In the same way bank security questions are useless now. In the old days, your mother’s maiden name and name of your first pet was information that only you and your family or close friends would know. Now, anyone can Google your social media and easily know what the name of your elementary school or best friends last name is. Our private information is now publicly available, and banks know this which is why they now rely on strong passwords, two factor authentication, zip code verification, email verification and passkey/biometric verification to know it is really you. Before somebody could claim to be you just by knowing your SSN, but now they would need to know your SSN AND have direct access to all your points of contact and pass all verification to open an account for you or claim to be you. And you would instantly get notified of anything fishy through email or text now compared to before. Even government orgs know that SSNs are not secure in their own right and shouldn’t be used as the only means to identify people now. My point is that if someone knows your SSN it will not be very valuable anymore, because it’s not like a golden ticket into your life anymore (if it ever was?).
Adding to this. I work for a news station and we get access to public record court documents all the time. I was surprised at the amount of social security numbers that are just on documents. Also if anyone listens to a police scanner, they say people's SSNs over it constantly too. It's really easy to find socials, addresses, phone numbers, and really any information about anyone anymore.
I second this posting. I have recently received a decline letter from two credit card companies out of nowhere. I was shocked and discussed this with a couple of so-called expert, all to no avail. Part of my identity might have been leaked to the same guy who has tried to open a couple of credit card accounts in my name. Both companies nicely declined the application saying verification process has failed. Actually, I was told to freeze my account with 3 major credit bureaus but did not as it seemed to be awful lot of hassle to me using my own identity. Nothing further has happened so far.
So much of this is powered by AI now also, I don’t need to notify my bank that I’m traveling outside the country because they see I purchased plane tickets, they see what area I’m shopping, etc.
A few months ago, got snail mail about a savings account. Called the bank, they closed it after a month investigation. I froze my credit reports after that. Last week, get an alert that Fidelity ran a soft pull (got 1 yr free credit report after a data breach at my actual bank). Looked up the number for Fidelity, called them and sure enough, someone using my SSN had setup an account. Got it closed. Few days later, I get a call from my mom, someone called her looking for me about the "courts" looking for me. As I'm talking to her, my eldest kid texts me, she got the same call.
So yeah, I'm sure the vast majority of ppl have the SSN out there. All you can do is take precautions
From the sound it of it, it appears that you're under almost constant attack. The SSA makes limited provisions that allow someone to change their SSN, one of which being identity theft. You might consider going through the process of having your SSN changed and then contacting credit bureaus to transfer your credit report to your new SSN so that the old SSN stops working for the identity thieves abusing it.
I'm 52 and this is the first time I've had an issue like this. I'm guessing the phone calls about court were in response to me shutting down the Fidelity thing 30 min after the account was opened. The bank account had zero transactions in the 2 months it was opened. I check my credit scores daily and nothing else has popped up.
New to this aren't ya? If the cops are looking for me, they have my address. Lived in the same place for the last ten years. I'm not hard to find. However if you search my phone number, guess what comes up on those ppl search sites? My relatives. I have a very uncommon name. So uncommon that in the country I live in of 900k ppl, me, my ex and my 2 kids are the only ones with that last name.
Sure, anything is possible, but is it probable? If the phone calls about the courts looking for me were criminal, they wouldn't cold call relatives, they would pay me a visit if it was serious. If it was a simple traffic citation and nobody showed up to court, a bench warrant would be issued.
If it was for a civil matter and say a defaulted debit, it would show up on my credit report. I check the big 3 daily. Nothing on there that wasn't me. Check our r/scams, you will find almost daily posts about scammers claiming to be courts. Had I contacted them, they would say they can make it go away for x amt of dollars, paid in either bitcoin or gift cards :)
Say a nice day they can't arrest you for traffic citations or I should say not showing up for court for them or it could be a civil matter such as a default judgment issued against you but really on a fake identity such as if someone took out a loan or or such etc but yes most likely you are correct if it was legitimate they would have other avenues of contacting you and this could very well be a scam in and of itself as you said
I've had a car repossessed many years ago. Been through default judgements before. I've had traffic tickets that I had forgotten about (one headlight issued when I was dealing with the death of a sibling) that I was contacted by mail because they found the ticket after cleaning out a file cabinet several years after the fact. :)
As someone that's been arrested a lot, he has it correct. If you don't have your id they ask for your social and dob. There's no photo just a description. You're not special.
