Identity theft a growing menace

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jan 17, 2006 | by Simon Read, STAFF WRITER

DUBLIN -- For Audra Schmierer, it began last January with a letter from the Internal Revenue Service claiming she owed $15,000 in back taxes on income earned in 2003.

Schmierer, 32, thought a mistake had been made. She hadn't worked since giving birth to her son in 2000. The next day, however, another letter arrived from the IRS -- this one stating she owed more than $32,000 in back taxes from 2002.

And so began a long nightmare that eventually saw the IRS accusing Schmierer of owing $1 million in back taxes on income she never earned.

Schmierer was the victim ofidentity theft. An illegal alien in Fort Worth, Texas, had managed, by means still unknown, to hijack her Social Security number and use it to obtain employment as a steelworker.

The number was circulated among other illegal immigrants, who used it to land various jobs.

"The IRS had me employed with six different companies in Texas," said Schmierer. "It was so overwhelming, I couldn't be frustrated -- I was just completely beyond that."

Schmierer and her husband, an assistant vice president with JP Morgan, found their bank accounts frozen. A simple trip to Safeway to buy groceries, or a run to Starbucks for a cup of coffee became an ordeal.

"We didn't have access to our own money," she said. "We had to ask our parents for loans just so we could buy the necessities."

Schmierer said the experience was akin to being trapped in a prison cell.

"We went to Alcatraz on a family trip," she said. "They put you in a cell so you can see what it feels like ... we were in there, and my husband started laughing. He said, 'This is what it's like.' And it's true, you feel like you're imprisoned."

Federal authorities warned her not to leave the country, she said. Accompanying her husband on a trip to Mexico, she found herself detained by the U.S. Customs for nearly four hours upon her return to the states.

She spent 40 hours a week on the phone, being bounced between the IRS and the Social Security Administration, she said.

"The words that would come out of my mouth," she said. "It was an ordeal just trying to get a hold of someone. I eventually got direct numbers to all the people I needed to talk to. I was calling the same people three or four times a day."

Multiple 12-hour days were spent at the Social Security office in Hayward, she said.

"I'd go there to try and sort things out," she said. "But I couldn't get anything done because I couldn't prove I was who I said I was."

She spent hours on the Internet, sending e-mails and posting messages on blogs, desperate to find anyone who might be able to help. In the end, however, it was Schmierer's own perseverance that yielded results.

Last week -- after nearly a year -- the IRS sent her Schmierer letter saying she did not owe them back taxes. Her Social Security number, however, is still being used illegally.

"After all I went through, I'd like something more than a letter," she said. "Because of the Social Security issue, I'm not able to buy a house. Applying for a job would also cause problems."

According to the state's Office of Privacy Protection, in the Department of Consumer Affairs, identity theft is one of the fastest- growing crimes in the country.

Statistics collected by the Federal Trade Commission estimate one in 20 adults -- roughly 12 million Americans -- have fallen victim to the crime.

Livermore Police Detective Tod Lohmeyer has been investigating identity theft for the past three years. In a city where most people cite traffic as their primary concern, Lohmeyer said identity theft is given little thought.

"When the crime is ID theft, it's not as personal," he said. "There's no body with a chalk outline around it. When your car or home is broken into, there's a very personal element to it."

"We sometimes find suspects taking a stolen check number and attaching it to another person's name," Harnish Lohmeyer said people should give more thought to protecting themselves, adding that the impact of identity theft can be felt long after the event.

"The repercussions can last years," he said. "A couple of years after the event, you can still have collection agencies calling you for money."

Investigating the hijacking of one's credit card and bank accounts is a challenging task of "connecting the dots," he said.

Repeated calls are sometimes necessary before businesses turn over surveillance tapes, credit slips, receipts -- anything that might help police capture the perpetrator, Lohmeyer said.

"In the meantime, other cases are coming in," he said. "Before you know, you have 30 open cases in your files."

Pleasanton Police Detective Daly Harnish voiced similar frustrations.

"The biggest challenge is getting copies of applications from financial agencies; paperwork that might provide a lead," Harnish said. "A lot of that paperwork is considered private, so we have to get court orders to get those documents. Basically, you're making more paperwork to get paperwork."

Harnish said banks and credit agencies can take up to 90 days to respond to court orders. All the while, the identity thieve is running around wreaking more havoc.