"One Tree Hill" star actor who plays Skills guilty of selling Social Security Numbers.

Yes, you read the title right! "One Tree Hill" actor Antwon Tanner pleaded guilty to selling 16 Social Security Numbers and 3 Social Security cards for $10,000.

He told the federal judge that he was just a middleman selling the numbers someone else gave him. Tanner will be sentenced on Nov 20 and could get up to one year in the slammer and a cool $250,000 fine.

I'm told that he also faces similar charges here in California.

To learn more about Identity Theft and what to do if you are a victim, visit www.StopIdTheftCrime.com and subscribe to the newsletter to obtain your free 46 page eBook "Fighting Back Against Identity Theft".

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 (including restoration) by the best NYSE company in the field? Educate yourself and visit the shameless plug below or call me at (909) 208-3728!

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Supreme Court limits Identity Theft Law

Supreme Court limits identity theft law

In a unanimous decision, the justices say an illegal worker must know he is using a real person's Social Security number.

By David G. Savage
May 5, 2009

Reporting from Washington -- The Supreme Court on Monday took away one of the government's tools for prosecuting and deporting workers in this country illegally, ruling that the crime of identity theft was limited to those who knew they were using another person's Social Security number.

People who use false documents can be jailed, the court said. But they cannot be convicted of the more serious crime of "aggravated identity theft" without proof that they knew the identification number belonged to someone else, the court ruled unanimously.

The ruling on identity theft will probably boost the Obama administration's plan to target employers who knowingly hire illegal workers, rather than focusing on illegal workers.

Deportation is usually a slow process if the illegal immigrant does not have a serious felony on his record. But a conviction for aggravated identity theft would most likely lead to a speedy deportation.

Last year, the Bush administration announced roundups of illegal immigrants at several workplaces. Most of those arrested were charged with possessing false documents and aggravated identity theft. For example, 389 workers were detained at a meat-packing plant in Iowa; two-thirds of them were charged with felony identity theft.

The novel use of the law prompted the Supreme Court to take up the issue. Five years ago, Congress strengthened the penalties against thieves who stole identities and used the information to take money from people's bank accounts or charge expenses to them. It called for a mandatory two-year prison term for each offense....

...And the law suggested the criminal had to intend to steal a person's identity. It referred to someone who "knowingly" uses the identification of another person.

The court said the provision did not cover an illegal worker with a phony Social Security card who did not know whether its numbers were those of an actual person.

Justice Stephen G. Breyer cited some common examples. "If we say that someone knowingly ate a sandwich with cheese, we normally assume that the person knew both that he was eating a sandwich and that it contained cheese," he said. (Full text at www.latimes.com)

So, if I understand this ruling correctly, we can eat a cheese sandwich and it is okay as long as we don't know that the cheese belonged to somebody else. It seems that "ignorance is no excuse for violating the law" was just thrown out.

So if you are an illegal immigrant and use a social security number (that you know does not belong to you) then it is okay if you remember to say, "I didn't know it belonged to someone else."

If the Justices had their social security numbers being used, and the individuals claimed tax exempt that were using them, maybe when the IRS sent them a huge tax bill they would have a different outlook.

Chalk another one up for the criminals.

To learn more about Identity Theft and what to do if you are a victim, visit www.StopIdTheftCrime.com and subscribe to the newsletter to obtain your free 46 page eBook "Fighting Back Against Identity Theft".

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 (including restoration) by the best NYSE company in the field? Educate yourself and visit the shameless plug below or call me at (909) 208-3728!

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Operation Number Games was Illegal

Larimer Judge throws out Operation Number Games

Sharon Dunn

A second judge has ruled that a search of a Greeley tax preparer’s records last October was illegal, taking the heat off more than 1,000 suspected illegal immigrants caught up in Operation Number Games.

Larimer District Court Judge James Hiatt put a stop to the identity theft investigation Monday, saying deputies from the Weld County Sheriff’s Office wrongly seized federal income tax records to pursue suspected illegal immigrants in the investigation. Hiatt ordered Weld District Attorney Ken Buck and Weld Sheriff John Cooke to return or destroy in the next seven days all evidence seized in the case.

“This is an important ruling for all of America,” said Reid Neureiter, an attorney with Jacobs, Chase, Frick, Kleinkopf and Kelly of Denver. He is working on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed for a preliminary injunction against Buck and Cooke.

“Tax records should be private, and just because you have a suspicion that someone filing taxes with a Hispanic tax preparer might be doing something wrong doesn’t give you license to seize 5,000 tax records and look for the needle in a haystack,” Neureiter said.

