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SCAM ALERT: Who Wants Your Social Security Number? How often are you asked for your Social Security number? Do you really know who wants it and why? Protect yourself from growing crime known as "identity theft." Here's how one such scam worked. In 1998, older Social Security recipients received letters on a likeness of Social Security stationery which stated that they might be entitled to an additional check from Social Security each month. Recipients were asked to send a "filing fee" of varying amounts up to $23 or to fill out a form including their Social Security and bank account numbers so the fee could "automatically be deducted." Some of the letters were followed with a phone call from a man claiming to be from Social Security. Legitimate mailings from Social Security never ask for money! They also do not normally ask for someone's Social Security number, they already know it. Lana Elzy, of Floyds Knobs, Indiana, contacted her local Social Security office after her 90-year-old aunt received an overnight mail package asking for her Social Security number, information about her bank account, and her signature on a blank form. Lana, an accountant, recognized the blank form as a check template that could be used to print counterfeit checks. Identity thieves steal your Social Security number to assume false identities, apply for benefits they are not entitled to, open fraudulent credit card accounts, buy vehicles, and commit a host of other crimes, all in your good name. Protect your Social Security number. Do not give it out unless it is needed for a legitimate purpose. You will need it to file your income tax return, to apply for a loan or, in some states, to apply for or renew your driver's license. In most other cases, your Social Security number should NOT be necessary. TSCL does not ask for your Social Security number. Source: "Social Security Scam Warned," Alice Ann Love, The Associated Press, October 20, 1998. "Statement of Edmund Mierzwinski, Consumer Protection Director, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, hearing on Use and Misuse of Social Security Numbers, before the Subcommittee on Social Security of the House Committee on Ways and Means, May 11, 2000. This article first appeared in Volume 6, Issue 2 of "The Social Security and Medicare Advisor" newsletter (December/January/2001). To receive future editions of "The Advisor" in its special, free e-mail version, please click here. | ||||||||
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