ELSIE, Ore. -- An Oregon woman trying to renew her driver's license fears she may have given her Social Security number directly to an inmate in a call to the DMV.

Teresa Brown said she recently called the DMV to find out what documents she needed to bring to the DMV office for renewal. Under a new law in Oregon, drivers must give their Social Security number to the DMV to prove their U.S. citizenship.

Brown said a woman told her over the phone, "Give me your Social Security number and I'll put it with your driver's license and you should have no problem."

When Brown visited the DMV office in person to renew, she said the DMV clerk told her she made a big mistake and should not have given her Social Security number to the DMV over the phone.

"I about fell over when the man at the DMV had told me what I had done," Brown said. "Excuse me, you mean I told an inmate at the correctional institute? I thought I was calling DMV."

Inmates answer some DMV calls from inside the walls of the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville. DMV spokesman David House said customers aren't at risk.

"They are searched before and after they enter the work area so they can't bring anything in or take anything out with them," House said.

House said inmates are screened to make sure only those with no history of fraud of identity theft are selected to take DMV calls. He also said a supervisor monitors the inmate call center and that inmate DMV calls are recorded.

Computers also limit the inmates' access, allowing them to only access DMV accounts if they have a call. The information is restricted to show only a name, driver's license number and driving record.

House said investigators couldn't find a recording of a call between an inmate and Brown. He said inmates won't ask for Social Security numbers.

"It's one of the preferred jobs at Coffee Creek among all the choices that they have," House said. "So they are not interested in jeopardizing their jobs."

House said DMV customers should not give their Social Security number to the DMV over the phone, except under special circumstances. The DMV advises that customers give their Social Security number in person to a clerk at a DMV office when a license needs renewal.

If asked for their number, House said a DMV customer should call again.

"Make sure you're dialing the right number and call again," he said. "And see that you're getting to the right people."

Brown said she was instantly frightened about the possibility of identity theft. She wants to know who took her call and worries her Social Security number may be in the hands of someone who had no business taking it.

She has since placed fraud alerts on her credit accounts.

"You need to be very careful," she said. "And do not give anybody any valuable information."

Calling DMV? Careful With Social Security Number, State Says