Once again, it is time to keep track of your online information
7https://www.cbsnews.com/news/social-security-number-leak-npd-breach-what-to-know/
Hackers could have the social security, address, and phone numbers of every citizen again. The brag is that they stole 2.7B sets of data; the 2022 census estimates the current national population as 333M.
- 4 comments, 16 replies
- Comment
So… Social security numbers were never meant to be used as a personal identfier or be kept secret. They sort of got that status because of a lack of another national ID. But think of all the places you give that. That’s not what they were meant for. Many are not secure. I believe it was required on my ACT and every job application.
Address history is not hard to look up.
And tons of organizations are going to have that in their databases. Cell providers have that to get a plan which is just. Outrageous.
Things I would recommend across the board.
Place a freeze on all three major credit bueras. I have done this for a decade. It used to not be free in all states but now it is. No one can do a hard pull while the freeze is in place. To temporarily remove a freeze for a day/period because I’m requesting credit takes 10 minutes for all three. Just login to the portal and temporarily lift.
Experian
https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
Equifax
https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
TransUnion
https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
There are services for bank checking accounts but they are less attacked/not as comprehensive.
social security accounts have moved to login.gov
You should probably have that. As always don’t use simple passwords/a password safe is your friend.
@unksol When I started college, they used social security numbers as student identifiers, and it was on every piece of paper they sent me. I thought it was funny.
@mossygreen @unksol my first drivers license was my ss#, they thought it was easier back then
@lonocat @unksol They weren’t wrong as such.
@mossygreen @unksol Yes I put SSN on the top of every college essay. It was on my paychecks and driver’s license. I had friends who put it on their checks for ease of paying by check at stores. And of course soldiers had SSN on their dog tags.
@katbyter @mossygreen right. So. Leaks of your SSN could come from anywhere. Address history is/was in the phone book. Your mother’s maiden name is on your birth certificate with the county clerk. You first car is with the BMV. Your first job is with the IRS. Your highschool mascot is easy to Google.
Even if you weren’t being fished. At least freeze it. Basic barricades so you’re not worth the tiny extra effort
@unksol Medicare just stopped using SS# aa their identifier a few years ago.
@unksol Thank you very much for your suggestions and generous level of detail. Took me twenty minutes to set up accounts and place freezes on all three of mine and I shared with my immediate family members. Stay safe out there, y’all!
@wooterondo it’s only free/easy because the CFPB made it that way. Contrary to some beliefs regulating giant for profit corporations is a good thing.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/free-credit-freezes-are-here/#:~:text=in your name.-,Starting Sept.,freeze for that person%2C too.
@unksol @wooterondo We are in this pickle because of idiot bureaucrats hired/appointed by idiot administrators elected by idiot voters, and tolerated by idiot legislator s voted, for by…
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRVcSRXj8IYWpx5df7UjxUpRxyHiuEbDVG4NA&s
@lisagd @unksol And let me tell you how much chaos that caused. A large government is a bureaucracy by definition, and when has a bureaucracy done anything well on a large scale.
In addition to placing the three freezes I mentioned above. Which are extremely simple to do and you can turn on and off at will. No issues there. Everyone should.
There is another level. However DO NOT do this unless you actually suspect active fraud. If you request a fraud alert at ANY of the credit bureau they are required to forward it to the other two.
When they do that how to get it removed varies. One I could do online. One I had to scan on a form with id. One I had to call. One of them messed up and resent it too the other two as an alert, and I had to do it all again. Doesn’t hurt your score. Just a pain in the ass but better than fraud
The way it’s intended to work is the credit requestor just asks for a confirmation code, but they dont
https://www.experian.com/fraud/center.html
https://www.experian.com/fraud/center.html
https://www.transunion.com/fraud-alerts
If you play the state lottery online, PA requires you give up your SS#; no thanks Ill go to a store to play where I dont give it up until I win the “major award”.
@KSchweitz
@KSchweitz
Which means you will never, ever have to give it out.
And remember for those of you over about 40ish (not sure the exact cut-off year) don’t even give out the last 4 of your SSN, because when you were born, the last 4 digits were the ONLY random numbers on your SSN and it’s easy to find where people were from these days, so can easily get your other digits.
You give someone the last 4, and they know your name- you’ve just given a skilled bad-guy all they need to figure out your entire SSN.
Younger people don’t need to worry about that as much because they changed it so more than just the last 4 were random.
@OnionSoup I used to telemarket credit cards (I know, I’m sorry) and we needed to get the last four and the first digit also. people were always floored when you guessed their first digit based on their address.
@jouest Yeah, SSN in the early days being assigned by hospital, and like zip codes, being assigned “logically” by region… not really a secure secret number (because it was never meant to be a secure secret ID back then).
75% of Americans live in the same area they were born- so in many cases easy to guess which hospital they were born in- and thus get their entire SSN. (even without looking up public records to see where they used to live)
@OnionSoup Way back when I had a pay-as-you-go flip phone, I used T-Mobile. They would NOT let me have an account without those last 4 digits! I argued with them, but they wouldn’t budge.
@Kyeh @OnionSoup I mean they still try and do credit checks. Cell phone companies are horrible about doing a pull, and that is how credit checks work.
But you know. You’re social is out there and has been. Can’t change that fact. Lock it down. Deep breath. It will probably be ok