Thread: Woman's ID Stolen by Dozens of Suspected Illegals

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Woman's ID Stolen by Dozens of Suspected Illegals
Social Security Number Used, She Owed $1 Million in Taxes, CNN Says
By PETER PRENGAMAN, AP

DUBLIN, California (June 17) - One woman's Social Security identification number has been used by at least 81 people in 17 states. Though impossible to verify in every case, information gleaned from criminal investigations, tax documents and other sources suggest most of the users were probably illegal immigrants trying to get work

Audra Schmierer, a 33-year-old housewife in this affluent San Francisco suburb, realized she had a problem in February 2005, when she got a statement from the IRS saying she owed $15,813 in back taxes - even though she had not worked since her son was born in 2000. Perhaps even more surprising, the taxes were due from jobs in Texas.
Schmierer has since found that her Social Security number has been used by people from Florida to Washington state, at construction sites, fast-food restaurants and even major high-tech companies. Some opened bank accounts using the number.
The federal government took years to discover the number was being used illegally, but authorities took little action even then.
"They knew what was happening but wouldn't do anything," said Schmierer. "One name, one number, why can't they just match it up?"
Her case is an example of an increasingly common problem: Many thieves are able to steal personal information because employers do not have to verify Social Security numbers or other documents submitted by job seekers.
The situation has long drawn fire from anti-illegal immigration groups, but Congress has only recently moved to fix it. Both the Senate and House of Representatives have passed immigration-reform bills that call for employers to verify Social Security numbers in a national database.
Homeland Security officials have taken it a step further, calling on Congress to allow the Social Security Administration to share information with immigration-enforcement agents at work sites.

Under current law, if the Social Security Administration or the Internal Revenue Service find multiple people using the same Social Security number, the agencies send letters informing employers of possible errors.
The IRS can fine employers $50 for each inaccurate number filed, a punishment that companies often dismiss as just another cost of doing business.
"Sending letters is the limit to what can be done," Social Security spokesman Lowell Kepke said. "We expect that will be able to fix any records that are incorrect."
The information on mismatched names is seldom shared with law enforcement agencies.
When Schmierer called the IRS, she learned that numerous people were using her Social Security number. Officials said the erroneous balances would be eliminated, but the agency would have to correct the problem again in future years.
"They told me they couldn't do anything else," Schmierer said.
IRS officials declined to talk about Schmierer's case, citing privacy laws.
Schmierer has done a little investigating of her own, combing through tax bills sent to her for names and locations of employers who hired people using her number
She has also obtained more than 200 W-2 and 1099 tax forms that contained her Social Security number but different names. Schmierer provided copies of the records to The Associated Press.
Most of the people who used her identification number worked multiple jobs in the same year, though some remained at the same company for several years. The top wage earner made $39,465, but most reported income of less than $15,000.
Schmierer filed a police report after learning one man had used her information in 2003 at janitorial and landscaping companies near Haltom City, Texas.
Investigators found the man, who told officers he had bought a fake Social Security card at a flea market, according to a police report. He was not arrested.
Schmierer tracked down other people, finding that her number had been used to get work but not to access her credit card or bank accounts. What started as a hassle turned into a major headache earlier this year when she sought work through a temporary agency that learned her Social Security number had been used by a woman in Texas two years earlier. The agency could not hire Schmierer for more than a month while the situation was clarified.
"How do you prove that you are you?" Schmierer said. "It's like you are guilty until proven innocent."
While returning from a trip to Mexico with her husband last year, Schmierer was detained for four hours in a Dallas airport by immigration officials. The reason: a woman using her Social Security number was wanted for a felony.
Schmierer never determined how her number became so widely used. Sellers of fake documents often make up numbers and use them repeatedly.
Schmierer's number became so compromised that Social Security officials finally took a rare step used only in extreme cases: They gave her a new one.
Schmierer hopes that will end her frustrations, but she suspects her old number will continue to be misused.
"It's clear to me that because my number has been used for so long, it's not going to stop," she said.

To find out that several people had been using her number is mind boggling. Ok she was issued a new card but why are't the people caught using her card not being sued for fraud and back taxes?

Under current law, if the Social Security Administration or the Internal Revenue Service find multiple people using the same Social Security number, the agencies send letters informing employers of possible errors.

Yet they DO NOT send letters informing the victims themselves! Why doesn't this article mention THAT damning fact?

The federal government took years to discover the number was being used illegally, but authorities took little action even then.

That is such a whopper of a lie! As a federal government agency, the SSA actually "discovered" that the victims number was being used illegally... the very first time it came up as a mis-match.

Schmierer's number became so compromised that Social Security officials finally took a rare step used only in extreme cases: They gave her a new one.

Funny how Schmierer's number only became "so compromised" that the SSA took the "rare step" of issuing her a new one...only AFTER she spent countless hours, and dollars, compiling the stack of evidence she handed over to a sympathetic MSM reporter.

This points to the problem of having a single de facto identifier. Once someone gets your SSN (or fakes your national ID, once that abomination is up and running), every aspect of your life and your finances may be compromised. It also demonstrates why lawmakers who passed the Social Security Act demanded and received assurances that the SSN would NEVER be used for anything but the administration of Social Security benefits. You would think that, of all people, politicians would know not to trust politicians. Now we have a number that doesn't even have a picture associated with it as a de facto ID with which all sorts of goods and services may be obtained and by which anyone may gain employment.

My personal opinion is that, to the extent that identification is required, there should be multiple forms of ID from completely separate systems requiring completely separate criteria. Once we get to the point, as we have, that most forms of ID can be procured once a single form of ID has been obtained (such as an SSN), there is little point to having multiple forms of ID. If, however, we could get back to a point that various forms of ID (DL, Birth Certificate, passport, etc.) are issued by completely separate authorities using completely different criteria with little or no overlap, getting a handle on fake IDs would be much simpler, because an employer, bank, etc. requiring three forms of ID would be demanding three concordant sets of documents that would require going through completely different channels to obtain and verify. That would be almost impossible for illegals and their facilitators.

If, however, we could get back to a point that various forms of ID (DL, Birth Certificate, passport, etc.) are issued by completely separate authorities using completely different criteria with little or no overlap, getting a handle on fake IDs would be much simpler, because an employer, bank, etc. requiring three forms of ID would be demanding three concordant sets of documents that would require going through completely different channels to obtain and verify. That would be almost impossible for illegals and their facilitators

I agree that a SS# should never have been used for identification purposes.

I don't see that having 3 corresponding sets of documents would fix the situation, however. If they can forge someone a SS card, they can also forge them a DL, and a birth certificate.

We recently applied for SS. We happened to be working near the county where I was born and decided we would just drive over and get the certificate. I have a certified copy of my birth certificate, but it was at my home and this seemed like the easiest thing to do. I called in advance and was assured it would take no time to get this copy. Now I expected to see a copy much like the photostatic copy of my original birth certificate, with the certification seal. Not hardly. This was a simple statement of my name, date of birth, and place of birth. No other information. The rest of the page was covered with some red flowery decorations. It looked more like a kindergarten graduation certificate than a birth certificate. It did have the seal. If I could get a seal, duplicating that would be a piece of cake, just using my inexpensive HP printer.

I think there is a reason for all these 'thefts' of ID. This is just a prediction and sometimes I am right - sometimes not. In the future, after a few more of these, and perhaps when they begin the processing of the new citizens, we will begin to hear about the difficulty of verifying SS# and the safety of them. Then we will hear someone pop up with this very new idea that since the SS# and other personal information has been so compromised by these thefts, etc., - We just must have some form of national ID - something that is absolutely tamperproof, etc., etc., etc.,