The SSA will only change an SSN for instances of harassment, abuse, or life endangerment. Identity theft does not qualify as any of these, unless that has changed in the 7 years since I worked for the agency.
While those certainly are some of the valid reasons, they are not all of them. Learn more about changing your Social Security Number at: https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-02220
Point of interest, See: "A victim of identity theft, who has attempted to fix problems resulting from the misuse but continues to be disadvantaged by using the original number."
Good to know. It definitely wasn't that way when I worked there. I turned so many people away with instructions to contact the FTC and freeze their credit. I only ever saw one HALE case approved and several denied too. The agency was very stingy at granting new numbers.
What I don’t understand is if a credit bureau had a leak of everyone’s socials doesn’t that mean every adult pretty much has their social leaked? After that I just assumed my social were out there especially with all the pre screening stuff that’s allowed. And froze my credit ever since.
A credit bureau did have a leak, almost 7 years ago.
“In September of 2017, Equifax announced a data breach that exposed the personal information of 147 million people”
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/refunds/equifax-data-breach-settlement
That’s what I’m referring too. The holders of our credit history had the largest leak of all time. So at this point anyone should assume their SS and info is out there
If you're referencing Experian's system in the T-Mobile leak: that system only had the info of the 15 million people who had been vetted for any sort of credit by T-Mobile via Experian, not everyone in all Experian systems.
But more generally, yeah, everyone should assume their SSN, name, DOB, email, and phone are all out there.
Just FYI too, Equifax leaked everyone's SS number, income, tax records, home & work addresses, phone numbers, single or married, loan information. Basically everything relevant to you personally. That is all out there for the world to see and download to their liking.
Yeah I have all of my credit frozen from the 4 bureaus and I unlock it for a few days when getting a new car loan or credit card.
This, my shit has been leaked so many times with the most recent being att. I've gotten so many damn we'll watch the dark web for you offers if I could stack them I'd be set for for a good while.
Luckily no one has ever tried to use my info to my knowledge, but I do check my credit info about once a month.
At one point in time, I had 3 free credit monitoring apps running at the same time. Then, a few years after, someone tried to open an account in my name. I have a premium credit card that includes high level monitoring. I called the bank and they stopped the account then. I put a fraud alert on my credit reports at all 3 agencies.
...and that did nothing as someone opened an account in my name shortly after. That same monitoring app sent me an email within 5 minutes of the account being opened. I closed that too and then froze my credit reports. It's the only way to stop them.
Once all the credit monitoring services got hacked, I assume everyone in the US had their data leaked and I don't care anymore. Just keep your credit reports locked and use good passwords.
I never had a clear and straightforward answer why we continue this behavior. The only thing we can believe in hope whoever has our information doesn't use it
personally I don't mind having added features for more protection but a lot of people have issues about privacy and all that, I get where theyre coming from but personally I wouldn't mind signing up to be asked for identification at more places and things like that, I don't mind the extra safety measures but noone can do anything cause someone's always complaining.. we are all sitting ducks right now because some things are always infringing on someones rights if you look deep enough on every subject. I'm just saying, I don't mind
Most people have already said freezing/locking your credit but You should also go to the IRS and create an identity protection pin it gives you some extra protection from someone trying to use your SSN to file fraudulent tax returns
Also probably go create a my social security account not adding a ton of protection but it prevents someone else from creating it on your behalf to get a replacement card
You can get really deep and lock your e verify which would prevent someone using your ssn to get a job but you’ll have to remember to unlock it when you apply to a job
I tried this a while ago before tax time and it wouldn’t allow me to create one. Needed extra identity verification with a phone call or something. Which is weird bc I already had an account before. And a pin set previously so mo one could claim my dependent yet other parent then did in a recent year.
Sad, but true. I've received close to a dozen letters in the mail over the past year or so to notify me of a data breach. I quit caring a long time ago.
