer website). If you are like me and don’t trust your typing, you can link through www.ftc.gov/credit. It’s also useful to do this if you anticipate that you will be buying a house, car, etc. in the near future. If you want the credit “score,” you will have to pay an extra $7.95.
If you want to run a credit report on a child under 13, you have to mail separately to each of those credit reporting agencies and file the appropriate paperwork. Again, check the web page for more information.
Regardless of your opinions of the illegal alien issue, I hope you find this information useful.
One more thing: The FTC URL may not work because your browser may try to put the period at the end.
Dave…good letter. May I suggest that you also send it as an open letter to the Governor via the Letters to the Editor of Potomac News?
Dave, you might even try for more newspapers.
Anon 6:20 PM:
How about
“SUPPORT IMMIGRATION LAW
NOT SASLAW”
Dave,
Try to shorten your letter a bit and see if you can get it printed in the DC Examiner as well.
Keep hammering on our elected officials! Impress upon them that illegal aliens don’t vote, U.S. citizens do. Send correspondence to your elected officials. Let them you know that not only are you upset, but you have told your friends and neighbors about this. My wife is an immigrant and we did everything by the book, why should someone who came illegally or stayed illegally be granted amnesty?
Dave,
Thanks, that is a great letter.
wow another Alexandrian against illegal immirgation? There is hope!
Do you want to know how they get some social security numbers??? Go to http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/ This is the social security DEATH index. Type the name of someone in your family who is deceased. I can bring up my mom and dad and their SOCIAL SECURITY numbers are there, for the whole world to see. It is THAT EASY.
Greg L wrote:
The easiest way to stamp out a majority of this criminal activity, which harms millions of Americans every year, is to require that employers use existing federal systems to ensure that a job applicant’s Social Security Number actually belongs to that person, which prevent the vast majority of these criminals from succeeding in their attempt to evade federal labor laws.
There are already federal laws on the books requiring employers to verify the identity of their employees. Greg claims that employers aren’t complying. If this is true, then how would a Virginia law requiring that employers comply with federal law resolve the issue? How much of a difference would another law on the books make?
Ducky,
The key is to enforce the law.
I have already sent email to my two reps, Saslaw and Moran. With elections coming up, I will vote for someone who I feel will best represent me and uphold the law. They can pander to illegal aliens all they want, I am the one registered to vote. I drove down Lee Highway early on a Saturday morning and was amazed to see all the men simply standing about, it reminded me of places I have lived in the third world. This is not how I want my neighborhood to be like. I pay taxes, I also vote and I will be heard.
You all really need to look at http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/ in my posting at 12:08 AM. Our own Social Security Admin posts the social security numbers for the deceased. My parents passed away in the 70’s and their SS #’s are out there for someone to possibly use. We need to get this stopped.
There is a total lack of interest on this subject at the federal level. States and communities trying to act on their own are running into roadblock after roadblock and only wasting tax dollars trying to be the feds. People continue to blame state legislators. The easiest thing to do is to do is to complain and campaign. They know they cannot effect change at a level higher than PWC. They know the statistics. They know the futility of it all. They just want to be able to get elected to another higher office by complaining about what they couldn’t get done. Then when they get there, they will drop us like a hot potato.
What our BOCS CAN do is stay on zoning and neighborhood serivces like green on grass. Daily, hourly, whatever it takes. I would gladly pay more taxes to support that effort. Street lighting, trash, vehicle parking, junk in yards, residents in homes. They can push Sheriff and Police to go after nuisance laws and push push until 7-11’s are no longer employment centers. They can use the existing ordinance and laws to clean up PWC. This can be done at a much lower cost than taking on federal responsibilities at great expense knowing there is zero federal buy in. I am not happy about my taxes chasing windmills knowing there is very little return or outcome on the horizon.
All the federal laws regarding deportation and hiring folks under the table (legal or illegal) are on the books already. They should be enforced. We have the laws. We DON’T have the committment. Trying to get more laws is not getting us the committment.
Self-deporation from PWC, which is all we can and should pay for would happen with zoning, neighborhood services and nuisance laws….and tax evasion laws.
