My social security number is apparently not so secure

[Tiberius Jim]

I went about getting signed up for a new cell phone service yesterday at work, since we have a great employee rate. I entered my name and my social security number into the system and something rather interesting popped up on screen. Apparently, they already have an account on file with that information. Which I found odd, as I have never been a customer of this specific wireless carrier. Through our activation terminal at work, we were able to find out that a woman by the name of Alejandra living in Chula Vista, CA is the "authorized" subscriber on the account. That's funny, I don't remember authorizing anything to a woman I've never met at the other end of the state.

So apparently, this person somehow got a hold of my SSN and was then somehow able to use it to get a cell phone. I have her full name, address, email address and now even her MySpace...yet have no idea what to do with this info, if anything. I have called the wireless carrier's fraud line and they have begun an investigation and I'll be calling the Federal Trade Commission later, as I have been informed they're the federal body that handles this sort of thing. If anyone has any advice on who else to contact, what else to do, etc. it'd be appreciated. I want this cleaned up so I can get my phone (I can't open a line until this gets cleared up thanks to this) but I also want whoever this person is to get what's coming to them.

 

[RoJoHen]

That's pretty crazy. I wonder if she just gave a fake SSN so she wouldn't have to give her own.

It's absolutely ridiculous that your SSN is required for purchases like this these days. Why exactly does a cell phone company need my social security number? I just don't get the reason.

 

[Holdfast]

I wonder if she just gave a fake SSN so she wouldn't have to give her own.

I bet that's the case.

 

[SeerSGB]

That's pretty crazy. I wonder if she just gave a fake SSN so she wouldn't have to give her own.

It's absolutely ridiculous that your SSN is required for purchases like this these days. Why exactly does a cell phone company need my social security number? I just don't get the reason.

It's crazy as all hell. I refuse to give it sometimes if I don't think there's a need for it.

 

[Pingfah]

I wonder if she just gave a fake SSN so she wouldn't have to give her own.

I bet that's the case.

Yes, she probably just doesn't have one. They make you prove your ID when you get a phone here too IIRC since it is a credit agreement in principle.

 

[nevermore]

That's pretty crazy. I wonder if she just gave a fake SSN so she wouldn't have to give her own.

It's absolutely ridiculous that your SSN is required for purchases like this these days. Why exactly does a cell phone company need my social security number? I just don't get the reason.

They use the SSN to perform a credit check.

 

[JAG]

How long has that account been open. If some time, it may have been used as a fake, or it could be a data entry error. Pull your credit report. You are entitled to one free per year from the bureau. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com.

 

[The Borg Queen]

Could you sue her for identity theft? Because you probably should.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

How long has that account been open. If some time, it may have been used as a fake, or it could be a data entry error. Pull your credit report. You are entitled to one free per year from the bureau. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com.

It's one per year per reporting bureau - of which there are three that each report information a bit differently. See about putting a fraud alert or hold on your ss# with each bureau that may slow down additional accounts being opened.

I'd also contact the police and file a report, if only for your own protection if something turns up later.

Consider contacting the Social Security administration to see about a change in numbers if that's appropriate.

 

[nx1701g]

Could you sue her for identity theft? Because you probably should.

Here is my recommendation:

- Immediately contact the police and report the crime as identity theft. You need to do this incase your information was sold or stolen.
- You want to then have your finances reviewed for any unusual activity.

 

[TorontoTrekker]

Have you ever lost your wallet, or has it ever been stolen? Mine was stolen once, but it seems that all he wanted was the cash - the credit cards and phone calling card were never used, and fortunately my social insurance card wasn't in there. It was just a pain having to replace everything.

 

[RoJoHen]

That's pretty crazy. I wonder if she just gave a fake SSN so she wouldn't have to give her own.

It's absolutely ridiculous that your SSN is required for purchases like this these days. Why exactly does a cell phone company need my social security number? I just don't get the reason.

They use the SSN to perform a credit check.

Are there no other ways to accomplish this?

 

[Tiberius Jim]

Yeah I believe we can bypass the SSN and enter driver's license info instead.

