Click HERE to watch the video. Read the story. Answer the questions.
Bronx, NY (2/19/2010) - Identity theft is when someone steals your social security number or birth certificate so they can stay in the USA or use your information to borrow money in your name and leave you to pay it back.
Identity thieves interested in buying someone else's birth certificate may not have to look very hard, as Puerto Ricans in New York say a certificate from Puerto Rico is easy to find.
The government of Puerto Rico says hundreds of thousands of copies of birth certificates from the island are floating around unprotected and can sell for as much as $10,000.
"Puerto Ricans are selling the birth [certificates]," said one Bronx resident. "They got so many in here pretending to be Puerto Rican, but they are not."
An old law said that Puerto Ricans had to leave original copies of their birth certificates in a bunch of public and private offices as they filled out paperwork. So people got hold of these birth certificates and started to sell them.
"If you physically look Latino or physically look Puerto Rican, and you show up with a Puerto Rican birth certificate, no questions are asked," said Bronx Congressman Jose Serrano. "Because Puerto Ricans, as you know, are born American citizens and can just leave Puerto Rico and travel to the United States."
Now, a new law that starts on July 1 will force anyone born in Puerto Rico to get a new birth certificate.
This law will mean that the old birth certificates will no longer be accepted and thieves will no longer be able to sell them and steal your identity.
Questions:
1) Where did this story take place?
2) When did this story take place?
3) What is identity theft?
4) How much can a Puerto Rican birth certificate sell for?
5) When will the new law start?
6) What does the new law force Puerto Ricans to do?
Info and video from NY1
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