Going after bleeding hearts providing food to the poor on a wicked rainy day is… I can’t think of a word. I am sure that a some better Christian American than I will fill in the blank to make me look like an idiot. Go for it. I have confidence in my convictions to withstand the final review. My position regarding illegals is clear; my position regarding kindness is also clear.
Going after lawbreakers that hire them instead is useful. Advocator, are you tracking those liscense plates as well? Have your reported them to the IRS?
We can make a name for ourselves doing that. Then we can take the next step.
An interesting article from the Culpeper Star Exponent, Thursday, 1/31/08
about ‘how’ Culpeper is organizing themselves and ‘who’ is being put on the top tier. In addition the article stated “Culpeper County Administrator Frank Bossio said invitations were sent out to every county and municipality in the state.”
Someone realizes the power of numbers here. Let’s all find out who got the invitation from our localities and IF someone was sent out to represent us!
Dave,
Great letter, please submit it to opinion pages of the various local newspapers.
Years ago I belonged to an investment club which was a partnership and we had to submit all of our names and our SSNs to get the taxpayer ID number from the IRS for our partnership. I’m not sure if this is also what Greg was talking about in this thread but it took us almost 6 months to get it. The delay caused us to delay reporting our annual income to the IRS, we filed and said we were applying for the number and they still came to audit our investment club books. I was the President and I kept the investment club software on my computer so I became very familiar with the auditor allowing her to use my PC and it was a thorough audit but fair. I thought it was unnecessary since we had only a couple of thousand in our coffers all invested in blue chip stocks and reinvested our dividends but the IRS was scary. But we followed the rules and passed the audit.
silverfox said on 2 Feb 2008 at 7:09 pm:
An interesting article from the Culpeper Star Exponent, Thursday, 1/31/08
about ‘how’ Culpeper is organizing themselves and ‘who’ is being put on the top tier. In addition the article stated “Culpeper County Administrator Frank Bossio said invitations were sent out to every county and municipality in the state.”
Frank Bossio, from what I have read is an illegal alien sympathizer.
silverfox said on 2 Feb 2008 at 7:09 pm:
An interesting article from the Culpeper Star Exponent, Thursday, 1/31/08
about ‘how’ Culpeper is organizing themselves and ‘who’ is being put on the top tier. In addition the article stated “Culpeper County Administrator Frank Bossio said invitations were sent out to every county and municipality in the state.”
Frank Bossio, from what I have read is an illegal alien sympathizer.
SORRY ABOUT THAT. I have the name wrong. I was thinking of the Culpepper mayor Rimeikis. My appologies to Mr. Bossio.
Anonymous said on 2 Feb 2008 at 10:31 pm:
silverfox said on 2 Feb 2008 at 7:09 pm:
It’s beem a long day. Should have pulled the plug on this long ago. Culpepper Mayor Rimeikis is probably also the wrong person. I remember an article about the growing number of illegals in Culpepper and apparently the mayor wanted to do things right and not subject the county to lawsuits and was taking things slowly. My appologies to Mayor Rimeikis. I should have tried to find the article in mind before spouting off.
I agree with One Voice, putting another law on the books that already isn’t being enforced is futile. Enforce zoning laws.
http://www.wbko.com/news/headlines/14300387.html
Bridget,
This is AWFUL! We’ve heard josh say he had it happen to him.
The articlel state 700,000 victims of ID theft each year. I’d really like to know how many cases there have been in Virginia and PWC. PWC of course including the two cities since they use the county’s courts.
Thanks for the article. Nice to see you back.
Happened to me in the early 90’s. Someone stole our returned checks….
It was a nightmare before it was a popular nightmare. State would not honor request to take off our SSN’s, stores still required them for checks. We went to cash only. Saved us a bit in the long run, but …..
My DH found out that someone was/is using his SS # in California (Hispanic sounding name). DH even had the persons address in CA. He called police in both states and he called Social Security and no one cared. We don’t believe that the number is being used for employment, as no extra money has shown up on the yearly SS statements.
