Feds Move On Threat, States Don’t
Top Priorities for State Capitols, Part 4
This is another issue I’ve hammered on for the past two decades: identity theft. If you think it won’t happen to you, I’m afraid you are in denial. Not in today’s high-tech world where cyber thieves make a killing everyday and your identity is easily sold on street corners from El Paso, Texas to LA to NYC.
Facebook says hackers saw personal info of 14 million people
“Facebook, the world’s largest social media network with more than 2 billion users, has faced rising criticism that it has failed to protect people’s privacy. It disclosed this year that the personal information of up to 87 million people was taken by the maker of a quiz app and then wrongly handed over to political consultancy Cambridge Analytica…
“The breach may have long-lasting effects if the information accessed is used for future hacking attempts, particularly for phishing attacks that use email to trick people into giving up sensitive information and passwords.
“Tens of millions of people impacted by the Facebook data breach are likely to find that they have now become intertwined in systematic phishing campaigns that will persistently target them and the organizations they work for a long time,” Oren Falkowitz, CEO of security firm Area 1 Security, said in an email.”
Birthdates, home towns – all the right information hackers need to find YOUR Social Security number and then you’re cooked. Four months ago, I was notified my energy company had thousands of checks stolen. Mine do not have anything but my name and PO box. But, to be on the safe side, my bank gave me new account numbers and I had to order new checks after I had just received a new box. I was steamed. Thieves are everywhere.
The scope of identity theft
“According to 2018 Identity Fraud: Fraud Enters a New Era of Complexity from Javelin Strategy & Research, in 2017, there were 16.7 million victims of identity fraud, a record high that followed a previous record the year before. Criminals are engaging in complex identity fraud schemes that are leaving record numbers of victims in their wake. The amount stolen hit $16.8 billion last year as 30 percent of U.S. consumers were notified of a data breach last year, an increase of 12 percent from 2016. For the first time, more Social Security numbers were exposed than credit card numbers.”
Illegals have absolutely no problem stealing your identity so they can then steal jobs that belong to Americans:
“Hector Angel, Relative of Swift Employee: Everybody has to do what they have to do to make a living. I agree with that, that it’s wrong. But at the same time, it’s not, because, you know, we are human beings.” Lou Dobbs transcript, December 2006 explaining why it’s okay to steal your identity.
Illegal immigrants turn to identity theft:
WICHITA, Kan. — “When U.S. Air Force veteran Marcos Miranda had his identity stolen, he went from being a valued customer and employee to a government statistic — one of thousands of identity theft victims caught up each year in the crackdown on illegal immigrants……Miranda first learned someone else was using his identity in 2000 when he was arrested on a warrant for unpaid traffic tickets at the border after a visit to relatives in Mexico. The 24-year-old Texas man was released after paying a $340 fine for violations he never incurred. Although his money was eventually returned, his nightmare was just beginning.
“The most common start to identity theft is for the perpetrator get hold of someone’s Social Security number, which is part of the system used to record people’s earnings for federal retirement benefits. Once a person takes a job in the U.S., the first thing his employer will likely ask for is his or her Social Security number.
“In Miranda’s case, that’s why he has gotten repeated letters from the federal tax officials demanding thousands of dollars in back taxes for wages paid to someone using his name and Social Security number to work at a pork slaughterhouse in Holton, Kansas. Miranda watched his once-high credit rating plummet as creditors reported unpaid bills incurred by others. “Even though I am Hispanic, I am against illegal immigration,” Miranda said. “Even though a lot of them come to work, there are always bad apples. (Identity theft) has really made my perspective … negative about immigration.”
If that article doesn’t scare people, it should. As should this insane crap from judges I pointed out 4 years ago trying to get our state legislature to do what needs to be done to really make a dent in theft identity. Bull manure:
Justices Limit Use of Identity Theft Law in Immigration Cases (2009)
WASHINGTON — “The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a favorite tool of prosecutors in immigration cases, ruling unanimously that a federal identity-theft law may not be used against many illegal workers who used false Social Security numbers to get jobs. The question in the case was whether workers who use fake identification numbers to commit some other crimes must know they belong to a real person to be subject to a two-year sentence extension for “aggravated identity theft.”
“The answer, the Supreme Court said, is yes. Prosecutors had used the threat of that punishment to persuade illegal workers to plead guilty to lesser charges of document fraud. “The court’s ruling preserves basic ideals of fairness for some of our society’s most vulnerable workers,” said Chuck Roth, litigation director at the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago. “An immigrant who uses a false Social Security number to get a job doesn’t intend to harm anyone, and it makes no sense to spend our tax dollars to imprison them for two years.”
Roth protects liars, cheats and thieves; it’s his bread and butter. “An immigrant who uses a false Social Security number to get a job doesn’t intend to harm anyone.” REALLY? You expect us to buy that kind of crap? Illegal aliens are NOT immigrants.
