Recommendations to combat this type of fake ID and credit card scheme include improved security measures at local SSA district offices and close communication between SSA offices and the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office. In 2001, bank personnel in New York noticed that the same male customer used two different identities to open checking accounts on different dates. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was notified and an investigation ensued in which it was revealed that the initial suspect maintained 5 apartments and had at least 45 different New York State ID cards. The FBI contacted the Office of Inspector General for the Social Security Administration (OIG/SSA) in New York, which made contact with an OIG/SSA agent in Boston who was investigating more than 600 fake IDs including those under investigation in New York. The author discusses details of the investigation that eventually led to the arrests of two male suspects and one female suspect, who were using the fake IDs to open bank accounts under different identities, establish good credit ratings with each identity, and then eventually use that good rating to obtain credit cards with cash advance options. Endnotes