The social security card application process: identity and credit card fraud issues.

The mission of the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) is "[t]o advance the economic security of the nation's people through compassionate and vigilant leadership in shaping and managing America's social security programs." Further, "[t]he programs administered by the agency touch the lives of over 95 percent of the American public and improve the economic well-being of the nation." (1) In today's changing world, law enforcement agencies should be aware of the challenges the SSA has encountered while protecting citizens from criminals who attempt to acquire social security cards to facilitate a wide range of fraud.

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Organized groups of individuals have presented counterfeit, altered, and fraudulently obtained identification (ID) documents at district offices of the SSA to obtain genuine social security cards ultimately used for credit card fraud.

Background

Two weeks after September 11, 2001, personnel at a bank in New York noticed that the same male customer used two different identities to open checking accounts on different dates. A comparison of photocopies of the ID documents shown to open the checking accounts indicated that the same person presented Pakistani passports, along with a social security card. Employees notified the local FBI office and proceeded to determine if this subject had opened additional accounts at other branches of the bank. Their investigation showed that the suspect had opened other accounts, displayed a different social security card on each occasion, and also used a nondriver New York State ID card for identity purposes.

The Scheme

The FBI's preliminary investigation revealed that the initial suspect maintained five apartments and had at least 45 different New York State ID cards. The FBI agent conducting the investigation contacted the Office of Inspector General for the SSA (OIG/SSA) in New York to obtain copies of the SS-5 (the application form used to apply for a social security card) for each social security number identified. The applications were complete and had been submitted with supporting identification at a district office of the SSA. The SS-5s showed the name of the applicant, mailing address, and other identifiers, as well as the district office where the subject originally submitted the form. The FBI requested additional copies of SS-5s after investigation identified a second male suspect, as well as a third (female), engaged in the same type of activity. Investigators now realized that three people were assuming at least 104 different identities. Although the initial bank had not suffered a financial loss thus far, investigators conducted various financial checks to determine if any of the identities appeared to be involved in credit card fraud. Perpetrators had used some of the identities to open more than 20 credit card accounts, causing those companies to lose more than several hundred thousand dollars.

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The Scope

An OIG/SSA agent in Boston, Massachusetts, contacted the FBI case agent in New York City and advised that he was investigating more than 600 SS-5s, which included those under investigation by the FBI's New York City office. Further, he had determined that two individuals from the New York City metropolitan area had organized a scheme to help hundreds of people, primarily from the New York area, obtain social security cards using counterfeit ID documents produced at district offices of the SSA. It appeared that some had received just one social security card, but others had them for many identities.

The mailing address listed on the SS-5s usually was a mail-forwarding center box. The issued social security card was mailed to that box, rather than to the applicant's actual residence. These boxes primarily were in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut; therefore, suspects had used many different SSA district offices. Investigation determined that the case did not appear to involve corruption by any customer service representatives at these offices.

The person who submitted the SS-5 application with supporting ID documents received a social security card in a name that matched the one on the documents. However, that same person also subsequently received social security cards that did not match the first and last names on those documents. Suspects used Pakistani passports to apply for as many as four different social security cards. Investigation revealed several issues in the application process.

First, although the case primarily involved the use of Pakistani passports, suspects also used some from other countries. The Pakistani passports were altered by the addition of a counterfeit U.S. visa and a fake 1-94 Arrival-Departure Record card. (2) Basically, people in the United States as tourists do not have permission to work, so they would have to alter their visas to indicate a class that permits employment. Most individuals involved in this fraud had counterfeit visas with class "Hl-B," which allows the person to work in the United States. Apparently, certain evidence submitted for identification purposes was not compared; therefore, the SSA did not determine that the same passport or other ID document was used previously to apply for and, in most cases, receive a social security card. Copies of the SS-5s showed that the same Pakistani passport was submitted as evidence of identity for different applications. For example, passport #123456 in the name of John (FN) Smith (LN) was used to obtain a social security card. A subsequent SS-5 showed that the same passport was submitted as proof of identity to obtain a card in the name of Smith (FN) John (LN). Then, a third SS-5 involving that same passport was used to obtain a card in the name of Jon (FN) Smith (LN). Obviously, because most of the people who applied for the social security cards had foreign-sounding names, the applicant more easily convinced the customer service representative to process the application to issue a card that did not exactly match the first and last names as they appeared on the identity documents. One person involved in the fraud admitted to basically just telling the customer service representative "That's how it's spelled in my country" to get the individual to accept the application.

Second, various numbers on the ID documents, such as the passport, visa control, visa, and 1-94 Arrival-Departure Record numbers, were incorrectly identified. These discrepancies were discovered after FBI agents from New York City executed search warrants and recovered many of the original ID documents used to obtain the social security cards.

