My identity was stolen through Capital Forensics in Nov. 2018. They got everything, address, Social Security #, Driver's License #, Address, Birth Date: would someone be able to file for my Social Security benefits?

I have called several times & gone into a local office to notify of the ID theft & asked it to be documented. I was told not to worry, One person said I had to file in person & show my driver;'s license (they got the #), another said it couldn't be done because it's attached to IRS (I don't see how that would stop it.) had my web site option disabled.
I've gotten through half of your book 'Get What's Yours-revised. & really don't trust now what I've been told.
Thank you

Hi,

I suppose it's possible, but I never heard of it happening during my 36 year career as a Social Security employee. I don't believe that Social Security benefits would be an ideal target for identity thieves for a number of reasons. First of all, you would need to qualify for benefits before someone could falsely claim benefits on your record. In other words, for an identity thief to claim your Social Security retirement benefits you would have to be at least age 62 and not already drawing your benefits. The identity thief would also need to know enough personal information about you, such as your marital and employment history, to be able to fool Social Security into believing that they were you.

There's not much beyond the threat of fines and imprisonment that Social Security can do in advance to stop someone from posing as you and filing a claim for your benefits, but I think it would be very difficult for someone to complete the process successfully. Even if they were somehow successful, you wouldn't be liable for any Social Security funds that the thief managed to steal, nor would the fact that they did so affect the benefits that you could be paid. It would of course be an unwelcome hassle for you, though. Once you've started drawing your benefits, Social Security can put an indicator on your record to prevent someone who has stolen your identity from being able to redirect your benefits to a different bank account.

Best, Jerry