[color="Blue"](Schmierer = jewess? How delightfully ironic that would be.)

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/14842343.htm

Posted on Sat, Jun. 17, 2006

Social Security number gets passed around

By PETER PRENGAMAN
The Associated Press

DUBLIN, Calif. -- Audra Schmierer's Social Security number really gets around. It has been used by at least 81 people in 17 states, including Texas, most of them probably illegal immigrants trying to get work.

The federal government took years to discover the number was being used illegally, but authorities took little action.

"They knew what was happening but wouldn't do anything," said Schmierer, 33, a housewife in Dublin, Calif., an affluent San Francisco suburb. "One name, one number; why can't they just match it up?"

Her case is an example of an increasingly common problem: Many thieves are able to steal personal information because employers do not have to verify Social Security numbers or other documents submitted by job seekers.

The situation has long drawn fire from anti-illegal-immigration groups, but Congress has only recently moved to fix it. The House and Senate have passed immigration-reform bills that would require employers to verify Social Security numbers in a national database.

Homeland Security officials have taken it a step further, calling on Congress to allow the Social Security Administration to share information with immigration- enforcement agents at work sites.

Under current law, if the Social Security Administration or the Internal Revenue Service finds multiple people using the same Social Security number, the agencies send letters informing employers of possible errors.

The IRS can fine employers $50 for each inaccurate number filed, a punishment that companies often dismiss as another cost of doing business.

The information on mismatched names is seldom shared with law enforcement agencies.

Schmierer realized she had a problem in February 2005, when she got a statement from the IRS saying she owed $15,813 in back taxes -- even though she had not worked since 2000 when her son was born.

Perhaps even more surprising, the delinquent taxes were from jobs in Texas.

Schmierer called the IRS and learned that numerous people were using her Social Security number. Officials said the erroneous balances would be eliminated, but the agency had to correct the problem again in future years.

IRS officials declined to talk about Schmierer's case, citing privacy laws.

Schmierer has obtained more than 200 W-2 and 1099 tax forms that contained her Social Security number but different names. Schmierer provided copies of the records to The Associated Press. People used her Social Security number from Florida to Washington state, at construction sites, fast-food restaurants and even major high-tech companies. Some opened bank accounts.

Most of the people worked multiple jobs in the same year, though some remained at the same company for several years.

Though impossible to verify in every case, information gleaned from criminal investigations, tax documents and other sources suggested that most of the users were probably illegal immigrants.

Schmierer filed a police report after learning that one man had used her information in 2003 at janitorial and landscaping companies near Haltom City. [highlight]Investigators found the man, who told officers he had bought a fake Social Security card at a flea market, according to a police report. He was not arrested.[/highlight]

Schmierer tracked down other people, finding that her number had been used to get work but not to access her credit card or bank accounts.

What started as a hassle turned into a major headache earlier this year when she sought work through a temporary agency that learned her Social Security number had been used by a woman in Texas two years earlier. The agency could not hire Schmierer until it was cleared up.

Schmierer never determined how her number became so widely used. But her number became so compromised that Social Security officials finally took a rare step used only in extreme cases: They gave her a new one.

IN THE KNOW

Texas connections

[highlight]At least 81 people in 17 states, including Texas, have used California resident Audra Schmierer's Social Security number.[/highlight] Here are the Texas connections:

A man used her information in 2003 at janitorial and landscaping companies near Haltom City. Investigators found the man, who said he had bought a fake Social Security card at a flea market, according to a police report. He was not arrested.

Earlier this year when she sought work through a temporary agency, she learned that her Social Security number had been used by a woman in Texas two years earlier. The agency could not hire Schmierer for more than a month while the situation was cleared up.

While returning from a trip to Mexico with her husband last year, Schmierer was detained for four hours in a Dallas airport by immigration officials because a woman using her Social Security number was wanted for a felony.

In February 2005, she got a statement from the IRS saying that she owed $15,813 in back taxes, even though she had not worked since 2000 when her son was born. The taxes owed were from jobs in Texas.

SOURCE: The Associated Press