Buck and sheriff’s investigators based their search of Amalia’s Tax and Translation Service on one defendant who had been investigated for identity theft and said illegal immigrants throughout the community knew to file their taxes there. Deputies searched through 5,000 records and found evidence of roughly 1,330 suspected illegal immigrants filing returns with false or stolen Social Security numbers. The Internal Revenue Service requires everyone to file tax returns, regardless of citizenship. In cases where filers do not have a valid Social Security number, the IRS issues individual taxpayer identification numbers.

..The case has divided many in the community on the issue of illegal immigration and the rights of the victims of identity theft. The IRS’ policy of issuing special identification numbers to illegal immigrants points to the problems, Buck said.

“The federal government has turned a blind eye to illegal activity in this country, with its failure to enforce the law at the border, with its failure to enforce tax laws, and Social Security laws within this country,” Buck said...

What about the id theft victims now? The 1330 people who were having their social security numbers being used illegally. I guess only time will tell.

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 (including restoration) by the best NYSE company in the field? Educate yourself and visit the shameless plug below or call me at (909) 208-3728!

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Feds stay out of ID theft case

Feds stay out of ID theft case
55 arrested for Social Security fraud suspicion

By Brian Charles
Signal Staff Writer
bcharles@the-signal.com
661-259-1234 x517
Posted: Feb. 15, 2009 1:02 a.m.
Updated: Feb. 15, 2009 4:59 a.m.

Federal law enforcement turned a deaf ear to sheriff's Sgt. James Anderson's pleas for help in an identity theft investigation, but that didn't stop deputies from arresting 55 people for suspected Social Security fraud.

Deputies executed a search warrant at L&M Optical West in Valencia Feb. 5 after residents tipped off deputies about employees using stolen Social Security numbers to secure work at the company.

The tips from identity theft victims prompted a three-month investigation, Lt. Brenda Cambra said.

Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's deputies worked late into the night Feb. 5 booking all 55 suspects, she said.

....The Social Security Administration volunteered tips to residents whose Social Security numbers were stolen, but they wouldn't help local law enforcement, Anderson said.

...."They didn't tell me why except that the Social Security Office of Inspector General handles those crimes and wasn't willing to help," he said.

...Anderson's calls for help didn't stop with Social Security Administration. He also contacted the IRS searching for help, but the agency said it doesn't seek criminal prosecutions against Social Security cheats.
"The IRS doesn't deal with stolen Social Security numbers. That responsibility belongs to the Social Security Administration," IRS spokesman Victor Omelczenko said. (Full text at www.the-signal.com)

Sounds so familiar in government. It's not my job - it's his. Or, you found the mess - you clean it up.

To learn more about Identity Theft and what to do if you are a victim, visit www.StopIdTheftCrime.com and subscribe to the newsletter to obtain your free 46 page eBook "Fighting Back Against Identity Theft".

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 (including restoration) by the best NYSE company in the field? Educate yourself and visit the shameless plug below or call me at (909) 208-3728!

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Dumb and Dumber

You tell me who is Dumb and who is Dumber after reading this article. An illegal immigrant uses someone else's social security number to obtain employment, buy a $33k truck, obtained $787,000 in loans and had bought 2 cars since 2001 with the same SSN.

Illegal immigrant pleads guilty to ID theft
Mike Sakal, Tribune January 8, 2009 - 2:19PM

An illegal immigrant from Mexico who was living in Mesa, is facing at least two and a half years in prison for identity theft-related offenses after he bought a $33,000 truck and racked up nearly $800,000 in loans by using another person’s Social Security number, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced today.

Adan Guerrero, 37, pleaded guilty to one count each of identity theft and fraudulent schemes and artifices in Maricopa County Superior Court on Thursday....

...At the time of his arrest in June, Guerrero told police they should be arresting real criminals and not a good family man, according to the county attorney’s office...(Full text at www.eastvalleytribune.com)

Now who is dumber, the victim who allowed somebody to use their SSN for almost 8 years, or the criminal. Personally, I check my credit report 3 times a year. What I don't understand is how the victim dealt with IRS since obviously there were tax returns involved.

unless..it was an inside job.

To learn more about Identity Theft and what to do if you are a victim, visit www.StopIdTheftCrime.com and subscribe to the newsletter to obtain your free 46 page eBook "Fighting Back Against Identity Theft".

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 (including restoration) by the best NYSE company in the field? Educate yourself and visit the shameless plug below or call me at (909) 208-3728!

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