Identity theft has been a hot topic everywhere lately—on the news, commercials, and Congress floor—but it is an issue that hits closer to home than many students would expect.

“When they ran my social security number to get my first paycheck, that’s when it came back as a different name,” senior Jacqueline Petrungaro said.

Petrungaro was working at the Dock Street Café on Navy Pier this summer, when she discovered that someone else was using her social security number. Petrungaro’s employer at the Dock Street Café was the first to be alerted about this problem.

“They actually thought I just wrote the wrong social security number down on my papers,” Petrungaro said.

A social security number acts like a key to an identity; the number can open the door to all other kinds of personal information. Social security number theft makes identity theft possible.

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America, according to the official Social Security Administration website, www.ssa.gov. This is the same administration that Petrungaro dealt with to reclaim her social security number.

“The Social Security Administration contacted my employer and told them to have me bring my birth certificate, social security card, and proof of residence [to the Administration in Hammond],” Petrungaro said.

During May and June, Petrungaro and her parents visited the Social Security Administration several times. Before July began, the Administration located the woman who was using Petrungaro’s number and voided her use of it.

“I was happy to have it back, but I kind of felt bad for the woman. She had kids. She didn’t have bad credit. She wasn’t using it to abuse it; she was using it to work,” Petrungaro said.

Petrungaro was uninformed of what happened to the woman who stole her identity.

In 2004, the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act instituted a minimum 2-year prison sentence for aggravated identity theft, according to the official White House website. However, it is unlikely that the thief in Petrungaro’s case served any jail time, because Petrungaro was not directly harmed.

“I think it’s an interesting story. Out of everyone else, she faked my social security number. Also, everything is in order now. But, it was just so random,” Petrungaro said.