They used to steal Social Security numbers for identity theft even from dead people. Now they just create new numbers and many are getting away with it at least for a while.  They call it synthetic identity fraud where the seeker of a new identity can be scammed. The sellers are convinced that they are helping people for a fee of course. The people are desperate to have their credit restored in any way possible other than the old fashioned way of paying down their debt. The identity manipulation that is going on now is against the law.

The fraudster uses one true piece of your identity and then combines it with fake information. Eva Velasquez is the President/CEO, of Identity Theft Resource Center   says that then you can be assigned a new good social security number to go get credit with and buy more stuff. The Social Security Administration says that Synthetic Identity Fraud comprises 85% of all fraud in America now. It has become big business costing $2 Billion dollars per year. The people committing fraud attract people from all over the world through social media.

At times they will advise you to keep your name but to get a new address then they will provide you a nine digit number to use for a fee. They call that number a CPN Credit Profile Number that is very similar to a Social Security Number.  The fraud guys will tell you to use it like a Social Security number to get credit cards. CPNs are often found by plugging in random 9 digit numbers into government websites. Some will sell you a good set of numbers for $350 dollars and tell you it is legal. The fact is that there is NO legal use for a CPN and the Social Security Administration says they are not legal despite what the credit repair companies tell you.

The credit repair companies get away with it because some credit card companies don’t check for valid Social Security numbers and they do give the client new credit. The ETA Electronic Transactions Association which is a trade group consisting of credit card issuing banks says that consumers that use a CPN is committing a crime   even   though they rarely check. If they have a percentage of noncollectable debt, they will just write it off as a loss.  No real sweat for them.  The CPN companies will offer lines of credit for a few thousand dollars from you. Your money is gone and the credit was a fraud and you have nothing.

The website Legal Cpn.com has a F rating from the Better Business Bureau. There is nothing legal about any of this.