Thread: Illegal workers take others' card numbers

Illegal workers take others' card numbers
The government won't notify you or crack down
TIM FUNK, LIZ CHANDLER & STELLA M. HOPKINS
Staff Writers

WASHINGTON -- An illegal immigrant may have used your Social Security number to get a job.

In fact, several million immigrants here illegally have likely hijacked Americans' numbers.

But don't count on the Social Security Administration to alert you if you become a victim.

The agency doesn't even notify immigration officials or pursue employers who routinely accept bogus numbers.

Warning victims that someone has stolen their number, said Deputy Commissioner Jim Lockhart, would alarm people he believes aren't at much risk -- unless both their name and number fall into the wrong hands.

"I think Social Security's resources are better spent elsewhere," he told the Observer.

Others say the higher-ups at Social Security should think again. Consumer groups, data companies, privacy lawyers, prosecutors -- all warn that a stolen Social Security number can be the first building block in cases of identify theft.

In Utah, for example, illegal workers were lured into a fraud ring that obtained 87 home loans using others' Social Security numbers.

"People don't know the dangers they're facing," said Utah Assistant Attorney General Richard Hamp. "They're taking huge hits on their credit."

Or at least on their nerves -- if they find out.

A feeling of vulnerability gripped a New Jersey woman whose number may have been used by two other people -- including a Mexican immigrant working as a carpenter in North Carolina.

The Observer contacted her and four others whose numbers showed up on payrolls for workers at several N.C. construction companies.

Weeks after frantically checking her credit reports, her Social Security earnings, even talking to a police detective, she found no evidence of financial harm.

But she's still shaken. "You feel very powerless," said the 39-year-old pharmaceutical consultant.

Nils Satterstrom, a 30-year-old architect in Tempe, Ariz., also worries -- even though he, too, has yet to discover any fraud from the apparent misuse of his card by an N.C. construction worker.

"I don't know what's more disturbing," he said. "The fact that my Social Security number was taken or the fact that (the federal government) knew about it and didn't tell me."

That also outrages Rep. Sue Myrick. The Charlotte Republican has proposed getting tougher with illegal immigrants and the businesses that hire them. It's time, she said, to demand answers from the Social Security Administration and other federal agencies.

"There shouldn't be excuses when they know something is definitely amiss and just keep ignoring it," Myrick said when contacted by the Observer. "We need to get on top of what can be done. ... The federal government is not above the law."

Illegal immigrants make up, buy or steal Social Security numbers to get jobs. Most use the numbers solely to get work. But some use them to commit fraud that could potentially wreck the rightful owner's credit.

The nine-digit number has become America's most pervasive identifier. It has been routinely used in health care, schools, businesses, even the military.

It wasn't supposed to be that way: The Social Security card, first issued in the 1930s, was meant to be used to track earnings so the government could calculate retirement and disability benefits.

And Social Security officials say safeguards are still in place to protect that information and those benefits.

Those officials say it's not their mission to alert people of number theft or root out illegal immigrants.

"Our job is to make sure that people get credited for the earnings they have so they're eligible for Social Security benefits," said Chuck Liptz, director of employer wage reporting for Social Security. "Other agencies in the federal government are to ensure people are legally allowed to work."

Law change considered

Social Security and the IRS do little to help immigration officials track down illegal immigrants and the businesses that hire them.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wants to change that. He's asking Congress for access to the agencies' earnings files -- a tool he says would help "get control of this illegal work force."

Social Security officials agree that a change in the law should be weighed. The IRS is more resistant.

Without strict privacy, workers and employers might stop reporting income and paying taxes, IRS officials say. Employers might choose to pay workers off the books, which invites exploitation.

"At least now we are collecting some taxes in these areas and we are working to collect even more," IRS commissioner Mark Everson said in written testimony February before Congress.

On Capitol Hill, the House Social Security committee has been studying a wide variety of possible changes in the law.

But so far, there's not been a peep about whether the government should notify taxpayers when records suggest someone is using their number.

Rep. Jim McCrery, R-La., the panel's chairman, said he might pose the idea.

"We probably ought to examine that," McCrery said in an interview. "You might want to alert a person so they could contact the credit bureau and report it, or take some precautions."

For victims, there's a greater sense of urgency.

They live across the country -- just like those who have taken their numbers.

The N.J. pharmaceutical consultant, who learned from the Observer that she was a victim, has written to family and friends, urging them to contact lawmakers about the potential harm illegal immigrants can do.

"I absolutely admire and respect people who come to this country and want to work here -- as long as they do it legally," she said.

The N.C. man using her number is 30 and said he came to the state eight years ago. He said that his application for permanent residency has long been stalled.

Yes, he said, he used the Social Security number listed on his employer's records.

"I got it just like everybody got it: I paid for it," said the man, who has a wife, children and a small house about 30 miles from Charlotte.

He said he just wants to raise his kids. The United States is a good place for children, he added.

The N.J. woman has two young children, and she feels for parents trying to lift their families out of poverty.

She's angry, too. Her privacy has been violated. .

"I feel like an open book."

http://www.twincities.com/mld/charlotte ... rce=rss&ch

maybe we all need to check out our SSN and make sure nobody is using them. I thought we were suppose to be protected against identity theft ... but it appears the social security administration, a government agency, is aiding and abetting, and is also an accessory after the fact