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Rectifying Social Security Identity Theft?
VxSote asks: "A 19 year old kid tried to buy a car only to find out his
SSN had been stolen and used by a terrorist. Now, after talking to various government entities, he is no closer to having his (presumably) good name cleared. So this situation begs the question: how exactly does one go about fixing such a mess?"
Seriously. It can be done.
-psy
Recently Wells Fargo gave my Name, SSN, Address, Bank Account info, and other info about myself and my wife to a data miner who works in an office located behind a sports bar. The office of that contractor was burglarized, and a laptop was stolen containing the data on us and an undetermined number of people ranking in the thousands.
The laptop was recovered after 30 days, found in the apartment of a known identity thief. I'm supposed to believe he never copied of shared the information. The laptop was located because it had AOL software on it. That laptop could have been penatrated even if it had never been stolen. Well Fargo information security at it's finest.
All of my family's personal info in a nice, neat package for anyone to abuse. Not a fucking thing I can do about it beyond moving my business elsewhere. Which really doesn't solve the bigger problem, our personal and financial info drifting in the wind.
Notice the gaping loopholes. It also doesn't protect you from private entities that want your SSN as a condition of doing business with them, such as landlords, employers, banks, etc.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
This is ridiculous. After all this "war on terrorism" bullshit, all of the infringements on our civil rights, they still can't solve the most basic terrorism-related problems.
This guy is basically saying, "Help me! I'm a victim of identity theft by a terrorist," and federal agencies respond with, "Sorry kid, can't help you, we're too busy tapping phones and reading email to deal with terrorism."
What the hell is Homeland Security good for?
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I know several Americans who finally gave up, and moved themselves to Europe to start a new life. After Canada, London and Paris are the most popular destinations for economic refugees from the US. The current US system makes it impossible to for victims to buy major items, like houses or cars. Regular tax audits suck out all your energy. It becomes impossible to take a job with an employer who only pays salary via direct deposit when you can never open another bank account. Not having a credit card means you can't do many things like internet shopping.
A few years ago I was talking with some US consular folks at a party, and they have a separate category for ex-pats who had to leave the US because they could no longer lead normal lives after ID theft. They call them "Forced Economic Migrants" or something similar. In France and England, the number is in the tens of thousands. That's just the number of people who bothered to register with the local embassies.
I have an American friend here in Belgium who had his US SSN abused more than 20 years ago. After a few years of fighting with the data reporting agencies, losing his house and all his bank accounts in the process, he gave up and moved here. The case officer at the SS administration told him he would have a better life if he gave up, cashed out, moved to another country and started his life over again. Since millions of people all over the world do this every year, it isn't that difficult, but it does really fsck up your life for a few years. A few years is better than the rest of your life. He claims he is much happier now, in a country with a working health care system and a real appreciation for beer.
His ex-wife tried to move back to the US in 2000, at the height of the boom, more than 15 years with no credit history in the US. But after 6 months of fighting with the credit reporting companies over the old data which is supposed to be deleted after 10 years, she is back here and swears never to go back except to visit family.
the AC
Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
If I was writing a book on how i would get congress to do something... I would get together(in the book) 20 or 30 hacktavists who were willing to go to jail to steal the identities of the entire US Senate and maybe some house memebers too. Lets see how fast the laws would change (in my books world). Any suggestions on a possible ending to this book.
Second, most of the entries on that list don't have SSNs, because they're not US persons. Here's the entry mentioned:
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BIN AL SHIBH, Ramzi
There's no SSN given. Only 33 of the names on the "blocked persons" list have US SSNs listed. Also note the date of birth. Bin al Shibih is in his 30s, and the applicant was 19.(a.k.a. BINALSHEIDAH, Ramzi Mohamed Abdullah; BINALSHIBH, Ramzi Mohammed Abdullah; a.k.a. OMAR, Ramzi Mohammed Abdellah), Billstedter Hauptstr Apt 14, 22111 Hamburg, Germany; Emil Anderson Strasse 5, 22073 Hamburg, Germany; Letzte Heller #109 Hamburg University, 22111 Hamburg, Germany; Marienstr #54, 21073 Hamburg, Germany; Schleemer Ring 2, 22117 Hamburg, Germany; DOB 16 Sep 1973; alt. DOB 1 May 1972; POB Khartoum, Sudan; alt. POB Hadramawt, Yemen; Passport Nos. A755350 (Saudi Arabia), R85243 (Yemen), 00085243 (Yemen); nationality Yemeni (individual) [SDGT] BIN MANSOR, Amran (a.k.a. BIN MANSOR, Henry; a.k.a. BIN MANSOUR, Amran; a.k.a. MANSOR, Amran); DOB 25 May 1965; POB Malaysia (individual) [SDGT]
So this is a credit bureau screwup, not a Government screwup.
Misery, though, is having the same name as someone on the list.