Social Security admits confidential information mailed to area mother was a huge mistake

Social security sends local mother strangers’ personal information

A woman trying to get social security disability for her son was shocked when the agency sent her 15 names and social security numbers.

HOUSTON - Victoria Martin’s son is a Type 1 Diabetic who also suffers from seizures.

“It’s a constant thing to think about you never know when they are going to hit you,” she said.

Since her son Cody is unable to work, Martin has been trying to get him Social Security Disability since the beginning of this year. She says she has submitted all the necessary paperwork and was told his hearing would happen next July.

Her surprise at receiving mail from Social Security on Friday quickly turned into shock.

The federal agency had mailed her what appears to be a two-page inter-office memo with the names of fifteen people along with their Social Security numbers.

“I was just dumbfounded. I’m like oh my God I’m holding someone’s information in my hands,” Martin said. “If someone else gets this information they’re going to have a heyday with it.’

Martin says she contacted us after spending hours trying to tell someone with Social Security about what they had mailed to her. We called Sarah Schultz-Lackey an area representative of Social Security in Texas.

She told us and Martin this is an incredibly serious error and she apologized for it. She asked Martin to mail the confidential information back to the federal agency and said an investigation was underway to determine how such a huge mistake could have ever happened.