When you think about identity theft protection, you probably think about suburban families with credit cards and mortgages in a major U.S. city. You think about the possibility that a criminal will get ahold of your social security number and use it to rack up plenty of debt in your name. What you don’t probably think about, however, is that people born in a U.S. territory also have a social security number and are just as vulnerable as other Americans to identity theft.
According to a recent AP story, Puerto Ricans are being targeted in a massive identity theft scheme. The records in Puerto Rico in many places, especially rural locations, are kept in places like schools and church rectories, where thieves can get their hands on them. In some cases, criminals may be able to get as much as $6,000 just for one name, social security number and a little bit of other identifying information.
What makes this situation especially frustrating is that documents stolen from Puerto Rico have shown up in a number of identity theft ring busts in places as far away as Delaware and Ohio. Officials have also found stolen Puerto Rican identity records in immigration busts in Texas and Florida, particularly in meat packing plants in those states.
In some ways, birth certificates are the hottest commodity. Birth certificates are especially valuable, and have become almost like legal tender. There are even stories of addicts stealing birth certificates and then trading them to dealers for a drug fix.
Up to this point, the only solution that Puerto Rico has had to offer has been to void all of their birth certificates, including about a million and a half birth certificates belonging to Puerto Ricans on the U.S. mainland. Everyone has to apply for a new birth certificate.
The old birth certificates will actually be invalidated, come September 30 of this year.
The birth certificate sweep won’t solve the bigger problem, of course. There are plenty of other documents out there already, from drivers’ licenses to passports, using stolen Puerto Rican identities. The move should help to slow the growth of identity theft on the island, however.
Photo via Joe Shlabotnik