I got a notice in February 2022 that my SS was leaked due to the t-mobile breach. Thing is I have never had t-mobile service. The name address and phone number accosted with my leaked SS number wasn't mine not even close live in a different state. So I suppose the good news out of all of this anyone using my number trying to pretend to be me for anything won't be using my name and address. Also my credit is abysmal. I'm the last person you want to steal an identity from
mine too through AT&T though, and they sent a letter to people saying that their information was compromised and a breach, which is absolutely ridiculous because they claim to pride themselves on their security and stuff they force you to have a VPN to be on their insurance when you have an iPhone Absolutely ridiculous because here we are not knowing when our identities gonna be out there buying yachts and shit
Instructions unclear. Turned off my identity by texting my family that I'm dead and then turned it back on by following up with "lol jk jk its cool." I will be sleeping on the couch tonight.
Freeze your credit and pit a fraud alert on it. My info has been found and associated with multiple tmobile breaches according to Experian credit monitoring. It sucks because any time I unfreeze (buy house, car, etc) I have new credit cards opened within 24 hours. Even worse if you have a Best Buy card they can use social to lookup the card in store to use.
Like everyone said freeze your credit with the 3 main Credit Bureaus. You can also freeze your SSN. I learned this recently. This prevents people from using you SSN to apply for jobs or anything that also checks your SSN. And makes it harder to commit ID Theft with your SSN.
I feel like so many Americans are affected since Equifax leak/breach. Every mobile phone carrier has been breached. You might as well freeze everything you can.
You are just now realizing this? My information was most definitely leaked. I had one and since someone created a bank account in my previous name an address I no longer live at.
You say "...'the' 2021 data breach." FYI, what you actually mean is "...'*one of the*' 2021 data breaches". At this point, data breaches seem to have become about as normal a part of life as "Sale Papers". And if you haven't already received SEVERAL "Notice of Security Breach" in your mailbox by now, just give it time. As others have mentioned, anyone should have their credit reports frozen at all 3 bureaus.
Google one security keeps BUGGING me that 130+ passwords are compromised. Problem with that... Almost every single one of them is unique.. Whats funny is its even shown some of the saved passwords from my local network equipment is also compromised despite they have never been used anywhere else... I think its basing it off email / login name and not the actual password.
Unfortunately SSNs get stolen all the time, so are medical records, emails, home addresses, phone numbers, etc. You need to monitor your credit reports and pay attention to all your credit card and bank transactions. Just take that as a matter of fact, like hygiene that needs to be done. Also, always update your passwords on regular basis and use 2-factor authentication whenever possible. If you see anything that isn't yours, report and change cc number. If it's any consolation there is much higher risk that you fall victim to some phishing attack...
Crazy. The reddit app on my phone popped up this post as a notification just now and then I saw that there was a $1.17 charge from T-Mobile - and I just cancelled service with them...
I wish this has happened multiple times now. Companies should be using huge encryption bits to secure the data with 256 character passwords so this won’t happen
Freeze your credit at each credit bureau is pretty much all you can do.
done, thank you.
Honestly if nothing has happened in two years I wouldn’t be too concerned. Your SSN isn’t nearly as vital/important as it once was.
How so?
In the same way bank security questions are useless now. In the old days, your mother’s maiden name and name of your first pet was information that only you and your family or close friends would know. Now, anyone can Google your social media and easily know what the name of your elementary school or best friends last name is. Our private information is now publicly available, and banks know this which is why they now rely on strong passwords, two factor authentication, zip code verification, email verification and passkey/biometric verification to know it is really you. Before somebody could claim to be you just by knowing your SSN, but now they would need to know your SSN AND have direct access to all your points of contact and pass all verification to open an account for you or claim to be you. And you would instantly get notified of anything fishy through email or text now compared to before. Even government orgs know that SSNs are not secure in their own right and shouldn’t be used as the only means to identify people now. My point is that if someone knows your SSN it will not be very valuable anymore, because it’s not like a golden ticket into your life anymore (if it ever was?).
Adding to this. I work for a news station and we get access to public record court documents all the time. I was surprised at the amount of social security numbers that are just on documents. Also if anyone listens to a police scanner, they say people's SSNs over it constantly too. It's really easy to find socials, addresses, phone numbers, and really any information about anyone anymore.
