Group of high school students have Social Security numbers compromised

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - As if preparing for life after high school graduation isn't enough stress, a group of students in DeKalb County now has to worry about having their identities stolen. About 20 students are now vulnerable to identity theft.

The school system alerted the nearly two-dozen families that their child's security number may have been compromised.

Two months ahead of graduating high school, Cassandra McCray said dealing with possible identity theft is not the sort of thing a senior should be dealing with and yet that’s what she is faced with right now.

The 18-year-old is a nursing student at Southwest DeKalb High School. On Monday, she got a phone call that knocked her off her feet.

“I got a call from social security office saying my number has been suspended because of suspicious activity,” said McCray.

McCray said she immediately realized she had recently given her social security number to the school ahead of a nursing certification test.

That's when she told her mother and notified her teacher who then alerted school officials.

FOX 5 News has learned McCray along with 19 of her fellow classmates may have had their social security numbers compromised.

According to this letter the DeKalb County School System sent home, a student “inappropriately obtained and shared student information collected.”

McCray and her mother said while the school system said they are investigating and working with the Social Security Administration and public safety officials, they want to understand how something like this could happen and what can be done down the line to keep it from happening again.