One Citizen's Experience With Identity Theft

From a letter recently sent to FAIR:

My husband's SSN was used fraudulently by an illegal alien. Over the last 13 years, this illegal alien bought 3 homes, 3 vehicles, obtained credit cards and other credit with my husband's SSN. He committed SSN fraud in Wisconsin and Cook County and Dupage County in IL, but only Dupage County filed charges.

When caught, the illegal alien was charged with the offenses of Identity Theft, Forgery, and Unlawful Possession of a Fictitious Driver's License, a Class 1, Class 3, and Class 4 felony, in Illinois. However, he was not charged with the fraudulent use of a SSN under Title 18 of the U.S.C.

None of these offenses include the home loans, credit cards and other credit he obtained while working and using the SSN. The DA will not even use the IRS Earnings statements that show 12 years of employment and interest paid to lenders under the stolen SSN. The illegal alien was able to post a $3,000 bond with the State and a $4,500 bond with ICE and was set free. We as the victims do not have this kind of money. A private attorney wanted a $10,000 dollar retainer just to begin a civil case against against this person.

The information we have says that each county in Illinois where these men committed fraud gets to decide if the "case" is worth taking. Cook County told us that there was just too many illegal aliens in the Chicago area. Identity theft is not on the top of the list. They do not have enough resources to stop them from continuing using a fraudulent SSN.

I also received a letter from the IRS in June of this year, which said they do not go after the illegal aliens for working with a fraudulent SSN and not filing income taxes. We were also told that it would take a law from Congress to make employers stop putting an "invalid" SSN on an employee's W2 when the employee continues to fail to provide the employer with a valid SSN. Under our State and Federal Laws, an employer cannot terminate an employee for failing to provide them with a valid SSN. So year after year the IRS records show that an "invalid" SSN is being used but allows the transfer of fraudulent information, a stolen SSN, to be put on an identity thieves W2. With this W2 the illegal alien can use it to buy homes, rent, get insurance, credit cards and open checking accounts.

How can FAIR help victims of crimes by illegal aliens? The fraudulent use of American's SSN by illegal aliens opens the doors for other felonies. Victims such as us do not have the money to stop the fraud nor to get any restitution. The illegal aliens use the excuse that they did not know that the SSN belonged to a "real" person. The debts these men made while using my husband's SSN stay on millions of databases. The lenders do not take any civil action or report the fraudulent use of the SSN to law enforcement.

I have read many Congressional Testimonies by victims of Identity Fraud and SSN Fraud. They sound desperate and hopeless such as we are. With the current laws we have for Identity Theft and SSN fraud, nothing in them state that law enforcement has to investigate the crime or the State Attorney office has to take the case.

FAIR and other non-profit organizations who lobby for immigration reform should use cases such as ours as perfect examples of how crime pays for the illegal alien. Our country is operating with two different sets of laws, one for the legal American and one for the illegal alien. Our top leaders, including our President, want immigration reform which "forgives" and "excuses" these criminals.

We are the victims and are left with a lifetime of misery, tied to this forever. The illegal alien will get a "fresh start" and we will be living in the shadows.