Social Security Identity Theft
Published July 31st, 2007 in Credit Help and Tips.
Everyday we reveal personal information about ourselves to complete strangers, whether it’s reading our credit card number over the phone to order takeout or telling a customer service representative our name and home address.
While this is just a fact of life, some methods of verification can be more problematic than others, such as sharing the last four digits of your social security number.
This is where things get tricky because many businesses rely on the last four digits of our social security number for verification purposes because it’s such a strong measure of privacy, and often treated as an “authenticator”.
But at the same time, it’s very sensitive information that can land us in hot water if we reveal it to the wrong people.
I can think of multiple companies that ask for the last four digits of my social security number for verification purposes, and it always makes me a little nervous.
By law, you’re only obligated to give out any portion of your social security number to financial institutions and companies who report your information to the IRS, such as your employer.
That means the cable companies, your cell phone provider, the electric company and other services shouldn’t demand it, and should offer an alternative if you decline to share it.
In fact, Congress has tried to pass legislation that would ban the use of social security as a verification method for commercial purposes because of the potential dangers it poses.
So why is it so dangerous? Especially if it’s just a portion of our nine-digit number?
The reason is that crooks may be able to work out the full nine-digit number simply by obtaining the last four digits of your social security along with your name and home address.
From there, it’s just a matter of figuring out your place and time of birth, which is how the first five digits are assigned.
And even without the full sequence, crooks may still be able to order a credit report that displays the full number.
So before you give out your social security number, or any portion of it, think twice and ask for alternatives.
Remember, you can’t just call the social security office and tell them to issue you a new number unless something very serious takes place and they deem it absolutely necessary.
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