America's Hardest Working Boy?

Whoever says that today’s generation doesn’t understand hard work surely hasn’t met this boy. Why? According to the IRS and Social Security Administration he has held more than 3,900 jobs and at one time was holding down 919 jobs in 42 states.

You have probably figured this out by now, but this boy isn’t really working this much. (No, really, he’s not) He is, however, one of the most extraordinary victims of Social Security Number theft and fraud by workers in the United States.

Frighteningly enough though, he wasn’t the only one. The Inspector General reported that 11 social security numbers were used more than 400 times each and more than 9 million fraudulent and invalid W-2s are filed every year. Knowing this, you will probably find this as absurd as I did, if the Social Security Administration found out this was happening to you they couldn’t tell you about it nor would they report it to law enforcement agencies. (Thank you Congress and IRS) They would however contact the employees who used them and employers who hired them. These employees were hired by over 1.9 million employers while 95 of them had 1,000 or more occurrences. One even had about 13,954 instances.

I found all of this information in an article by Terence P. Jeffrey, editor of Human Events. Now, what does this all mean for you? Buying and investing in a home typically requires credit. When was the last time you had your checked? You, as a consumer, need to keep yourself aware of your credit scores. All of the major credit reporting agencies are currently giving one free report a year. It is not a full report, but properly monitored it can alert you to unusual happenings. Be aware and be safe. It will matter when it comes time to make such an important decision.