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House Unanimously Passes LaMalfa Co-sponsored Measure to Combat Identity Theft

September 22, 2016

Washington, DC – The House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) cosponsored to safeguard Social Security numbers and prevent identity theft. H.R. 5320, the Social Security Must Avert Identity Loss (MAIL) Act, ends the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) policy of mailing documents to citizens which include their full Social Security number. The bill will now be considered in the Senate.

“This bill will directly reduce identify theft by ending the Social Security Administration’s practice of mailing documents including Americans’ complete Social Security numbers. There were nearly 500,000 complaints of identity theft in the United States last year, many involving stolen Social Security numbers,” said LaMalfa. “Halting the careless mailing of sensitive information closes this vulnerability, protecting seniors and others from identify theft.”

Despite the known dangers of identity theft, in 2015 the Social Security Administration mailed hundreds of millions of documents containing complete Social Security numbers. The Social Security Inspector General found that 51% of the mailing addresses used by the SSA in 2015 were incorrect, exposing millions of Americans to fraud.

Congressman Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California’s First Congressional District, including Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama Counties.

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