Homeland Security making Identity Theft a Priority!

It's nice to see that our Homeland Security is taking ID Theft seriously. It's just a shame that other agencies (and people) don't think it is a problem and can happen to them.

Thwarting identity theft is a priority, officials say

By JEFF ECKHOFF

Claudia Farrell didn't know there was a problem with her Social Security number until the tax man called.

Farrell, a Washington, D.C., spokeswoman for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, said it was about 20 years ago that she received a demand for unpaid taxes on income from several suburban Virginia jobs that she'd never held.

Repeated telephone calls eventually turned up a restaurant manager who remembered a male ex-worker named Claudio Farrell, who apparently got the job with Claudia Farrell's Social Security number...

...Federal authorities charged more than 300 people with similar forms of Social Security fraud after last week's raid on the Agriprocessors plant in Postville.

Julie Myers, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that such thefts are among the agency's highest priorities and an illustration that illegal immigration may be a driving force behind the nationwide growth in identity theft cases......

.....An investigation by MSNBC in 2005 found that a Social Security number from suburban Chicago had been used by illegal immigrants to get jobs at 37 businesses......

.....Each year, millions in payroll tax deductions end up in a special catch-all account because of mismatched names and Social Security numbers. The size of the fund, which also includes errors because of misspellings and things such as married women who are paid under their maiden names, apparently began to skyrocket in 1986, when a new federal law required workers to produce Social Security cards to get employment.

By October 2006, the Earnings Suspense File had accumulated $586 billion....

...Alan Jackson, an assistant U.S. attorney in Dallas. Federal authorities last month charged 45 people with false use of a Social Security card after raids on Pilgrim Pride poultry plants in Texas and four other states.....

.....Jackson said consumers may never know their Social Security numbers have been stolen if the identity is not used to obtain credit or obtain loans.

(Full text at Des Moines Register)

It makes me wonder what the total of these types of thefts are in California and Arizona as well. With $586 billion (which is a 1.5 year old total) sitting in an account, I wonder if any of it is mine. Then again, I'm sure the government has plans for the money already.

Wouldn't it be nice if the Government refunded all that money.

Remember, estimates are that every 2-4 seconds an Identity is compromised. Why take chances? Why not protect yourself and your loved ones with the best suite of services provided by the best NYSE company in the field? Educate yourself and visit the shameless plug below or call me at (909) 208-3728!

Shameless plug
the Best Identity Theft Protection available dot com