Wrong Number
Social Security numbers are convenient for individuals and organizations. In the wrong hands, though, the numbers become tools for terrorists, thieves and imposters. Victims have found their names and records hard to clear.
- When Ryan Allen of Kansas City, Mo., tried to buy a Chevrolet Cavalier in April, the dealership's credit check somehow linked his SSN to senior al Qaeda member Ramzi bin al-Shibh, according to the Associated Press. Allen was not able to buy the car even though al-Shibh had been arrested two years ago in Pakistan. No one was able to explain how the error occurred.
- An employer took Linda Foley's SSN from tax forms and used it to open credit card and cell phone accounts in 1997. "I gave it to her on a silver platter," says Foley, who is now executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit organization in San Diego. Foley's husband, Jay, says she's never been the same. "Linda used to be a Pollyanna," he says. Now, "with very few exceptions, she doesn't trust anybody."
- Three people used Marla Vandermyde's SSN in 2000 to purchase a $143,000 home in Layton, Utah. The grandmother didn't know her Social Security number had been stolen until the buyers defaulted on the mortgage last year. "I was so angry and felt so violated," Vandermyde said at a press conference in front of the house, according to the Deseret Morning News, a Utah newspaper. The house was part of a larger scam in Utah involving 87 homes. Because the home loans were federally insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, taxpayers have picked up the tab-so far more than $2 million.
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