BUFFALO, N.Y. — Several people are facing charges accused of stealing social security numbers from children.
Following a 16-month investigation by the New York State Police and Social Security Administration, eight people from Buffalo and Amherst are charged with identity theft. They are:
Darrius R. Outling, 49 of Buffalo, NY, charged with four counts of Identity Theft 1st Degree; two counts Scheme to Defraud 1st Degree; one count Identity Theft 2nd Degree.
Robert A. Johnson Jr., 33 of Buffalo, NY charged with one count each: Identity Theft 1st Degree; Scheme to Defraud 1st Degree; Grand Larceny 3rd Degree; Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument 2nd Degree.
Michael Ramsey, 55 of Buffalo, NY charged with one count each of Identity Theft 1st Degree and Scheme to Defraud 1st Degree.
Evelyn T. Pratcher, 47 of Amherst, NY charged with one count each of Identity Theft 1st Degree and Scheme to Defraud 1st Degree.
Cynthia L. Lockwood, 53 of Buffalo, NY charged with one count each of Identity Theft 1st Degree and Scheme to Defraud 1st Degree.
Robert A. Johnson Sr., 54 of Buffalo, NY charged with one count each of Identity Theft 1st Degree and Scheme to Defraud 1st Degree.
Audrey R. Garnett, 58 of Buffalo, NY charged with one count each of Identity Theft 1st Degree and Scheme to Defraud 1st Degree.
Andrew K. Bostic, 56 of Buffalo, NY charged with one count of Identity Theft 2nd Degree.
"Identity thieves love children's social security numbers because parents aren't paying attention to it and children have perfect credit" Better Business Bureau Communications Director Melanie McGovern said.
State Police received a suspicious activity report in late 2017 from the New York State Intelligence Center that Social Security numbers were being used by different assigned names.
Investigators say Outling illegally obtained social security numbers belonging to juveniles living throughout the United States and then sold the numbers to the other suspects. The social security numbers were allegedly used to obtain credit cards.
"What they did is they took those social security numbers and tried to buy vehicles, buy jewelry, open credit cards because that is linked to your established credit" Trooper James O'Callaghan said.
More than $400,000 in fraudulent purchases were made.
One of the suspects, Cynthia L. Lockwood, is a relative of Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood. Another suspect, Robert Johnson, Jr, son of Cynthia Lockwood, is a Buffalo firefighter. A spokesperson for the city says Johnson Jr. is currently suspended without pay from the department.
The Social Security Administration is working with the credit bureaus to repair the credit of the victims who had their social security numbers stolen.
"If you're signing your kids up for something you want to make sure that information is staying with that organization. You want to check that child's credit report. If you go to annualcreditreport.com, it's free" McGovern said.
Parents can protect their children’s Social Security number by locking or freezing their credit with the three major credit bureaus:
Equifax
800-685-1111
Experian
888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742)
Transunion
888-909-8872
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