ID theft made it tough for mom to get son's health care

BY MARK BROWN Sun-Times Columnist

Aurelia Diaz, knock it off. Stop using Laura Stotler's Social Security number.

Yes, I'm talking to you, Aurelia Diaz, the one who used Stotler's Social Security number to get your job at the Waukegan Yacht Club and for heaven knows what other purposes.

You're messing up her credit rating.

You're fouling up her ability to get student loans so she can go back to college.

You even managed to make it more difficult for Stotler to get a state medical card for her son with cerebral palsy, which is really lousy.

And here's the funny part, you're making it tough for liberal goo-goos like me who always want to jump to the defense of the illegal immigrant.

Heck, I've even defended individuals who use fake Social Security numbers to work, because I understand the underlying dynamic that drives them to do it and know that it does not necessarily cause someone else harm.

But Aurelia, you're harming Laura Stotler, and she doesn't know how to get you to stop.

Neither do I, which is why I'm calling you out, along with any current employer.

In fairness to any other Aurelia Diaz in town, I'm talking about the one who gave her date of birth as Nov. 12, 1976, and who used to list addresses of 1619 Lincoln Street, North Chicago, and 419 McKinley Avenue, Waukegan, although she may currently be living in Chicago.
'Do I look like Aurelia Diaz?'

Stotler, 27, of Countryside, first became aware of her Aurelia Diaz problem last September when she went to a Public Aid office to apply for medical benefits for her disabled son, who is now 8.

When she told the guy taking her application she was unemployed, he accused her of lying.

He said the computer was showing she had a job with the Waukegan Yacht Club and was using an alias of Aurelia Diaz.

"I said, 'Do I look like Aurelia Diaz?' " Stotler said.

Apparently not, but he wouldn't budge.

This began a series of attempts by Stotler to find someone to rein in Diaz.

"I don't know how to clear it up. I don't know how it can be legal," Stotler said.

Obviously, it's not legal but getting somebody to enforce the law is another matter.

Stotler figured a logical step was to contact the Social Security Administration.

They sent her a handy packet of materials on how to protect her Social Security number from identity theft.

"But what do you do when it's already gone?" Stotler pleaded.

That may be when someone suggested she call the police. But police in her hometown of Countryside refused to even take a report. Not their problem.

And the police in Waukegan told her there was nothing they could do either.

She called the yacht club, which confirmed Diaz worked there, but otherwise washed its hands of the situation.
Can't get student loan

After a few months, Stotler was able to straighten out her son's medical benefits, so she let the problem slide for a while.

But recently she applied for a student loan and was told her income was too high.

"I told them I was unemployed," Stotler said. That didn't work.

Finally, she convinced a Waukegan police detective to take up the case.

He checked around and came back with the alarming news that Diaz had used Stotler's Social Security number to rent an apartment and obtain a car loan, but had abandoned the apartment months ago and left behind the car, which bore a repossession notice.

Stotler said the detective told her there were indications Diaz may now be living in Chicago, but he said there was nothing more he could do.

Stotler was grateful for the information, but still in the same boat as when she started. "Everything she is doing is under my Social Security number. How do I get that changed?"

I called the phone number listed on Aurelia Diaz's job application. The person who answered said they didn't know any Aurelia Diaz. No big surprise there.

I couldn't reach the detective.

The manager of the yacht club said he couldn't give me any information.

"We follow the legal and customary practices when hiring employees," he assured me.

Sure, everybody does.

I still say the only real solution is to give these folks a way to get legal, so that they won't go the fake identity route.

In the meantime, Aurelia Diaz -- and the others like her -- need to understand the real problems they can cause.