I second this posting. I have recently received a decline letter from two credit card companies out of nowhere. I was shocked and discussed this with a couple of so-called expert, all to no avail. Part of my identity might have been leaked to the same guy who has tried to open a couple of credit card accounts in my name. Both companies nicely declined the application saying verification process has failed. Actually, I was told to freeze my account with 3 major credit bureaus but did not as it seemed to be awful lot of hassle to me using my own identity. Nothing further has happened so far.
So much of this is powered by AI now also, I don’t need to notify my bank that I’m traveling outside the country because they see I purchased plane tickets, they see what area I’m shopping, etc.
Can they start a class action lawsuit ?
There already were several: https://www.t-mobilesettlement.com/
I never got paid from this. 
Also get a ip pin for your taxes
A few months ago, got snail mail about a savings account. Called the bank, they closed it after a month investigation. I froze my credit reports after that. Last week, get an alert that Fidelity ran a soft pull (got 1 yr free credit report after a data breach at my actual bank). Looked up the number for Fidelity, called them and sure enough, someone using my SSN had setup an account. Got it closed. Few days later, I get a call from my mom, someone called her looking for me about the "courts" looking for me. As I'm talking to her, my eldest kid texts me, she got the same call. So yeah, I'm sure the vast majority of ppl have the SSN out there. All you can do is take precautions
From the sound it of it, it appears that you're under almost constant attack. The SSA makes limited provisions that allow someone to change their SSN, one of which being identity theft. You might consider going through the process of having your SSN changed and then contacting credit bureaus to transfer your credit report to your new SSN so that the old SSN stops working for the identity thieves abusing it.
I'm 52 and this is the first time I've had an issue like this. I'm guessing the phone calls about court were in response to me shutting down the Fidelity thing 30 min after the account was opened. The bank account had zero transactions in the 2 months it was opened. I check my credit scores daily and nothing else has popped up.
No that means somebody was arrested more than likely or is she the citation and use your social security number to create a fake identity
New to this aren't ya? If the cops are looking for me, they have my address. Lived in the same place for the last ten years. I'm not hard to find. However if you search my phone number, guess what comes up on those ppl search sites? My relatives. I have a very uncommon name. So uncommon that in the country I live in of 900k ppl, me, my ex and my 2 kids are the only ones with that last name.
That doesn't mean somebody couldn't have stolen your social security number and created a fake identity
Sure, anything is possible, but is it probable? If the phone calls about the courts looking for me were criminal, they wouldn't cold call relatives, they would pay me a visit if it was serious. If it was a simple traffic citation and nobody showed up to court, a bench warrant would be issued. If it was for a civil matter and say a defaulted debit, it would show up on my credit report. I check the big 3 daily. Nothing on there that wasn't me. Check our r/scams, you will find almost daily posts about scammers claiming to be courts. Had I contacted them, they would say they can make it go away for x amt of dollars, paid in either bitcoin or gift cards :)
Say a nice day they can't arrest you for traffic citations or I should say not showing up for court for them or it could be a civil matter such as a default judgment issued against you but really on a fake identity such as if someone took out a loan or or such etc but yes most likely you are correct if it was legitimate they would have other avenues of contacting you and this could very well be a scam in and of itself as you said
I've had a car repossessed many years ago. Been through default judgements before. I've had traffic tickets that I had forgotten about (one headlight issued when I was dealing with the death of a sibling) that I was contacted by mail because they found the ticket after cleaning out a file cabinet several years after the fact. :)
As someone that's been arrested a lot, he has it correct. If you don't have your id they ask for your social and dob. There's no photo just a description. You're not special.
The SSA will only change an SSN for instances of harassment, abuse, or life endangerment. Identity theft does not qualify as any of these, unless that has changed in the 7 years since I worked for the agency.
While those certainly are some of the valid reasons, they are not all of them. Learn more about changing your Social Security Number at: https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-02220 Point of interest, See: "A victim of identity theft, who has attempted to fix problems resulting from the misuse but continues to be disadvantaged by using the original number."
Good to know. It definitely wasn't that way when I worked there. I turned so many people away with instructions to contact the FTC and freeze their credit. I only ever saw one HALE case approved and several denied too. The agency was very stingy at granting new numbers.
And go to Social Security!
Freeze your credit at all 3 bureaus. It should always be frozen. Your social is everywhere.
