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Identity Theft-What Can Really be Done w/o a SSN?

Posted by Cliff on from the protecting-your-data dept.

TheItalianGuy asks: "Many of us that work in the financial sector are bombarded with daily security threats. One of the biggest these days is Identity Theft. My fellow comrades and I have been really grilling each other on differing scenarios on what could be done with what information. However, it all seems to come back the the Social Security Number. Financial companies have other controls in place (customer service verification checking, account passwords, etc) to ensure identification. But in order to be of any use, a bad guy would really need someone's SSN. Absent of that, other information would be useless. Right? That's what I would like to ask Slashdot folks. What could be realistically done with customer information without a SSN? Account numbers, address, maybe a phone or payment amount. Is that really dangerous to the customer if only those get compromised?"

2 of 533 comments (clear)

  1. SSN is the problem by nemesisj · · Score: 1, Troll

    Isn't the question more along the lines of "What CAN'T be done with a SSN?" Seriously - almost every financial transaction needs this number, which as far as I know wasn't ever supposed to be a national ID number. It seems like the overarching importance of a SSN is what makes identity theft so easy. There have been several times where I've not had all the security information when talking to a representative on the phone, but the fact that I knew my SSN trumped everything.

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    $45 per U Colocation Special
  2. MY SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER IS . . . by Jizzbug · · Score: 0, Troll

    I'm this guy: http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?w=2&r=1&s=derekm+hac kunix.org&q=a

    And these are my vitals:

    Derek P. Moore
    PO Box 10051
    Kansas City, MO 64171-0051
    SSN 323-80-9292

    Uh oh, someone is really gonna fuck me over now... I'm shakin' in muh boots.

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    -=/\- Jizzbug -/\=-