Posted on 04/24/2006 2:36:51 AM PDT by beaversmom
If your child’s Social Security number had a secret life, would you know? Probably not. The only way to really know is to dig through the data, and you can’t. But the Utah state attorney general’s office can. And the agency’s recent findings are alarming.
By merging a list of kids receiving child welfare with a list of adults paying taxes, Utah officials discovered more than 1,800 kids’ numbers were being misused. Among the more bizarre findings: A 5-year-old Ogden girl who supposedly traveled for 80 miles to work at her job at a steak restaurant in Provo and an 8-year-old who seemed to work as a prep cook at two upscale restaurants. All the victims were 13 years old or younger. In many cases, the children’s Social Security numbers had been pilfered by a thief who needed the proper identification to work.
The study offers just a glimpse at the breadth of the child ID theft problem. Since welfare kids represent only 1 percent of the state's population, the actual number of Utah kids with such double lives is probably far higher.
And there are other indications that child ID theft is on the rise. Two weeks ago, the Federal Trade Commission released a study indicating reports of child ID theft doubled in the last two years.
"It's going like wildfire," said Rich Hamp, assistant attorney general in Utah, which helped run the Utah investigation. “And there’s really no way (for parents) to find out about it.”
Children are an easy target for would-be identity thieves. Most don't discover they’ve been hit for years, until they turn 16 or 17 and try to buy their first car or get their first credit card.
Perhaps that's one explanation for a sharp rise in reports of child ID theft to the...
(Excerpt) Read more at redtape.msnbc.com ...
ping
If they establish a good work history, this will actually increase their child's social security benefits. Of course the pyramid scheme will be long gone by the time kids today are ready to collect.
My child doesn't own a submarine.
With the caveat of having a child serving on a SSN, of course
Could this be a reason why the government doesn't want to step in? Maybe there are dependant on this illegal SS money? There should be some way we could check on kids and passed on family member records.
My five-year-old has an Ohio class, but I don't give her the launch codes. (I know SSBN)
Bump
You may be right. There are 12-20 million illegal aliens working in this country and many, if not all, of them could be using stolen Social Security numbers.
It's a lot of money to take from a system that is already in trouble.
bookmkPing , and thanks beaversmom
And a cell phone.
It did mine, when someone was working in CA with my SS# (I was a SAHM at the time and hadn't had a paycheck for years).
I found out about it because the IRS wanted me to pay income taxes on the money earned. I didn't have to pay the taxes but I did get to keep the credit for like 14 quarters of work.
Other kids have wimpy SSNs.
Mine has an SSBN.
;-)
bump
sick reality *BUMP*
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.