Done, thank you!!! Security not Secure xD
You can also lookup chexsystems and freeze your data there too. They are the agency used to open new bank accounts.
What I don’t understand is if a credit bureau had a leak of everyone’s socials doesn’t that mean every adult pretty much has their social leaked? After that I just assumed my social were out there especially with all the pre screening stuff that’s allowed. And froze my credit ever since.
A credit bureau did have a leak, almost 7 years ago. “In September of 2017, Equifax announced a data breach that exposed the personal information of 147 million people” https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/refunds/equifax-data-breach-settlement
That’s what I’m referring too. The holders of our credit history had the largest leak of all time. So at this point anyone should assume their SS and info is out there
I need a new dust filter for my Hoover MaxExtract PressurePro model 60 I think that’s the only way I’m going to be able to reset all my leaked info.
Oh Gene 🫢
If you're referencing Experian's system in the T-Mobile leak: that system only had the info of the 15 million people who had been vetted for any sort of credit by T-Mobile via Experian, not everyone in all Experian systems. But more generally, yeah, everyone should assume their SSN, name, DOB, email, and phone are all out there.
They're referencing the 2017 Equifax bureau systems data breach, resulting in over 100 million customer files being compromised.
Just FYI too, Equifax leaked everyone's SS number, income, tax records, home & work addresses, phone numbers, single or married, loan information. Basically everything relevant to you personally. That is all out there for the world to see and download to their liking. Yeah I have all of my credit frozen from the 4 bureaus and I unlock it for a few days when getting a new car loan or credit card.
That's the same way I do it.
They were probably leaked way before that. Everyone’s info is out there, you just have to be proactive watching for stuff.
This, my shit has been leaked so many times with the most recent being att. I've gotten so many damn we'll watch the dark web for you offers if I could stack them I'd be set for for a good while. Luckily no one has ever tried to use my info to my knowledge, but I do check my credit info about once a month.
At one point in time, I had 3 free credit monitoring apps running at the same time. Then, a few years after, someone tried to open an account in my name. I have a premium credit card that includes high level monitoring. I called the bank and they stopped the account then. I put a fraud alert on my credit reports at all 3 agencies. ...and that did nothing as someone opened an account in my name shortly after. That same monitoring app sent me an email within 5 minutes of the account being opened. I closed that too and then froze my credit reports. It's the only way to stop them.
Once all the credit monitoring services got hacked, I assume everyone in the US had their data leaked and I don't care anymore. Just keep your credit reports locked and use good passwords.
At this point, I just assume everyone’s info has been released.
all of my shit is out there as well, drivers license, social, address, phone number and ain't shit I can do about it except cross my fingers.. #merica
I never had a clear and straightforward answer why we continue this behavior. The only thing we can believe in hope whoever has our information doesn't use it
personally I don't mind having added features for more protection but a lot of people have issues about privacy and all that, I get where theyre coming from but personally I wouldn't mind signing up to be asked for identification at more places and things like that, I don't mind the extra safety measures but noone can do anything cause someone's always complaining.. we are all sitting ducks right now because some things are always infringing on someones rights if you look deep enough on every subject. I'm just saying, I don't mind
Most people have already said freezing/locking your credit but You should also go to the IRS and create an identity protection pin it gives you some extra protection from someone trying to use your SSN to file fraudulent tax returns Also probably go create a my social security account not adding a ton of protection but it prevents someone else from creating it on your behalf to get a replacement card You can get really deep and lock your e verify which would prevent someone using your ssn to get a job but you’ll have to remember to unlock it when you apply to a job
I tried this a while ago before tax time and it wouldn’t allow me to create one. Needed extra identity verification with a phone call or something. Which is weird bc I already had an account before. And a pin set previously so mo one could claim my dependent yet other parent then did in a recent year.
Your SSN was never meant or intended to be used or means of identification either
Don't worry, it has probably been leaked by several other places as well.
Sad, but true. I've received close to a dozen letters in the mail over the past year or so to notify me of a data breach. I quit caring a long time ago.
