An illegal alien from Mexico has pleaded guilty to committing document fraud to use a U.S. Marine’s identity to work unlawfully in the U.S.
Inocente Monroy Alcantara, 26, will serve one year in federal prison before a mandatory deportation to Mexico. He will be barred for life from returning to the United States.
The case was discovered when the Arkansas City, Kan. police department received a complaint from the victim that someone was using his identity to work at the Creekstone Farms meat processing plant in Ark City. The victim is a Marine stationed at Miramar, Calif., who recently returned from overseas deployment.
Upon his return, the Marine, whose identity has been withheld, began receiving calls from collection agencies about unpaid accounts opened in Kansas. The accounts had been opened by Alcantara, using the Marine’s identity. The victim reported the theft to the San Diego, Calif. police department, which notified the Kansas authorities. The Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General assisted in investigating the case.
This is just the latest in a series of cases of identity theft involving military personnel. Cases have been reported all over the country of identity thieves using the identities of deployed service members. Military personnel are particularly vulnerable, since Social Security numbers are used as identifiers – and identity thieves know and have exploited this.
If you are deployed and do not expect to seek new credit while you are deployed, you may want to consider placing an “active duty alert” on your credit report. This will require creditors to take extra steps to verify your identity before granting new credit accounts in your name. The alert will remain effective for one year.
You will also want to be sure to shred financial documents containing your personal information, and protect your Social Security number. Safeguard your military ID, and keep it with you or locked up at all times.
Don’t let your mail pile up unattended if you can’t collect it. Use a mail stop or a post office box. Or you can have someone hold your mail until you return.
You should also routinely monitor your financial accounts and billing statements. If you are unable to do so, place the active duty alert, or have someone you trust take care of it for you.