Lafayette,
Thanks! I am around - just busy with lots of family stuff -
Check this out:
“Based on actual numbers of identity theft complaints reported to the trade commision in 2006, states bordering Mexico led the nation in identity theft victims per population. Arizona ranked first_followed by Nevada, California, Texas and Florida.”
http://www.newser.com/article/1A1-D8U212Q02.html
(And pay attention to the statement from the perps lawyer - utter rot)
According to the Virginia AG, Virginia ranks 17th. (As of 2005)
http://www.oag.state.va.us/FAQs/FAQ_IDTheft.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6814673/
http://www.idtheftcenter.org/artman2/publish/states/Virginia.shtml
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/061213dc.htm
Why worry? According to the MJM, COMPOST, and many other supporters of illegals, we just need to enjoy the diversity that comes with illegals and not get all hot and bothered by a few laws that might stand in the way of them doing jobs Americans refuse to do.
Just remember, if they had the chance to come here legally they would have done so.
yeah,
I had it happen to me, however my work handled everything with the IRS, ICE and other agencies. In fact, I had an ICE agent give me the entire run down of what happened. Discrepancies in my credit and such affects my job and it was a big concern. Luckily the person using my SSN had just come into the company and started working at Swift meatpacking plant. It just happened to be a lucky guess on the illegals part.
I’m happy that this person got deported. I now check my Social Security statements pretty closely and locked all my credit reports so I get notified when anything funny happens. Just goes to show you they dont just want to work, they want to screw up peoples credit while they are at it.
Re what Bridget said on 3 Feb 2008 at 12:49 pm
Looking at the FTC data for 2006, Virginia had 5,137 reported identity thefts in 2006. The FCT data also indicates that about 14% of identity thefts are employment related fraud. Doing the math, we can estimate that approximately 60 (+/-) are of the Virinia identity thefts are Employment-related fraud.
This would suggest that we are putting too much emphasis on a crime that doesn’t really occur that often. We have laws on the books that address this issue. I would suggest we enforce the laws we have and get State Government focused on our budget, education and transportation issues.
We have all the laws we need on the books to address all these issues. What is missing is the committement to enforce them from locals all the way through feds. Somehow we have been led into thinking that more laws will obtain committement.
One Voice,
That sort of sounds like the theory about the louder you talk in an argument, the more right you are;)
~~splash~~
Bridget,
Thank you for the links. I’m pretty busy I’ve printed them and will be reading the completely later.
Old Soldier said on 3 Feb 2008 at 5:23 pm:
Re what Bridget said on 3 Feb 2008 at 12:49 pm
Looking at the FTC data for 2006, Virginia had 5,137 reported identity thefts in 2006. The FCT data also indicates that about 14% of identity thefts are employment related fraud. Doing the math, we can estimate that approximately 60 (+/-) are of the Virinia identity thefts are Employment-related fraud.
This would suggest that we are putting too much emphasis on a crime that doesn’t really occur that often. We have laws on the books that address this issue. I would suggest we enforce the laws we have and get State Government focused on our budget, education and transportation issues.
Old Soldier,
I think if we did not have any illegals in the Commonwealth, we would have a lot less traffic, local school boards would not have to spend so much money, and the Budget for the Commonwealth would be much more manageable. I think the estimates for illegals in the Commonwealth is between 250,000 and 300,000.
What CitizenofManassas said on 3 Feb 2008 at 10:06 pm
I certainly agree with your point about illegals in the Commonwealth; however, it doesn’t change the conclusion I proposed regarding the legislation under consideration. To few incidents to justify passing another law we don’t need.
Old Soldier,
It always seems that many supporters of illegals say illegals just want to be treated like everyone else. Yet, they never seem to want to hold illegals accountable for their actions.
Look at the debate over the gun show “loophole”. I find it funny that many of the same people in the GA who support closing it, are the very same folks who say illegal immigration is not an issue in our Commonwealth, yet they want to go after an issue that in fact is not an issue or problem in our Commonwealth.
Consistency would be nice.
Folks I hate to tell you, but your math skills need polishing. 14% of 5137 is 0.14 x 5137 = 719 that’s over 10 times the stated 60 (+/-)
“Looking at the FTC data for 2006, Virginia had 5,137 REPORTED identity thefts in 2006.”
