Thread: A Greeley ID Theft Victim Is Finally Heard (About Time!)

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/2006 ... /112170097

As victim of identity theft, I wish several things would happen

Guest Commentary
December 17, 2006

As I learned of the immigration raids taking place throughout the country Tuesday, I wondered if one of those arrested was me.

Since 2001, someone has been using my name and Social Security number to gain employment as a seasonal worker.

In June 2004, I received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service, stating I owed more than $1,200 in taxes for "unreported income." The businesses that reported that I had been working for them included a pecan sorting facility in Deming, N.M., and several ConAgra facilities in Texas, Colorado and New Mexico.

I was shocked and a little bit scared. How did someone get my name and Social Security number, and how was I going to fight the IRS so I didn't have to pay the taxes?

Turned out, it was more difficult than I expected.

First, I tried to report the identity theft to the Greeley Police Department. Although helpful and sympathetic, the officers said because the "crimes" occurred outside Colorado they could be of little help. They offered to contact the police in Deming, but said chances of them doing anything about it were slim.

I tried to contact the IRS, which was a nightmare. When I finally got through to someone, they said I would actually have to file a protest with the Social Security Administration. I trekked to the Greeley office and spent several hours waiting, and then going over my W-2 forms for the past five years with a very kind and helpful Social Security worker.

After taking all my information and assuring me the agency would file to have the fraudulent employment removed from my record, I asked the worker what I could do to stop this person from using my identity. She said she could call the last employer listed in their records but chances were that person had already moved on.

Then, when my husband and I were getting a car loan, I was advised by my bank that I had a negative report on my credit rating. Turns out the person using my identity had also sought out medical treatment in New Mexico and never paid the bill. I still have had no luck removing this negative rating from my credit report.

The bottom line is, I never saw any permanent resolution to the case. For all I know, my Social Security number and name are still being used by someone.

As a victim of the kind of identity theft targeted in these latest ICE raids, I wish several things would happen.

First, the federal government, specifically the Social Security Administration, needs to better track activity on Social Security numbers. If my credit card company can call me if there has been unusual activity on my card, why can't the Social Security Administration have some sort of program that red-flags accounts with unusual activity. Did they suddenly think I went from being a freelance journalist to a seasonal farmworker? And, that I was simultaneously holding jobs in Greeley and Deming, N.M? It seems ridiculous that this activity went unnoticed by the Social Security Administration for years, and even then, would have gone on had the IRS not contacted me.

Second, there needs to be some agency that victims of identity theft can turn to for help. It seem no one takes responsibility for jurisdiction over these cases. I was sent from agency to agency with no actual resolution.

Third, we need a guest-worker program that would help eliminate the need for undocumented workers to steal other people's identities to get work. I understand and even support the need for a migrant labor force in this country. Let's help them do it legally, so others don't have to suffer the headaches I have dealing with identity theft.

Theresa Myers is a freelance writer and columnist for the Tribune.

Third, we need a guest-worker program that would help eliminate the need for undocumented workers to steal other people's identities to get work. I understand and even support the need for a migrant labor force in this country. Let's help them do it legally, so others don't have to suffer the headaches I have dealing with identity theft.

Theresa Myers is a freelance writer and columnist for the Tribune.

Theresa Myers seems a bit confussed on the last part. Legalizing criminals does not prevent crime.

Wake up, Theresa, when the guest worker permit expires, they'll
walk away & steal someone's identity again. Unless you really
mean amnesty.

Stories like these counter the lie that 'they were only using the numbers to work, not run up debts" - as if that wasn't bad enough.

Third, we need a guest-worker program that would help eliminate the need for undocumented workers to steal other people's identities to get work. I understand and even support the need for a migrant labor force in this country. Let's help them do it legally, so others don't have to suffer the headaches I have dealing with identity theft.

DO YOU SERIOUSLY BELIEVE THERE IS A NEED FOR ALL OF THESE ILLEGAL ALIENS TO BE HERE TO WORK?????

WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!