ID theft dates back to the 1930s

Mrs. Scrader Whitcher comparing  her
real card to the fake printed in wallets.

ID theft is a big problem with which I hope to never have to deal.

One of the earliest recorded misuses of Social Security numbers dates back to 1938, when Hilda Schrader Whitcher's brilliant boss, Vice President and Treasurer of the E. H. Ferree company Douglas Patterson, a wallet manufacturing company , decided to show prospective buyers that a Social Security card fit perfectly in the wallet. I guess people carried their SSN cards around back in the day.

Consequently, others thought it would be a genius idea to use the "specimen" Social Security number as their own. Its usage peaked in the mid-1940s. This ID theft became such a problem that the FBI visited Mrs. Schrader Whitcher to investigate why so many people were using her SSN. The ID theft victim later explained in an interview, " "They started using the number. They thought it was their own. I can't understand how people can be so stupid. I can't understand that." Needless to say, Mrs. Schrader Whitcher was issued a new Social Security number.

The "specimen" card

The crazy thing is that this is not the first time an incident like this has happened. Read more about this story from the Social Security Administration.

[photos: Social Security Administration]

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