The U.S. Supreme Court is so far out of touch with reality on this issue those robes need to climb down off Mount Olympus and understand the monstrous damage done to innocent Americans. An illegal must know the ID number belongs to a real person? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Illegals are going to ask the seller of fake documents and stolen SSN numbers: Does this number belong to someone real? I gotta know, man.
It’s not just that court, it’s others who also don’t seem to understand the hell Americans are put through when their identity is stolen:
Courts: Using another’s SSN not a crime
“Is using a forged Social Security Number — but your own name — to obtain employment or buy a car an identity theft crime? Lately, U.S. courts are saying it’s not. The most recent judicial body to take on the issue, the Colorado Supreme Court, ruled last month that a man who used his real name but someone else’s Social Security number to obtain a car loan was not guilty of “criminal impersonation,” overturning convictions by lower courts.
“That follows a ruling last year by the U.S. Supreme Court that a Mexican man who gave a false SSN to get a job at an Illinois steel plant could not be convicted under federal identity theft laws because he did not knowingly use another person’s identifying number. The ruling overturned an opinion by a federal appeals court in St. Louis — and contradicted earlier findings by circuit courts in the Southeast, upper Midwest and the Gulf states.
“It hasn’t been a shutout for identity theft prosecutors, however. In July, an Iowa state appeals court came to the opposite conclusion, affirming a lower court decision that a man who used a California woman’s SSN to obtain employment was guilty of breaking that state’s identity theft law.
“Identity theft can take many forms, but one of the most vexing is so-called “SSN-only” ID theft. In it, an impostor uses a victim’s SSN — sometimes purchased from a broker, sometimes nine digits pulled out of thin air — to obtain credit or to provide necessary documentation to obtain work. In many cases, SSN “borrowing” is successful and the impostor goes undetected for years.
“At the heart of all these cases is a simple question: Does the mere use of an anonymous victim’s SSN break identity theft laws? “Mari Frank, a California-based lawyer and identity theft victim advocate, said courts are failing to recognize the real harm caused by impostors, even if imposters are unaware of that harm.”
States like California have been issuing driver’s licenses to ILLEGAL aliens for years while the Federal Department of Justice sits on its backside and does nothing to indict elected officials who violate federal law. Driver’s licenses are for most of the population an absolute necessity for employment.
Jon Christian Ryter is one of those journalists who writes factual material and his research is impeccable. Guess what I learned from one of his columns?
“It was Truman who pushed the Federal Immigration and National Act of 1952 through Congress in the closing days of his administration. Under Section 8 USC 1324[a](1)(A)[iv][b](iii) any US citizen that knowingly assists an illegal alien, provides them with employment, food, water or shelter has committed a felony. City, county or State officials that declare their jurisdictions to be “Open Cities, Counties or States are subject to arrest; as are law enforcement agencies who chose not to enforce this law. Police officers who ignore officials who violate Section 8 USC 1324[a](1)(A)[iv][b](iii) are committing a Section 274 federal felony. Furthermore, according to Federal Immigration and National Act of 1952, if you live in a city, county or State that refuses to enforce the law for whatever reason, the officials making those rules are financially liable for any crime committed within their jurisdiction by an illegal alien.”
Here, go read the law for yourself.
Back in the late 90s, a friend of mine who had a talk show on KSFO Hot Talk Radio out of San Francisco took a call from a woman who worked at the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB). She told the listening audience that thousands of social security numbers had as many as 99 names attached to one number. Perhaps now you can understand why identity theft is rampant and why state legislatures must step in and put a stop to the unlawful use of this number.
In some states, real estate agents, plumbers and other trades are being denied renewal of their licenses because they refuse to supply a SSN. While driving across the states from California to my newly purchased home here in W. Texas in June 2006, I was calling the cable, energy, phone and water companies to turn on service.
Each time I spoke to an agent the first thing out of their mouths: What’s your SSN? My reply: You have no legal authority to ask me for that number, it’s a violation of federal law. Smooth as butter, each agent simply moved on with the script: Okay. There will be an $80.00 (or whatever amount by provider) deposit. If you make your payments on time for 12 months it will be refunded. I said, fine and proceeded to get all my necessary services up and running without once giving my SSN.
Several years before my husband passed away in Feb. 2016, DoD finally took measures to help stop identity theft. We used to have to have our SSNs printed on our checks if we wanted to use one at the Commissary or PX. That went away.
The SSA (Social Security Administration) has now taken a huge step towards the effort to stop this crime against Americans – especially by thieves and crooks illegally crossing our borders. Two weeks ago, I received a new Medicare Health Insurance card; I was forced into the system when I turned 65.
What’s different is the Medicare Number on the card is no longer your SSN but a new, unique number assigned to me. I looked at the card and thought, it’s about time. And, there may be more coming from the feds:
White House Says: After Equifax, Let’s Get Rid of Social Security Numbers
“Secure” is in quotes, because it’s a joke to think that it’s all secure–as we’ve seen again and again. The latest obvious example of course is that Equifax managed to compromise 143 million social security numbers earlier this year. (Oh wait, 145 million.)