Old Soldier, what about those that have not, as yet, been discovered? In addition, your numbers are from 2006. I submit that the level of awareness has increased considerably since then, so you may find the numbers have increased significantly as well.
Anonymous, thanks for catching my error (it proves people ARE doing the math).
AWCheney, the fact is we don’t know how big (or small) the illegal inmigration problem is in Virginia. (IMHO) our Northern Virginia legislatures are pandering to, well, folks like you because it grabs headlines and gets them publicity. They are acting without data and driven by antidotal stories of dubious value.
I’m against illegal immigration. I’m also for good Government. I’m surprised to say that the Virginia legislatures from the southern part of our state are acting as a balance these days. Thank god for Democracy.
I think we could address most (if not all) of our Illegal Immigration problems if we enforced the laws on the books (yes, including Federal laws). That’s just my opinion. My opinion is subject to change as I learn new things and get more information. For now, I’m not convinced we need more laws that we don’t have the resources to enforce anyway.
Old Solder,
Virginia has a huge illegal alien issue. An estimated 250,000 to 300,000 thousand illegals live in the Commonwealth. Most of the Northern VA gang members in such gangs as MS-13 are illegal. Illegals were responsible for 5 out of the 9 murders in PW County last year. Prince William hospital spent 15 million on illegals last year. Crime is up in the City of Manassas thanks to illegals. How many drive without licenses or insurance? How many are victims of crime usually carried out by fellow illegals?
I could go on, but clearly illegal immigration is an issue and a growing problem here in the Commonwealth. Elected officials such as DICK saslaw and timmy kaine refuse to see any issue with illegal aliens. That is not right, that is just plain stupid.
Laws should be enforced, however thanks to the Feds and people like timmy kaine who refuse to see an issue, localities in the Commonwealth and to a certain degree members of the GA are being forced to fix the issue and keep it in the spot light in an attempt to get folks like DICK and timmy to pay attention.
I review my annual Social Security statement carefully. The Social Security web site says “We provide the Statements in two ways: in automatic annual mailings to workers and former workers aged 25 and older and at any time to workers of any age who request them.” It’s probably not a bad idea to request a statement for our children, even those with no work history, to see if there is any activity using their numbers.
Has anyone discovered illegal use of a number through these statements?
Good post, CoM.
Old Soldier: The correct term is, “anecdotal,” not, “antidotal” or whatever jibberish you used. Gee-sus, some of the posters on this blog write like they need ESOL.
Old Soldier,
I make that same mistake. Advocator, your horse is showing. ahem.
How can the people who represent us be so stupid as to allow “illegal” people to continue to steal our identities and then protect the criminals instead of us?
How did we elect such idiots as Salisaw and his fellow Senators?
THANK GOD the DHS is suing (appealing) its right to continue to notify the public that our identities (SSNs) have been stolen by thieves, and bypassing a judges ruling who politically thinks like Senator Salisaw and fellow idiots.
Reviewing your SSN statement will not help. THE SSN ADM is required to hold all SSNs who do not match the legitimate name, from public knowledge. In other words by some anal and idiotic policy, we are being lied to about who is using our SSN numbers. THE
DHS is suing for the right to release this info only to businesses who have accepted your SSN but not verified it is “illegal” through a public law mandate to check e-verify.
You the general public, should be furious at any congressman who stands in the way of protecting your identity. I mean really furious, enough to remove them from office and position of power.
Only our ignorance will allow this to continue.
Old Soldier I beg to differ.
If the laws you have aren’t working then pass some new ones that will. Maneuver if you hit a bottleneck or impasse. It is a collective “kill” in assymmetric warfare that I’m sure even you can understand.
Would you enter a battle with only one weapon, or would you not advocate the use of multiple weapons, with multiple coordinated maneuver, assymmetry and concentration of force on the weakest centers of gravity?
Surely a little maneuver doctrine applies here or at least Clauswitcz?
Do you not choke an enemies logistics chain at the same time you hit his tactical center of gravity, his political will and his ability to maneuver simultaneously.
Currently the leftist media is a center of gravity, the politically ignorant another center of gravity and the mass of the “will of the people” a maneuver force? Is that not a better way to fight than rely only on yesterdays tactics to win todays war?
