Is Nebraska an Identity Theft Haven

July 2008, Omaha Nebraska

Lately we have heard numerous horror stories about people who have been ravaged by identity thieves. Credit ruined, constant calls from debt collectors and hundreds if not thousands of hours spent trying (usually in vain) to repair the damage. Even the Nebraska Attorney General has put the issue on the front of his web page and even has an Identity Theft Repair Kit and claims that Identity Theft is “ fastest growing white-collar crime in the U.S.” . One of the ways the attorney general says that identity thieves get your information is by accessing your credit (posing as a landlord or employer). My first thought is that it would be great to stop this in its tracks. Isn't it illegal to pull a person's credit report without permission? The answer is yes. It is a violation of both state and Federal law to access another persons credit without their permission. So what happens if you find out that someone has accessed your credit illegally. Unfortunately, I have discovered that the answer is that you can do absolutely nothing about it. You will have to wait until they use the information to destroy your financial life and then you will receive instructions on how to fix your credit but don't be fooled, there is no one in Nebraska who can stop these folks from getting your credit nor is there anyone who can do anything about it once its done. Knowing who did it will not help.

Even if you shred your personal documents before throwing them away or avoid giving your information out over the internet you are completely exposed. It is much easier to get your information from an ex-spouse or partner, a friend or family member, a private investigator (I know that Sterling Investigations would perform unauthorized credit checks and share the information for a fee). But the easiest way to get lots of financial information as well as your social security number is straight from the courthouse. Go down to the Sarpy County Courthouse sometime and sit down at one of the computers just outside of the county court clerk's office. You will have access to a system called Justice. In justice you can search for all of the cases on file, literally thousands and thousands of them. Say you want to read up on your neighbor's divorce or the divorce of a local notable. No problem, just type the last name in and you will get a case number. Take that case number to the clerk and you will be able to view the court file. In the case of a divorce, you will get both the husband and wife's social security numbers. If that doesn't excite you then you can get the social security numbers of all of the children they have as well. If you don't want to go to the courthouse then all you need do is pay the state $ 15 to do a one time search of up to 30 court cases. According to the states website (https://www.nebraska.gov/justicecc), you will get the following information:

“ The JUSTICE system can provide you with all of the public information about a case, as it's been entered. This information includes, but is not limited to:

• Case Detail, such as the date and outcome of the trial, what the case was about, and who the judge was.
• Party Listing, including the plaintiff and defendant, and often times their associated attorneys as well.
• Court Cost Information, including all fees associated with the case.
• Payments by and to the Court.
• Register of Actions, so you can follow everything that's been done with the case up to, during, and after the case, should it have been recorded ”

Once a thief has that info he/she is off to the races. They can pull your court file and will usually find a listing of your accounts and creditors. Sometimes they can also find bank account numbers and other VERY personal information. If they really want to sting you, they can hire a PI like Sterling Agency in Omaha and get your credit report and a list of all of your accounts. At this point you are toast.

Now that you know HOW it can happen (at least how a smart thief would do it) you may want to know what you can do about it. Nothing. As it turns out, I had a personal experience where a private investigator pulled my credit report and passed the information along to my ex-wife's boyfriend in a letter (yes I have the letter from the PI. One of the advantages to a subpoena). So I used my case as a test to see what can be done. Here is what I found. The attorney Generals Office said that they couldn't do anything. I emailed, called, and even filed a formal complaint. Keep in mind; this is the agency putting identity theft at the “top” of their priority list. They recommend going to the police and filing a report. The Bellevue Police, LaVista Police, Papillion Police, Omaha Police didn't have any idea how to take the report. The Bellevue Police officers were amazed at the information and I could tell that they were really disturbed by the situation (and very nice by the way) but none-the-less had no clue how to actually take a report. So, I was referred to the county attorney. The Sarpy County Attorney, Douglas County Attorney and City Attorney passed me back to the police. They also claimed not to know how to take a report or how to proceed. Keep in mind, the people who sent me to them in the first place. The U.S. Attorney had the best answer of all. Their legal department said I needed to hire an attorney since this is a civil issue. I admit, I had never considered the possibility that a violation of criminal law was a civil matter (and by the way it is not a civil matter. It is a violation of Federal law and a matter to be handled by the U.S. Attorney). Not one to be deterred, I tried a different angle. I tried the Secretary of State's Office. That is after all, the agency responsible for licensing Private Investigators. I really must admit, I got the absolute best answer of all from them. “We only license them, I have no idea if anyone monitors them. I don't know if there is a department who can check into criminal activity by a private investigator. That's a really good question….They can't do this kind of stuff”. You just have to love that answer.

Look. The bottom line is that shredding your trash and being careful online is not going to do anything if the government freely gives out your information and by their own admission will not do anything about it if someone uses it for criminal activity. The Nebraska Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney have stated that they aren't going to help you, so help yourself. Ask the courts to seal your records and have the credit bureaus place your file on a fraud alert. You will have to do this every 90 days but at least you will have some peace of mind until our “protectors” start taking this issue seriously. If all else fails and if you have any money left after a problem, do what I did, hire an attorney and go after the crook directly.