Identity Thief Professors?

If you're a professor, want to make a quick buck?  Apparently, some professors have joined the ranks of identity thieves.  A community college professor stole the identities of three of his students and used them to fill out credit card applications in the students' names.  According to a CNN story:

Slosberg had asked his students to write their names and Social Security numbers on a sign-in sheet, students said. "We all signed it," Amanda Bracewell said. "We figured, 'He's a teacher, what is he going to do with it?"'

Many schools use student Social Security Numbers (SSNs) as identification numbers.  For example, I get a printout of my student names and SSNs after I grade their exams, as students' exam identification numbers are their SSNs.  A number of schools put student SSNs on identification cards.  The practice of using SSNs as identifiers by schools and other institutions exposes students to a risk of identity theft.  Beyond professors gone bad, SSNs can wind up in the hands of identity thieves when documents with student names and SSNs are discarded or when a student ID card gets lost.  So for all the student readers of this blog, be extra kind to us professors . . . or else.