All we really need to win this “illegal” issue to the betterment of our entire society is a good leader, and a sound set of coordinated “operations orders”.
The trops that execute this are our police force in every community, with the authority to operate at “all levels of warfare”. That is why we need to enforcde old laws and enforce so new ones that meet the tactics of a new “enemy” in social combat “the ignorant social engineer”, and the “illegal” bent on destroying our society for his own selfish gain.
I’m disappointed in these Democrats. I’ve send 6 letters to Mark Warner questioning his stance and have yet receive an answer back. In the past, the Democrats have taken the African-American vote for granted but things are changing. The sameway we helped to vote them in, in the future we will ensure they don’t get voted for again. This includes:
The Saslaw Clown
Mark Warner
Timothy Kaine
Lou Dobbs vs. LaRaza on CNN last night. Libs are forcing their own “fairness” doctrine, to keep the likes of Lou “accountable”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kmTLk2Fgas
k. o’toole said on 5 Feb 2008 at 1:03 pm:
Lou Dobbs vs. LaRaza on CNN last night.
I don’t know how Lou keeps his “cool” with that snake that leads LaRaza. I think if I had been there, she would still be laying on the floor spitting out teeth. She was on her usual rant.
Attempts at suppression of free speech are nothing new from the La Raza crowd:
http://www.vdare.com/guzzardi/041210_arizona.htm
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OWI2ZmFiZjUyYzBlMzQwOTNjMTNkNDI3ZDllN2MwMGE=
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1964204/posts
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/02/04/john-mccain-la-razas-voice-in-washington/
For those who are inclined to toss around the “Nazi” reference, it is no small irony that one of the hallmarks of the reich - or any other dictatorship = The elimination of free expression of opinion and freedom of the press.
I, for one, am very glad that Ms. La Raza spokesmouth has her turn at the podium. May she have many more.
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This one is for Dave:
http://www.thedustininmansociety.com/blog/?p=1343
http://www.thedustininmansociety.org/info/who_was_dustin_inman.html
What bothered me most about Janet Bregas (La Raza Spokesperson) , was that she presented her arguments on a civil rights basis and Lou did not call her on her blatant “hispanic” predjudice.
She is only looking out for the interests of her own ethnic group and cares nothing for others not of that group. Lou should have pointed out her use of only helping hispanics on thier web site and leaving out any civil rights help for “legal” people, “white people”, “black people”, “Asian people” and all others “non-hispanic” peoples that are also entitled to the same civil rights, not just show support for only her own race and ethnic group, and advocate for special privileges for her ethnic and racial group to “break the law”.
This is what I find MOST objectionable to the issue of “illegal” aliens. It is the reference JANET IMPLIES that only “hispanics deserve a break from enforcement of the law” that EVERYONE ELSE HAS TO FOLLOW.
I am one of those millions. I have an illegal alien using my SSN. Not one single federal agency would lift a finger to help me. The closest I got was a Secret Service agent who talked to a bunch of his contacts to try to drum up interest. When I talked to the IRS special investigators, they were surprised that I had not been audited!
I finally was able to get a police patrolman in the city where this guy lives to go to his house. The police officer got a full confession out of the guy who has been using the number for 17 years. The case was filed with the DA which quickly dismissed the case in “the interest of justice”. How in the heck is that justice?!? I am in the process of getting the case files so that I can pursue other avenues to get the guy to stop using my number.
The complete an utter failure of our government in addressing this is a huge disgrace. I contacted every agency I could think of to get some traction, but in the end, I had to do all of my own investigation. A year and a half later, the outcome is still pending…
Oh, I forgot to add that I found NO record of this guy through the Social Security documents I had to pay $35 for, but the Tax Document History Report that I got from IRS for FREE showed this guy all over. W2s, 1099s and a 1098 (loan interest). I called the loan company listed on the 1098 and that was a good source of information. I originally found out about this guy from a background check done on my by my employer.
I compiled a document a while back to help people in researching this issue. I just uploaded it to Google Docs for yall to look at. I would recommend for everyone to do at least 2.1 and 2.2.
http://docs.google.com/View?docid=df6qsx29_9gtjfj7ck