Identity Theft Of Children More Frequent Than Most Realize

By Doug Wernet

EL PASO — In an electronic age where anyone can be anyone on the Internet, criminals will stop at nothing to steal an identity for spurious gain. Many people take precautionary steps to prevent identity theft, but what recourse is their when the victim is a child?

An East El Paso woman was shocked to learn that her five-year-old nephew’s social security number had been stolen and was being used fraudulently. Patty Solis was surprised that her nephew had his identity stolen, indicated by the fact that the social security administration had record that Andrue had a factory job in Dallas.

“From marvel super hero toys to working in a factory in Dallas, that’s a pretty big feat,” Solis said.

Through a routine social security check for public assistance, investigators found that Andrue’s social security number had been used by Carla Enriquez to apply for a factory job in Dallas. Alex Arce of the Social Security Administration said that identity theftthrough childrens’ social security information is more common than people realize.

It usually happens when a family member loses or discards a document with a child’simportant personal information, Arce said.

Since 9/11, rates of identity theft have risen due to tighter controls on obtaining a social security number for those not born in the U.S. Once a person’s credit history is ruined, even without their knowledge or through any fault of their own, it is very difficult to restore.

“We may be able to issue a brand new social security number if the credit is just so wrecked. But it’s not a guarantee,” Arce said.

The Solis family is working with police to sort out what information of Andrue’s was compromised, but the investigation is still ongoing. Thus far, it was uncertain what damage had been done to Andrue’s identity.