Clifton Park woman sold stolen Social Security numbers, authorities say

ALBANY, N.Y. >> A Clifton Park woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring with others to sell stolen Social Security numbers over the Internet and to providing a false SSN on a loan application, authorities said.

Kristin M. Kitchen, also known as Kristin M. Vargas, 33, admitted to owning and operating a website in 2013 and 2014 through which she sold stolen Social Security numbers, authorities said.

Kitchen advertised the stolen numbers as ‘credit profile numbers’ and encouraged customers to use them in place of their own Social Security numbers on credit and loan applications to avoid their own negative credit histories, authorities said. Kitchen also admitted to using one of the stolen numbers herself on applications for a loan in 2014, authorities said.

Kitchen faces up to 30 years in prison, up to 5 years of post-imprisonment supervised release and a maximum $250,000 fine when she is sentenced on May 14.

The plea was announced in a news release from the office of United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith. The case was investigated by the FDIC Office of the Inspector General and the SSA Office of the Inspector General, and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason W. White.