“But that’s nothing new. Anthem lost 80 million social security numbers. In 2006, the Department of Veterans Affairs lost 26.5 million American veterans’ social security numbers. (Disclosure: I was one of them!) In 2015, another government agency lost 21.5 million social security numbers…
“All of which leads to an obvious solution that until now, there was no indication the government was actually considering: Finding a way to make the stolen social security numbers worthless. Lo and behold, that’s what the White House’s cybersecurity coordinator, Rob Joyce, says he wants to do.”
Before this massive abuse of this number became vogue, state agencies and companies in the private sector simply established account numbers for their customers/clients and it can be done again. Due to the advancement of technology and computers, purging social security numbers and replacing them with a unique customer/client account number is not a major undertaking, even for a state agency with hundreds of thousands or millions of names, i.e. motor vehicle departments. The cost of identity theft is far, far greater than the cost of using a computer program to issue new identifying numbers for customers/clients. The financial future of all Americans is on the line here and its long past time our paid public servants take this issue seriously and act.
I know purchasing the software by private sector companies would be an expense but not very much. Inputing the data would cost companies in manpower but they never had the legal right to demand your SSN in the first place. Besides, software can be programmed to randomly assign numbers to names which would require little manpower.
How you can effect change
Everyone and that includes the 7400 members of the 50 state legislatures – is a potential victim of identity theft. It’s just a matter of time. The criminals are relentless. If it’s not the Russian Mafia operating in this country, it’s terrorists using stolen SSNs and state workers caught betraying their fellow citizens for a buck. Over and over we have seen news reports of employees at motor vehicle agencies in a half dozen states indicted for selling thousands of SSNs obtained from their records when people apply for their driver’s license. How many haven’t been caught?
With the massive invasion by liars, cheats and thieves coming across our borders, it’s just a matter of time before you could be one of the 900 people per hour hit by identity theft.
I strongly urge everyone to contact their state legislator; do it as a group or organization if possible. Tell him/her what the law says and you demand they introduce legislation to stop the use of SSNs as identifiers for all states agencies when it is not absolutely necessary for obtaining a business license, medical providers or private industry.
A social security number is the key to numbering every American, tracking our movements, invading our privacy and significantly increases the odds that every one of us will be a victim of identity theft. This monstrous stealing of your identity will ruin your life, destroy your credit and can bankrupt you in five minutes. Everything you’ve ever worked for gone and the only thing left behind is a nightmare of debt incurred using your stolen SSN.
State legislators are there to protect your rights by making certain they aren’t trampled on or abused because it’s easier to force everyone to provide a number that by law is only supposed to be used for identification purposes by SSA and the gangsters at the IRS. This isn’t a Republican or Democrat party issue, it poses a risk to anyone assigned a SSN. Companies and state agencies are getting away with it because the people haven’t made a concerted, massive effort to stop them. Companies, including health care providers get away with it because your state legislature and mine lets them.
ICE is and has been cracking down on raiding businesses in many states hiring illegals. More so than most people realize. For that I do give Jeff Sessions credit. It’s one area where he has been effective and committed as is President Trump. I always give credit when credit is due.
But, more needs to be done by DOJ by going after mayors who declare their city is a ‘sanctuary city’ or governors who declare their state is a ‘sanctuary state’ protecting illegal aliens in violation of the federal law cited above and any other federal statutes applicable. THAT would send the strongest warning: illegals are going to be deported and if you continue protecting them you will go to prison.
Congress has refused to do this: A Bill: Stop all Public Welfare in Any Form for Illegal Aliens
I pray the GOP keeps a majority in the House and Senate in November. Then a massive, concerted effort can be made by we the people to get Dirty Harry’s old bill re-introduced and passed or those newly sworn in incumbents will not survive the 2020 election if they refuse to act. Illegal immigration right now is at the top of the polls for the mid-terms.
In the meantime, contact your state rep and senator about this issue and demand they pass legislation that will be effective as much as possible in protecting the citizens of your state against this horrible crime.
Also, go visit the Tenth Amendment Center’s web site. They have excellent information on what’s going on in state legislatures and how YOU and/or your group, local party chapter, whatever – how to be effective in getting legislation passed in the states:
If we do nothing, nothing will get done.
Below are three other very critical issues your state legislature must address if you missed those columns.
Jan 2019: Top Priorities For State Capitols, Part 1 – Constitutional Sound Money Bill
Jan 2019: Top Priorities For State Capitols, Part 2 – Aerosol spraying of our skies/geo-engineering = weather modification.
Jan 2019: Top Priorities For State Capitols, Part 3- Dangerous ‘smart’ meters destroying your health
All of these issues and more WITH the only constitutional solutions are covered in my book, Taking Politics Out of Solutions. Now is the perfect time to buy for yourself and (brace yourself!) Christmas. You won’t be sorry.
© 2018 Devvy Kidd – All Rights Reserved
E-Mail Devvy: devvyk@npn.net