Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ssn and socialsecuritynumber

How private can I keep my SSN

Admiral Haddock — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:01:17 -0800

I hate giving out my Social Security number (other than in connection with tax reporting and where I need to have a background/credit check--where I realize it's necessary). How much do you squawk when asked for your social in other scenarios? Example inside. Right now, I'm working with someone on estate planning / wills etc. who wants my SSN as part of my paperwork. This is strictly a fee-for-service relationship--the person is not responsible for any investments, reporting, executorship, and I have to pay to get the estate plan (in fact, I've ALREADY paid for it), so I see no reason why he needs my SSN (other than maybe internal recordkeeping). I'd really rather not share it, but I also would like to keep the relationship and I don't want to be that guy about it. I'm half inclined to invert a couple of the numbers (again this is in the context of something I've already paid for, so there is no benefit other than my privacy and peace of mind).

Is this overly cautious? I've looked at earlier questions (e.g., 1, 2). It's not a state instrumentality where you can't fight the request, but given that it's a purely contractual arrangement, the planner could, of course, refuse to deal me in the future if he thinks I'm a pain.

correcting a wrong SSN on tax forms

belladonna — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:25:37 -0800

After dropping my US tax forms in the mail this afternoon, I discovered that I had mis-typed one of my dependent's SSN on the form. Is there a way to correct this now, or do I need to just wait for them to reject the return and then give them the correct SSN & supporting documentation? As far as I know, everything else was correct.

Pseudo Social Security Number?

SpacemanStix — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:40:04 -0800

We have a foster daughter who we would like to claim as a dependent. I have a question about her Social Security Number and taxes. She is a year old (and awesome), and we've been requesting a social security card for her through the county since she came to us 9 months ago. We still have not received it, so we are unable to claim her as a dependent on our tax forms. We were able to figure out that one of the government agencies that she receives services from uses what they refer to as a "pseudo" social security number for her, and they passed that on to us. However, although it has the right number of characters, it ends with a p, so it is not recognized by the tax software that we use. Is it correct to assume that this is because it is not sufficient, and we'll need to continue waiting for the real thing?

What do I do after someone uses my SSN for himself?

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 12:39:38 -0800

Someone in another state used my SSN to open credit in his name (not my name or address). Then this guy skipped out on the bills. Now the bank has tried to garnish my wages at my job by via my SSN. My job told the bank to get lost, basically, since I'm not the guy in question. Still, there's this matter of my SSN being used by this guy. I've checked my credit reports and there's nothing there that shouldn't be and I've placed fraud alerts with the three credit reporting agencies. What should I do next? Here's the long version: two days ago my job's HR department alerted me that they'd received a request to garnish my wages from Large Credit Card-Issuing Bank. The writ had my SSN, but not my name and address on it. It's not my debt. The HR department responded to the bank with a letter explaining that I'm not the guy they're looking for, my SSN shouldn't be there, and that we won't be doing any garnishing. Moreover, they told the bank to take my SSN off of this guy's file. HR sent me copies of the writ and HR's reply. I have the guy's name and address (assuming it's correct, too).

I checked my credit reports and they're all accurate. No unexpected accounts or attempts at unexpected accounts. I placed a fraud alert with all three monitoring agencies. Now I'm not sure what else to do.

As an aside, I've been receiving phone calls from zombie debt collectors for months at my home number looking for people who are not me or, in one case, a guy with the same name as me except for a different middle name, birthday, and SSN. I keep telling these collectors that I'm not the guy they want, but they keep calling. Most of the time it's automated messages that follow-up with no way to get off of their database. I'd assumed these were just zombie robo calls, but now I'm wondering if this is all connected somehow.

I should note that I'm not missing any money, have received no unusual bills, and have not experienced unexpected charges to my credit cards. Everything on my end of things seems to be normal.
So where do I go from here? If someone is using my SSN or other information for nefarious things, I obviously want to shut him down. What else can I do?

DLN = SSN ?

Vibrissa — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:30:03 -0800

States that used social security numbers as driver's license numbers: anyone know how to find a list? Barring that, it'd be helpful if you could chime in with knowledge about a particular state (I'm pretty sure Oregon never did). I know that as of 2005 or so, there are no states that use socials for license numbers, but I want to know which states used to; I need to know whether or not to consider old driver's license numbers to be as sensitive as social security numbers.

Legit landlord or identity thief?

Asymptote — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:33:11 -0800

What personal info does my future landlord need from me to make sure I'm legit? How do I make sure he's legit? This is my first time renting an apartment. Before I sign the lease, the landlord wants (among other info) my social security number and a copy of my driver's license. He says he wants these to run my credit history and do a background check on me. Because my parents will be cosigners on the lease, he wants the same information from them.

Is this reasonable? Or am I just setting myself up for identity theft?

Furthermore, how should I go about checking him out? Is getting his background check and credit history a good idea?

Background:
The landlord lives in NY and the apartment is in CT. I have not yet met him in person, but we've talked over the phone. I've seen the apartment and met with the current residents, who say the landlord is great. I've done some preliminary web searches to check up on him, and he's almost certainly who he says he is.

how do i find out my lost social security number?

compound eye — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:23:11 -0800

I've lost my social security number. I'm not american, but i lived there once and had an ssn. I'm in australia, not in the united states, so i can't walk to a social security office and show them my id. How can I find out my what my number was? My social security card was stolen many years ago by a housemate's boyfriend, who for reasons know only to him, also stole my socks and my toothbrush. Not long after than I lost pretty much everything I owned while I was out of the country, so all my records from that time are gone.
(it was a bad year for property retention i guess)
I now need to know the number and given that the nearest social security office is in the us embassy in The Philippines I was wondering if there is an easier way than dealing with a busy office in another time zone. I tried one online service that claimed to be free but then wanted wanted credit card dollars to register.

any suggestions?

thanks for your help

Help me help him look for a job

Jaie — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 10:37:44 -0800

Social security numbers on job applications. I have a library user who is applying for hourly-level jobs at places that only accept online applications. A surprising number of the application sites ask for a social security number, and are set up so that unless you put nine digits in the SSN field you can't proceed to the rest of the application. This library user wants to play by the rules but is, naturally, reluctant to give out this information. All the job sites (Monster.com included) say you should never provide your SSN until you are in the final stages of being hired. It's my understanding that a company cannot require an SSN of an applicant (although I could be wrong about that), but in this case there's no way to get around giving them one. No matter how much I Google, I can't find any advice about what to do when you have to put in a number to get to the rest of the form. So I have come to the ultimate source of advice, Ask MeFi.

If we enter a string of random numbers, is it going to knock his application out of consideration? How will the company react if/when he is hired and has to give his actual number? These are entry-level positions like stocker or parking lot attendant, if it matters.

Savings Bond with Anglicized Name and Giver's SSN and Address -- Can I Still Redeem?

greatgefilte — Sun, 19 Dec 2004 21:19:24 -0800

Incorrect information on US Savings Bonds... Some bonds that were given to me years ago are coming of age, and horror of horrors, there's one that's got just about every piece of information wrong. The last name has been Anglicized, the social security number is the giver's, and the address under my name is the giver's as well (I suspect this came from a well-meaning relative who used a not-too-perceptive messenger to actually get the bond).

Will it be a big hassle to redeem this bond when the time comes? I'm told that if it's just a name or a SS number that's incorrect, it's usually not a problem, but this seems like the next level.