However, E-Verify has its critics. While it verifies whether a name, Social Security number and birthday are a match, it doesn't have a mechanism to tell whether that information belongs to the person using it.

Swift & Co. participates in the system, and yet 1,282 suspected undocumented workers were arrested this past December at the company's plants, including one in Hyrum.

Still, advocates for the system say it catches a majority of Social Security number thefts, particularly those in which just a number is stolen or randomly generated.

There are steps people can take to protect against traditional identity theft, such as shredding mail with a confetti-cut shredder and not giving a Social Security number to businesses, Hamp says. But he adds there isn't much that can be done to protect against someone randomly picking your number.

A tool that will help is scheduled to take effect Sept. 1, 2008, he says, through a provision that will allow people to sign up for a credit freeze, so that credit activity must be verified.

Rep. Karen Morgan, D-Cottonwood Heights, is participating in the legislative working group and is planning on introducing a bill to create a civil penalty for using a false document to establish legal status. It's similar to a bill Morgan sponsored last year, which failed when its fiscal note of $500,000 wasn't made a funding priority, she says.

Tolman says identity theft committed by undocumented immigrants is unique because the motive is to find a job, not to steal money.

Hamp says that when it comes to using someone else's Social Security number to work, most people know they've committed a crime.

"They don't know, I don't think, the magnitude of the crime," he says. "Some are extremely surprised at that impact to someone else."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com