Third, due to efforts to reduce paperwork, copies were not routinely made of the evidence submitted at the time of the application. Rather, copies were made only if a customer service representative became suspicious of the documents presented. In such cases, the photocopies were forwarded to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for review, but the originals were immediately returned to the applicant at the district office. The applicant then left the district office and waited to find out if the social security card was issued.

The Resolution

Members of the FBI, ICE, and state and local law enforcement agencies executed searches at various suspect locations believed to be involved in these frauds. They arrested the two male suspects at different locations. Despite recovering 13 Pakistani passports bearing the photograph of the same female, they did not locate her on that date. Many of the locations searched appeared to be mail drops for credit cards--they had no furniture except a bed and virtually nothing else. Various ID documents, as well as ledger books, were found hidden between the mattress and box spring of beds. The ledgers contained detailed data for each assumed identity, showing all of the information for that person, such as fictional parental names, mailing address for the social security card, employment address, and phone number. Subjects had organized the ID documents for each identity by using a wallet or plastic check register holder that contained a driver's license (or state ID card), social security card, bank ATM card, information on the starter checking account opened by the person, and, in some cases, more than 20 credit cards in the name of that particular assumed identity.

Investigation revealed that these subjects primarily were from the New York City metropolitan area. They first fraudulently obtained a social security card with the help of a New York City resident who OIG/SSA agents in Boston, Massachusetts, apprehended while he drove his customers around to apply for social security cards in Massachusetts. This individual, along with the help of a female accomplice, charged between $1,000 to $1,500 to manufacture the counterfeit visas and 1-94 Arrival-Departure Record cards and helped people obtain a social security card. They charged one-half of the fee up front, paid at a meeting in Manhattan, New York. Customers later would be driven to a district office of the SSA in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, or Connecticut to submit the SS-5. The mailing address on the SS-5 was a mail-forwarding center box controlled by the same New York City resident who periodically checked the contents of the box.

Once the SSA mailed the card, the New York City resident picked it up and arranged a second meeting with the original customer, who then paid the second half of the fee and received the social security card. Some of the customers applied for just one card, but others, particularly those whose aim was credit card fraud, applied for many different ones.

Once the suspects had a social security card, they could obtain a driver's license (or state ID) and open a bank account. They usually opened a checking account with a $500 deposit and paid bills on time, which established good credit and enabled them to begin applying for credit cards. Investigation determined that the goal was to obtain 20 credit cards in each name. In turn, this allowed each identity a cash advance potential of $60,000. The full evolution of this scheme took up to 18 months.

One of the suspects had assumed more than 50 identities, so he had the opportunity to make about $3 million for his efforts. The female suspect, whose passports were recovered during the searches, eventually was arrested in Brooklyn. An additional eight suspects associated with the other three were arrested there as well.

Recommendations

Certain procedures can help prevent unauthorized persons from obtaining a social security card and can give investigators a greater chance of determining the perpetrators. First, customer service representatives at SSA district offices enter the handwritten data from the SS-5 into the computer. Additional training at SSA district offices will ensure that personnel correctly identify the various numbers on government visas and immigration documents. Moreover, by uploading specific software, SSA computers can compare information and determine if someone already has used the same passport or identification to apply for (or receive) a social security card. Then, the computer will alert the representative entering the data that a possibility of fraud exists. At that time, the matter should be referred to another person for closer review.

Employees can scan all documents exhibited as proof of identity into the computer with a link to a digital photo or some type of biometric identifier, such as a scanned image of at least one fingerprint. Further technological enhancements involve having the SSA computer equipped with the ability to interface with the U.S. Department of State for concerns pertaining to visas and with ICE regarding departure records and employment authorization documents because criminals may use counterfeit U.S. visas or immigration documents to help obtain social security cards.

Conclusion

The issuance of social security cards by the Social Security Administration is primarily a social service function to help administer benefits. However, criminals are increasingly using the cards to facilitate numerous fraudulent activities.

Law enforcement professionals should be aware that suspects have presented counterfeit or altered identification documents to obtain the cards and then used them to acquire multiple credit cards, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars to credit card companies. Increased vigilance by all involved federal, state, and local agencies will ensure that attempts by these criminals to exploit the social security card application process are immediately thwarted, and the SSA can continue its mission of advancing this nation's economic security.

Endnotes

(1) U.S. Social Security Administration.

(2) A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Form 1-94 (Arrival-Departure Record) shows the date an individual arrives in the United States and the date when the authorized period of stay expires. For more information, see http://www.uscis.gov.