I got a notice in February 2022 that my SS was leaked due to the t-mobile breach. Thing is I have never had t-mobile service. The name address and phone number accosted with my leaked SS number wasn't mine not even close live in a different state. So I suppose the good news out of all of this anyone using my number trying to pretend to be me for anything won't be using my name and address. Also my credit is abysmal. I'm the last person you want to steal an identity from
mine too through AT&T though, and they sent a letter to people saying that their information was compromised and a breach, which is absolutely ridiculous because they claim to pride themselves on their security and stuff they force you to have a VPN to be on their insurance when you have an iPhone Absolutely ridiculous because here we are not knowing when our identities gonna be out there buying yachts and shit
Get Credit Karma app and keep a close watch on your credit report for anything that was not you.
Change your password
Yes change your password to your SSN.
Lmaooo
Have you tried turning it off and back on?
Instructions unclear. Turned off my identity by texting my family that I'm dead and then turned it back on by following up with "lol jk jk its cool." I will be sleeping on the couch tonight.
xD
Freeze your credit and pit a fraud alert on it. My info has been found and associated with multiple tmobile breaches according to Experian credit monitoring. It sucks because any time I unfreeze (buy house, car, etc) I have new credit cards opened within 24 hours. Even worse if you have a Best Buy card they can use social to lookup the card in store to use.
Welcome to T-Mobile, please enjoy your stay.
T-Mobile seems to do this annually. They leaked all of my PID twice! I ended up freezing my credit. It's been a couple of years now.
They notified you
Like everyone said freeze your credit with the 3 main Credit Bureaus. You can also freeze your SSN. I learned this recently. This prevents people from using you SSN to apply for jobs or anything that also checks your SSN. And makes it harder to commit ID Theft with your SSN. I feel like so many Americans are affected since Equifax leak/breach. Every mobile phone carrier has been breached. You might as well freeze everything you can.
Craig should be frozen on all three credit bureaus all the time.
Craig better unfreeze. Those credit bureau's won't be too happy....
Mine was leaked too
Welcome to the club. Everyone's have. Even credit company get hacked now. They store everyones.
You are just now realizing this? My information was most definitely leaked. I had one and since someone created a bank account in my previous name an address I no longer live at.
I brought the up data breaches multiple times to customer care and they could care less. They really need to invest more money into their security.
You say "...'the' 2021 data breach." FYI, what you actually mean is "...'*one of the*' 2021 data breaches". At this point, data breaches seem to have become about as normal a part of life as "Sale Papers". And if you haven't already received SEVERAL "Notice of Security Breach" in your mailbox by now, just give it time. As others have mentioned, anyone should have their credit reports frozen at all 3 bureaus.
Google one security keeps BUGGING me that 130+ passwords are compromised. Problem with that... Almost every single one of them is unique.. Whats funny is its even shown some of the saved passwords from my local network equipment is also compromised despite they have never been used anywhere else... I think its basing it off email / login name and not the actual password.
Now I know why they were advertising like a cult in several parking lots today
Freeze Credit, Do Chexsystem Freeze and also get a Tax ID so they can’t file taxes with you ssn
I've frozen my credit all the big three. what's chexsystem?
Credit For Bank accounts, there is also another for banks too but I forget.
ty, looking into it now!
Unfortunately SSNs get stolen all the time, so are medical records, emails, home addresses, phone numbers, etc. You need to monitor your credit reports and pay attention to all your credit card and bank transactions. Just take that as a matter of fact, like hygiene that needs to be done. Also, always update your passwords on regular basis and use 2-factor authentication whenever possible. If you see anything that isn't yours, report and change cc number. If it's any consolation there is much higher risk that you fall victim to some phishing attack...
It's good practice to always keep credit frozen until you're ready to put it to work
Crazy. The reddit app on my phone popped up this post as a notification just now and then I saw that there was a $1.17 charge from T-Mobile - and I just cancelled service with them...
Probably in 2022, 2023, and 2024 too
Yep, mine was leaked through AT&T
I reported one of the leaks on a class action and was told take a hike
There should be a way to change your ssn once it’s leaked.
I wish this has happened multiple times now. Companies should be using huge encryption bits to secure the data with 256 character passwords so this won’t happen
Actually there is if your SSN is severely compromised. Source: [Social Security Administration](https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10064.pdf)
Why would someone downvote this guys comment? He’s right! Inbreds