ID theft by illegal immigrants?

Question

Let me explain this where everyone can unsterstand.
1. an illegal immigrant obtains a social security card/number that belongs to someone else.
2. They use this # to work in the country
3. Taxes are paid in, plus it shows that income was received(not by the actual person, but by the illegal)

The person that this S/S # belongs to filles their taxes, but it is kicked back because of the income it shows they received but didn't report due to the illegal immigrant using it. How hard is it to clear that type of mess up and can anything be done to the employer of the illegal, or the illegal his or herself. How can you find out if someone else is using your social security number. I know this is alot of questions all rolled up into one and I hope I explained it where everyone can understand it.

Answer 1

Social security and the Federal Govt. have made it easy to use someone Else's SS#. The reason they did this was so employers would put illegal immigrants on the payroll instead of paying under the table. I purchased a business and learned later that several of my employees were illegal. I have received letters from Soc Sec telling me that if I take any adverse action against these employees that I will be breaking State & Federal law. Further, and I quote, "please ask the employee to verify that the number provided is correct. The employee is NOT required to show you the card, but seeing it may help." Everyone wants to blame employers for illegal immigration, but our hands are tied by Soc Sec Admin. and the fake documents presented to employers are undetectable. Illegals can also go to the DMV and walk out with a valid drivers license if give the proper $$$ to the "right" employee.

Answer 2

This actually happened to a friend of mine. The illegal was not only using his social, but his name too. The real kicker was that they worked at the same plant! ...they just omitted the middle initial and used (obviously) a different employee number so that two seperate checks were issued.
Someone in administration of that plant was taking pay-offs from illegals in exchange for names & socials. (Can't say he was too smart about it though!)

It did take some doing, but my friend did get things cleared up. The administrative guy only got a slap on the writst & was fired.

Here's another problem for some people in this situation. A lot of these illegals know the system really well. They claim a high number of deductions, mimimizing the amount of taxes taken out of the check, and then it creates a potential tax burden for the person who really owns the SSN. While it takes some legwork, the true owner can get the matter resolved. ...I've seen this happen too.

Answer 3

I love how some people think that this is ok and is nothing to worry about. I'm sure things would be quite different if it was their SS# that was stolen. The IRS is not fun to deal with.
I know a woman who was receiving disability. Her SS# was being used by an illegal. Her SS# got kicked back as working full time. Her disability benefits were terminated and she was being investigated for SS fraud. The IRS was hounding her for not filing taxes on the income she never had to begin with. It took her close to a year to have everything cleared up. Meanwhile,she had no income. She had to go on welfare while it was all being worked on and then had to pay welfare back when they found out she was innocent.
This is not a victimless crime and is a very serious problem for those whose # is being used.
This is a woman who suffers from MS and is wheelchair bound. While it was obvious that she wasn't the person working,she still had to prove it.
I'm sure not much gets done with the employer or the criminal that is using someone else's SS#. Doesn't seem to be an important issue to our government.

Answer 4

I am sure the taxpayer who had their income tax filing rejected can clear it up with the IRS. However the cost of doing so in terms of time spent on the problem and possibly money spent on a tax attorney will most likely be significant. As far as penalties that would be assessed to the employer of the illegal immigrant who committed identity theft or the illegal immigrant who violated our immigration, labor, and ID theft laws I doubt much would happen to them. I really do not see our government doing much about the problem of rampant illegal immigration. In fact, I sometimes see cases where these people have more rights than legal citizens of our country as the law enforcement community turns a blind eye to these crimes.

Answer 5

Summermoondancer 2004 said it correctly. I am so proud of her!
ID theft has been in effect since the late 1980's but has become an epedimic since 1996. Our "me first" attitude and "following the Jone's" has gotten many Americans into debt and financial distress. I blame it on media advertising targeting kids to "out do" their friends with the newest style of clothes, shoes, ect. Get them while they are young and they will spend spend spend. Most of your current large ID theft fraud has been accumilated by off shore people tapping into data bases and computers all over the world. ID theft was considered a blue to white collar crime only because these were the people that could afford computers in the home or worked in companies with computer access. Now that computer education is a standard in the schools and are easily accessible, anyone and everyone can get to the info they need to get you personal info. Did you know that if you do not destroy your receipt from an ATM withdrawal that the amount of info on that statement is enough to hack a data base for your acct #? Also, the waiter that takes you credit card or bank card to pay for your meal and returns can actually copy you numbers, name, exp date, and securtiy code in less than 2 mins? So the least of my worries is copyin my SS# with someone elses name on it. Most illegal immigrants have an ITIN number to use for credit purposes such as getting insurance, buying a home, car, or even getting a credit card and opening bank accounts. The only use for a SS# is for proof of work eligibility. Believe me, if the IRS was going to stop you from getting your taxes reimbursed and filed correctly they have a way of checking the # plus the year it was issued and when it was first used to file taxes or employment records. So don't start with the "Illegal" immigrants on the numbers racket - remember who taught them how. Us.

Answer 6

If they are using your social security # it IS identification theft. Social Security numbers are a vital part of one's identification, that belongs to one person, YOU. If someone else is using this, they ARE stealing your identity.

And it is a crime, don't try to make it less than it is. And it's also obvious how you smooth it over on how "easy it is to correct"
It is a crime if illegal aliens commit ID theft, and it's a crime if U.S. citizens (as you so conveniently pointed out), obviously trying to take some heat from illegals as usual. It doesn't make it any LESS of a crime now, does it?? It is a felony no matter who commits it.


It's disgusting when considering all these crimes are committed by people that shouldn't even be in the country in the first place. Rape, murder, theft, gangs...why add to the crime??

Answer 7

This is really serious. It may take some time and effort but you must clear your name before it gets messier. Don't worry, you haven't done anything wrong. You are the victim here. Please contact the SSA today at 1-800-269-0271.

Also, to report the employer of the illegal, call ICE at:
1-866-347-2423. ICE also investigates document fraud.

I wish you the best of luck.

Answer 8

Social Security sends me a report of the income reported each year and they should be able to look up the current status if you phone them.

Answer 9

My mom is a Soc Sec admin and she says the illegals are always coming in to report someone is using a false ID. Usually when the man P.Offs his wife/girlfriend.

Answer 10

It actually doesn't go against you unless they are also using your name which is very rare. It isn't hard to clear up because you can establish that you have a job in one state and usually the other income is in another state and that tax money paid in goes into a suspense fund and a no match letter goes out which is how we have 531 billion dollars in a social security suspense fund. It is Social Security that was paid in to a number that did not match the name. The IRS can clear up any issue by looking at the name that paid into that income and the job.
Actually nothing can be done to the employer if they had all the required documentation they did their job required by law. Nothing usually happens to the illegal immigrant either unless they are actually using your name to, because only then does it become ID theft.

ID theft is serious when it is financial fraud and most of this happens via US citizens that want credit in another name to rip off mortgage companies, banking institutions, credit card companies, ect. In fact the poster boy for this situation of financial ID theft was white. He successfully ruined the lives of several hundred people and robbed millions from financial institutions