At a Glance
If you’re a United States citizen, your Social Security number (SSN) is one of your most valued pieces of your identity. Your SSN is used to open banking accounts, apply for loans and mortgages, and apply for government benefits, including your retirement benefits.
Unfortunately, thanks to data breaches at Capital One, Equifax, and numerous other organizations, it is logical to assume that your SSN has been compromised multiple times.
According to a 2019 Forbes article, it is almost guaranteed that your SSN is in the hands of hackers on the dark web.
Why Should I Be Worried About Someone Having My Social Security Number?
If your Social Security number has been compromised it can open up a whole new world of hurt. While compromised credit or debit card numbers, financial accounts, or other types of account numbers can be easily canceled or changed, your SSN is intended to be with you for your entire life.
Not only that, but your SSN is also intertwined with your banking and credit card accounts. This means that if a bad guy has your name, mailing address, and SSN, they have a leg up on stealing your identity. They can build an all-new virtual life using your information, running up unpaid bills that you may never be able to pay back.
What Should I Do If My Social Security Number Is Compromised?
If your Social Security number is compromised, you should go into action immediately to protect yourself from identity theft.
Report Any Identity Theft to the FTC and Your Local Police
If you believe your SSN has been compromised and that you may be the victim of identity theft, immediately contact your local police department to fill out a theft report. While police may not be able to immediately begin an investigation leading to an arrest, the report can help serve as documentation to aid in resolution and identity recovery.
Also, contact the FTC at its “IdentityTheft.gov” website, where you can report the theft. The website will also be able to provide information on what you should do next. In some cases, you may need to fill out an identity theft affidavit.
Check Your Credit Reports for Fraud
If there was an extended amount of time that passed between the exposure of your SSN and when you found out about it, the bad guys may have already opened new credit accounts in your name. This is why you should check your credit report for accounts you didn’t open, hard credit inquiries you did not request, and any incorrect information.
You can download a free copy of your credit report from the three major credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com. You are entitled to a free credit report each week until the end of 2023.
Examine every entry on your credit reports, to ensure that you recognize each entry. If you see some entries you don’t recognize, make a note of them so you can dispute them.
Freeze Your Credit
Putting a freeze on your credit is the best way to protect yourself and the sensitive information that is included in your credit reports. Happily, freezing your credit is absolutely free.
Putting a freeze on your credit blocks anyone from applying for new credit in your name. The block stays in place until you personally lift it. By doing this, you can prevent a world of hurt in dealing with identity theft.
To freeze your credit, individually contact each of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax (800-685-1111), Experian (888-397-3742), and TransUnion (888-909-8872). Freezing your credit will not affect your credit score. However, you will need to temporarily lift the freeze when applying for new credit.
Also, if your Social Security number was exposed in a data breach, the affected organization may provide free credit monitoring for clients who had information exposed in the breach. Take advantage of that.
Stop Handing Out Your Social Security Number
The misuse of Social Security numbers began almost as soon as SSN first debuted in the 1930s. Financial institutions were responsible for the surge in the use of SSNs as identifiers, and many other industries have latched on to the misuse of SSNs. Think about it, I can almost guarantee that you’ve been required to furnish the last four numbers of your SSN to identify yourself at one time or another.
There is no reason you should need to supply your Social Security number in your everyday activities. Your favorite store’s loyalty card program doesn’t need to ask for your SSN, nor does your doctor’s office. If someone asks for your SSN, immediately ask them why they need it. Do not automatically enter your SSN on a form simply because there is a supplied field for it.
By limiting who you disclose your number to, you’re shrinking the attack surface of hackers by reducing the locations the information is available.
Also, stop carrying your Social Security card around in your billfold or purse. It isn’t designed to be used for identification purposes. The Social Security Administration (SSA) even tells you not to carry your card with you and to keep it in a safe place.
Review Your Social Security Statement
Make sure to get a copy of your Social Security statement, as it contains important information about your retirement benefits, disability benefits (if you are drawing disability), your Medicare information, and records of your earnings.
By requesting a copy of the statement from the Social Security Administration, you can review it for incorrect information, missing (or additional) earnings, and details about your benefits.
Visit the SSA’s Statement request page and sign in using your Social Security account login or create a new one. Review your statement for any inaccuracies. If there are inaccuracies, report them to the SSA.
Contact the IRS
Your Social Security number identifies you in many ways, not the least of all on your federal tax return. Scammers can file a fraudulent tax return or even steal your refund if they have your SSNS. That makes it important to contact the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) if you’re a victim of identity theft.
You should call the IRS at 1-800-908-4490 or contact them online to learn more about reporting tax fraud to the IRS.
You may be required to file Form 14039 (Identity Theft Affidavit) to establish that you’ve been the victim of identity theft. The form can be filled out online or it can be printed and attached to your tax return.
For more information, read the IRS Identity Theft Victim assistance guide.
Contact Companies Where Your Social Security Number Was Fraudulently Used
If your SSN is stolen and used for fraudulent activities, you are the one that needs to contact impacted businesses. Many creditors have a fraud department with a hotline to call. Check the affected company’s website for information.
