Classical Values :: Who is sharing your child's "publicly available information"? And with whom?

August 03, 2010

Who is sharing your child's "publicly available information"? And with whom?

There's an AP article floating around headlined "New ID theft targets kids' SS numbers." Apparently, there's a huge market in stolen Social Security numbers, and according to the piece, the bad guys consist of those who sell the numbers as well as the credit companies that allow people to run checks on them.

Online companies use computers and publicly available information to find random Social Security numbers. The numbers are run through public databases to determine whether anyone is using them to obtain credit. If not, they are offered for sale for a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

Because the numbers often come from young children who have no money of their own, they carry no spending history and offer a chance to open a new, unblemished line of credit. People who buy the numbers can then quickly build their credit rating in a process called "piggybacking," which involves linking to someone else's credit file.

Many of the business selling the numbers promise to raise customers' credit scores to 700 or 800 within six months.

OK, what I want to know is this: where are they getting the children's social security numbers in the first place? What is meant by "computers and publicly available information"?

As the word "computers" can mean almost anything, I'm thinking that the leak comes from what the piece calls "publicly available information."

What "publicly available information" might that be?

The purpose of a social security number is to keep track of wages and earnings, right? The IRS and the Social Security Administration have a right to demand them at tax time, and for the purpose of paying benefits.

But as children aren't allowed to work yet, have not established credit, and have never paid taxes, the only places where I'd expect to find their numbers would be maybe hospitals and the Social Security Administration. But I may be out of the loop because I don't have kids, so I checked the SSA web site. Sure enough, I was wrong; there are other possible places (including the IRS) where a child's number might be needed:

You need a Social Security number to claim your child as a dependent on your income tax return. Your child also may need a number if you plan to:

* Open a bank account for the child;
* Buy savings bonds for the child;
* Obtain medical coverage for the child; or
* Apply for government services for the child.

OK, so assuming the online identity thieves are getting the numbers from somewhere (as opposed to running random numbers to see whether they work), that must mean that people in either government, the banking industry, or the health care industry must not be safeguarding them.

Who's the culprit?

And why does the article only single out the companies that get these numbers for blame?

Could it be that the AP is downplaying the possible role of crooked or incompetent bureaucrats?

MORE: Apparently, there is also a way for hackers to come up with usable SSNs solely by using a date and place of birth.

If it's that easy, then the government is too incompetent to be trusted with anything.

posted by Eric on 08.03.10 at 11:36 AM

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Comments

Another unintended consequence!

Once upon a time a citizen applied for a social security number when he entered the work force, usually during his teens. There was no pool of clean numbers assigned to children.

Twenty years ago, the government began encouraging parents to obtain SS numbers for their children--even at birth. I forget the rationale, and for all I know, it's a legal requirement now. Children don't need these numbers until they are earning income, but it has certainly turned into a boon for fraudsters and their accomplices in government and corporate bureaucracies.

Brett · August 4, 2010 07:34 AM