Social Security Identity Theft

One of the most common ways that you can fall victim to identity theft is through your social security number. Most people and even protective services believe that your gas bill, credit card of driver licence exposes you to the greatest of having your identity stolen. This pails into comparison with the digits that appear on your social security card.

Your social security number is so important because it can link you to anything with your personal details on it. You cannot obtain a bank account, loan, mortgage, rental accommodation, gas, cell phone and job without your social security number. That nine digit number links you to all these and more. If an identity thief gets hold of it they can do a lot more damage than just impersonating you.

What Exactly Is Social Security Identity Theft

This happens when an identity thief steals your social security number and uses it fraudulently to either open up a new banking account, credit card or apply for a loan or employment. This list is not exhaustive as there are several ways that ID fraud can be perpetrated in this way.

Criminal Identity Theft

One of the key areas where social security identity theft is being exploited is immigrants coming into the country looking for work. As you know, to work in the United States you must have a social security number and a growing problem facing the federal government and law enforcement agencies is fake social security numbers being used by illegal immigrants.

It is important to point out that not all immigrants are aware that they have a fake SSN's. This is not surprising, as any person arriving in a new country will have little to no knowledge about how the immigration system works. However, the real problem is a huge black market where stolen social security numbers are being sold and resold.

The true owners of these numbers are completely unaware that their number could be being used by several people applying for jobs and banks accounts. These people may be hard working and honest but there is also a criminal element who deliberately seek out the acquisition fake identities because they are running away from the authorities in their own country.

Social Security Identity Theft Protection

In the world we live in today preventing identity theft should be a top priority in your life.It is amazing the amount of people who carry their social security card in their purse or wallet. This would be fine if your needed to use it everyday like your credit card or debit card. The reality is you use it very rarely so why do you need to carry it around with you and increase the risk of having it stolen?

As pointed out very clearly in this article your social security number is the top prize for identity thieves and crime syndicates who want to steal your identity for criminal purposes. With your number their options to violate you are limitless. Is that worth taking the risk?  The safest place you can hold the nine digit number is in your head. Memorize it and hide your card in a safe place where only you can find it.

Another way that you can prevent identity theft and fraud is to put a credit freeze on your credit report. This term can also be referred to as a credit report lock down. This involves you contacting each if the 3 credit bureaus and asking them to put a freeze on the financial data that they hold about you. The freeze means that the credit bureaus cannot freely sell your information to third parties until they get permission from you first.

The advantage of the credit freeze is that you have the opportunity to check who wants to look at your credit record. The main disadvantage of this approach is that you have to remove the lock down if you want to apply for credit.

Related Articles