An update on what I've done: I've requested and printed all of my credit reports...and there is no mention of Sprint anywhere, nor are there any accounts that I am not familiar with. I also called my local police to file a report, and have an officer to contact, but need to get the information from Sprint's investigation first...so I am sort of at the mercy of their guys.

 

[TheBrew]

Well, the good news is that it sounds like it was just completely random and that your personal security wasn't compromised. I know you're a careful dude, so I did find it odd that you were compromised.

 

[Wrongway Janeway]

When my husband was a victim of identity theft, it took us about 10 years to get everything completely off of his credit reports. It was a whole lot of stuff, including bankruptcy! And hubby was told that he couldn't file charges against the person who did it because he wasn't the victim in the crime; it was all the businesses to whom this guy owed all the money.

I hope there have been changes in the laws since then.

 

[Gaseous Anomaly]

When my husband was a victim of identity theft, it took us about 10 years to get everything completely off of his credit reports. It was a whole lot of stuff, including bankruptcy! And hubby was told that he couldn't file charges against the person who did it because he wasn't the victim in the crime; it was all the businesses to whom this guy owed all the money.

I hope there have been changes in the laws since then.

That about sums it up!

Oh wait, Social Security Office told me I couldn't change my SS# unless someone’s life was in jeopardy.

 

[SeerSGB]

When my husband was a victim of identity theft, it took us about 10 years to get everything completely off of his credit reports. It was a whole lot of stuff, including bankruptcy! And hubby was told that he couldn't file charges against the person who did it because he wasn't the victim in the crime; it was all the businesses to whom this guy owed all the money.

I hope there have been changes in the laws since then.

It's still a mess, legal wise.

We've got a man that has claimed that he is a current renter in our home. He's had a phone line, internet, credit card bills, driver's license, etc, all listed to our address. We don't have a clue as to who he is, never met the fucker, we're getting the calls from bill collectors claiming he's living here, we nearly had our utilities cut off from nonpayment cause he had a set of utilities registered to this address. About once a week we have to deal with his shit.

Called the police, they said they couldn't do anything till we could actually provide a location for him. The deputy filed a report which stated in his opinion that no person other than family resides at the address. Called the TBI, and we got "well prove he never lived at your home?". We tried to tell them that NO ONE has ever stayed overnight at our home, even family stays at a hotel; I've lived at this house for 20 years, my grandfather owned it before us. They said "Well you can't prove that he didn't, your word against his"

 

[the Dagman]

File charges for identity theft and fraud. Prosecute and then sue for civil damages. Given the name, proximity to the border, and the use of another's SSN, this looks like it could be an illegal alien who may have randomly picked your SSN out of the air when she was asked for it. So call the INS too and tell them what has happened and give them her address.

 

[DeafPoet]

Yeah I believe we can bypass the SSN and enter driver's license info instead.

An update on what I've done: I've requested and printed all of my credit reports...and there is no mention of Sprint anywhere, nor are there any accounts that I am not familiar with. I also called my local police to file a report, and have an officer to contact, but need to get the information from Sprint's investigation first...so I am sort of at the mercy of their guys.

I'm a former employee of Sprint and I used to have to deal with the fraud guys a lot. Important tip: do not wait for these guys to get back to you. Keep on top of them if you want anything done.

It's sad but true: at Sprint only the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

EDIT: As a side note, I'm surprised this chick needed your SSN at all. I would pull up accounts for people who were obviously illegal immigrants all the time and they always had 9999 as the last four of their SSN. It's not company policy by any means, but it's common practice.

 

[Tim]

That's pretty crazy. I wonder if she just gave a fake SSN so she wouldn't have to give her own.

It's absolutely ridiculous that your SSN is required for purchases like this these days. Why exactly does a cell phone company need my social security number? I just don't get the reason.

They use the SSN to perform a credit check.

But I believe that it is illegal for a company selling you a product (unless it's insurance, etc.) to demand that you supply it, since a credit check can be performed based on name, DOB, and current address. When I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile, I refused to provide the SSN; they ran my credit check based on other data, saw my score north of 750, and set up service without a hitch.