Create a “my Social Security” Account and Use DHS Self Lock to Lock Down Your Social Security Number
By creating a “my Social Security” account online you gain the ability to monitor your benefits, get a replacement SS card if needed, apply for benefits, and more. Also, you’ll be able to claim your SSN as yours and receive notifications if the number is being used for purposes you did not initiate.
Thanks to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), citizens can freeze their own SSNs via their “my E-Verify” accounts.
While a SSN freeze won’t prevent criminals from using your SSN for all of their nefarious schemes, it can protect you from employment-related fraud. When your SSN is locked down, scammers won’t be able to use it to be hired illegally.
Sign Up For Social Security Number Monitoring
By signing up for a Social Security number monitoring service, you’ll benefit from active monitoring of Dark Web repositories and forums, internet sites, and public records. If your SSN is found in any of these locations, you’ll receive an immediate alert so you can stop the bad guys before they can do severe damage to your life.
Remove Your Personal Information From Data Brokers’ Servers
Social Security numbers can be obtained by the bad guys via data breaches and many data breaches are aimed at data brokers. Data brokers collect as much information as they can about you and your fellow citizens, then sell it to advertisers, marketers, financial firms, and other nosy folks. They also trade the data with other data brokers, much like children trade baseball cards.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of data brokers around the globe, and it’s a very good bet that they have your personal information on their servers. Sometimes this can include your Social Security Number.
But, if data brokers have your SSN and other personal information, what can you do to stop it?
Well, while you can contact all of the data brokers one by one to tell them to remove your information from their servers, it’s going to take quite a bit of manual work and take quite a while to get all of your information removed.
Plus, once you’ve contacted them all, you’ll need to repeat the process over and over again, as data brokers can later add your personal info back to their databases after a certain amount of time.
This is why you should subscribe to a content removal service, like Incogni.
Incogni
There are several data removal firms to choose from out there, but Incogni is definitely one of your better options. Once you subscribe, the company immediately begins working to find and remove your personal information from the databases of data brokers around the globe.
While Incogni does charge a subscription fee for its services, its rates are some of the most reasonable in the industry. While you may be reluctant to sign up for yet another subscription service, there is a good reason for Incogni’s business model. As long as you stay subscribed, Incogni will continually remain on the lookout for new data brokers with your info, while also keeping an eye on all of the brokers they’ve already contacted to ensure they haven’t added your data back to their servers.
You will need to provide a bit of personal information to Incogni (including your full name, your Social Security number, email and home address, and other info). However, they only use it to determine which data broker has your personal data. Incogni does not share your information with any third parties.
Once you’ve subscribed and provided your info, you’ll need to officially authorize the service to contact data brokers on your behalf. They then go to work, sending removal requests to data brokers on a regular basis and keeping an eye out for new brokers, contacting them to remove your personal data from their servers.
This sounds like a great service, but how much does it cost? Incogni’s pricing is budget-friendly and is well worth the price. A monthly subscription will cost you $12.99 per month (plus tax). You’ll save quite a bit if you opt for an annual subscription, which is $6.49 per month when you pay $77.88 upfront, plus tax annually.
Information collected by data brokers can include your Social Security number, phone number, email addresses, home address, and more. If a data broker suffers a data breach, your Social Security number could end up in the hands of the bad guys. This is why it is important to get your information removed from as many data brokers’ servers as possible.
Incogni uses the information you provide to determine which data brokers around the globe have your personal information stored on their servers. Many data brokers only collect information about folks in their area of the world. This means some data brokers will not be contacted. Incogni only contacts data brokers that are most likely to have your information at hand.
While it’s doing this, Incogni also stays alert for any new data brokers, determines whether they may have your personal info, and then contacts them with a data removal request on your behalf.
The service also contacts all of the brokers it has previously contacted, to make sure that your information doesn’t make an encore appearance on the brokers’ servers.
Once Incogni begins contacting brokers on your behalf, you may see requests for additional information from data brokers before they move forward with the data removal request.
Keep in mind that data brokers have 30 to 45 days to remove your information from their servers (depending on where they do business), and many of them will delay removing your data until the very last minute, as this allows them to continue to sell your data for as long as they can.
Incogni is owned by well-respected privacy-centric VPN provider Surfshark and does not sell your personal data to third parties. You can also view, edit, or delete any of your personal data that is stored on Incogni’s servers.
Unfortunately, Incogni only serves residents of Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. Since privacy laws in the United States vary from state to state, meaning your removal options may vary, depending on which state you reside in.
One handy feature from Incogni is its handy dashboard feature that allows users to monitor the progress of the data removal process at a glance. The dashboard shows both a pie chart and removal scoreboard showing at a glance the progress of the data removal process stands.
Information on the dashboard includes the number of data brokers that may have your information, how many removal requests have been sent to brokers, and how many requests have been completed.
In Conclusion
Having your Social Security number stolen can cause all sorts of havoc in both your personal and business lives. That’s why it makes sense to take full control of your personal information, deleting your info whenever and wherever you can.
By keeping your eyes open for data breaches and removing your personal information from data brokers’ servers by using services like Incogni, which allows you to reduce your data footprint, with little effort on your part.