Officials: Watch out for ID theft

By Nathaniel Lukefahr
The Facts

Published August 10, 2008

Officials say identity theft always will be a problem in areas such as Brazoria County with lots of manual labor opportunities.

Companies will hire people to mow lawns or do construction work so long as they are able to fill our government-required verification forms and show they reside in the area, Richwood Police Chief Glenn Patton said.

But many companies won’t dive into the applications to ensure the worker’s Social Security number is legitimate and the employee is in the country legally, Patton said.

“As long as they can fill out the information on the I-9, most aren’t going to look very thoroughly,â€