When I.D. Theft is Not I.D. Theft: the ultimate nightmare

A dirty little secret that no one can do anything about

Imagine this scenario.

You are driving on a quiet Sunday morning on your way to breakfast. Then the familiar red and blue lights begin flashing behind you. Trying to think straight, you ask yourself, what could be wrong? Obediently you pull over and try to stay calm.

The officer is a model of politeness as he asks to see your license and insurance. As standard operating procedure, he has run your plates and knows a lot about you already. "Please step out of the car."

You ask what is wrong, and in utter disbelief you are informed there is a warrant for your arrest. You and your SSN are in the system because of several moving violations and failure to appear in court. This can't be happening, you say to yourself. You haven't had so much as a parking ticket in 25 years.

Think it can't happen to you? You'll change your mind after I tell you the dirty little secret about the type of I.D. theft that is not I.D. theft. Here's how it happened and why you were arrested.

Your SSN was stolen and then sold to an illegal alien, because he was told that's all he needed to get a job in the U.S. Because your bank account wasn't tampered with, you potentially could live the rest of your life not knowing that someone else out there is using your SSN.

Now here's the kicker. To the best of my belief, there is no Federal or State statute making it a crime to use another person's SSN to obtain employment as long as there is no fraudulent intent to gain financially. However, the old adage, "Stuff happens," eventually becomes reality. This particular pretender did get in trouble, which included a D.U.I. and a hit and run (F.S.G.I.) Also he worked at what appeared to be a "sweatshop" which had sloppy hiring and accounting practices. The HR person didn't do a background check nor were payroll taxes deducted. Guess what? You received a demand for unpaid Federal taxes amounting to several thousand dollars-even though you had never been in the city where your alleged employment took place!

There were other issues with State worker's compensation paid to the imposter, thus barring the SSN's real owner from his own claim.

This may sound like fiction but these are actual events in the lives of people who are law-abiding, financially prudent folks who check their bank balances on a regular basis and shred financial documents, yet still become victims in ways they never imagined.

Points to consider: It's doubtful the seller of SSNs would inform the illegal alien that he is receiving stolen property. Should that buyer become aware of this, does he then, by aiding and abetting, become a criminal also? Or is he another victim?

Should it be a crime to use someone else's SSN for the purpose of financial gain, even though the gain is the result of seemingly harmless activity such as employment?

This is not intended to dump on immigrants regardless of their legal status; consider that many of them take on the lowest paid, ickiest jobs that nobody else wants, and that they themselves can become victims of unscrupulous operators who sell them stolen goods.

Your own bank will not reveal activity regarding your own SSN, even if you request it. There are databases that do contain records of any plurality of names linked with an SSN but this information as a rule is only available to law enforcement agencies and businesses requesting credit information prior to granting a loan. Right now there doesn't seem to be anything you can do to check if this has already happened to you.

I welcome anyone certified in employment and/or immigration law to weigh in on this.

This would be a good reason to write without delay to our folks in D.C. asking specifically to make it a Federal crime to use another person's SSN for any purpose whatsoever. At the time of writing this Hub, there appears to be no other remedy.

One final thought; at this very moment the possibility exists that you are being targeted for an I.R.S. audit at least, or a wage garnishment at worst and to add insult to injury, you have no way of finding out whether or not your SSN is being used by another person.

One of the original stories, describing the problems suffered by Lora and Jamey Costner of Newport, Tennessee, appeared in the Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008 edition of the Citizen Tribune in Morristown, TN 37814 Reporter Marti Davis, http://www.citizentribune.com/news/index.asp. Another article, concerning Margaret Harrison and her ongoing issues with an illegal alien named Pablo, is at http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/02/her_atm_card_bu.html. To see a video from MSN concerning Ms. Harrison's situation, see http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-US&brand=msnbc&vid=6a21782c-2445-4752-9644-f0546d5925e1