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Boston Globe - State finds easy access to social security numbers of deceased
By David Abel, Globe Staff - 4/17/2010

A provision in federal law that reformed welfare in the 1990s also created a loophole that could allow swindlers to obtain the Social Security numbers of the recently deceased, according to a recent finding by the state auditor’s office.  

The provision, which took effect in 1998 in Massachusetts, requires that the state’s Registry of Vital Records and Statistics include Social Security numbers on all certified death certificates. And anyone can obtain a death certificate from the registry for $18.

“Coupled with a gap of several months before deaths are reported to the Social Security Administration, this scenario reflects a significant vulnerability in confidentiality and homeland security,’’ state Auditor Joseph DeNucci wrote this month in a letter to congressman Stephen F. Lynch. “The ability of individuals or entities to acquire multiple Social Security numbers by a simple request is an open invitation to identity theft.’’

DeNucci asked Lynch, a South Boston Democrat, to seek a way to close the loophole.

Lynch said he is trying to find a solution to the problem. He said he has contacted the US House of Representative’s Information Policy, Census and the National Archives Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the law.

“We will be seeking either a legislative or regulatory fix to the current situation,’’ Lynch said in a statement last night. “Congress has been grappling with the wider issue of identity theft and is currently in the process of scheduling hearings to further investigate the vulnerability created by personal information contained in government-issued documents.’’

State officials said they have no evidence that anyone has taken advantage of the loophole.

“We are not aware of any abuse of the system,’’ said Jennifer Manley, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health, which oversees the registry. “Death records do not have any access restrictions, and we began capturing Social Security numbers in 1940.’’

DeNucci said the problem was discovered during a routine audit this year of the “security and confidentiality of personal information collected’’ by the registry.

While there is no evidence that anyone has sought death certificates to assume a dead person’s identity, DeNucci noted that over the years his investigators have found people using false Social Security numbers to fraudulently obtain everything from public benefits to the ability to work in the United States.

“The misuse of others’ Social Security numbers is well known among law enforcement agencies as a prime method of securing a new identity for individuals entering the country illegally or otherwise establishing a new identity to engage in illicit activities,’’ DeNucci wrote in the letter.

Glenn Briere, a spokesman for the auditor, cited one case of a woman from Haiti who received extensive cancer care in Massachusetts three years ago by using the Social Security number of someone who had died. She obtained thousands of dollars worth of health care with a fraudulent Medicaid card identification number before she returned to Haiti.

It was not clear how she obtained the Social Security number. Briere said he could not provide more information about that case or cite other incidents of those similarly abusing the system.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone said it is important the loophole is closed to protect surviving relatives of the deceased who have had their Social Security numbers stolen.

“Identity theft is devastating on the victim and, in the case of a decedent, such fraud survives the death to do potential harm to a spouse or estate,’’ Leone said in a statement. “In these times of fiscal crisis, predators will resort to lowly means to compromise people and their assets, so we owe the public a duty to engage in whatever proactive preventative steps that we can to help protect against identity theft and related fraud.’’

In his letter, DeNucci warned Lynch that the loophole could have dangerous consequences.

“The good intentions of improving child-support enforcement have resulted in compromising security,’’ he wrote. “In this post-9/11 world, we cannot afford to continue this practice.’’