Your social security number is stolen, what do you? Social Security numbers that stop working mean that your credit card is declined, at your favorite restaurant or store. When you have this problem, a solution to the situation is to order replacement Social Security card online. Someone may have filed a tax return before you did, which makes you nervous because your Social Security number may have gotten stolen. If you lose it in public, you have to be wary of who will pick it up.
Your Social Security number is important to maintain as functional only because the government uses it to keep track of your lifetime earnings, since you need to use this number to open bank accounts at banking institutions or credit unions. You may start dealing with situations like not being able to apply for disability because someone else is using your number. The 2017 Equifax breach exposed many Social Security numbers. Equifax is one of three major American credit-reporting agencies in the United States. Sometimes you may have to wind up having the Social Security number thief arrested.
Your Social Security number can be used to commit fraudulent identity theft. If you have a credit history, your Social Security number is duly compromised. You need to file a police report on the theft of your Social Security number with your hometown’s police department. The IRS makes sure that your refund can be processed properly if your Social Security number is good. If your Social Security number is not fine, someone else may have filed your tax return for you, using your Social Security number. You cannot apply for disability benefits until you fix the problem with your Social Security number.
A stolen Social Security number is used to get credit, loans, telephone accounts or other goods and services. Some people who are not legal residents of the United States misuse it to get medical care. The police report you would file in that situation serves to deport those misusing your number, and living illegally in the United States. Your Social Security number is something you have to be very careful with. It should not leave the house. A passport is good enough identification to cart around.
The four major purposes of having a Social Security number is to:
• prove you are a U.S. citizen in good standing
• To receive Social Security disability income
• To get an actual job with an employer
• To make sure that company can background check you
You can only apply for disability benefits if you are a legal U.S. citizen. To receive SSI, you have to be a legal U.S. citizen. The best proof is a birth certificate and a passport. If you want a real job, you need a decent Social Security number. That company you apply to? Well, they need to make sure your number is real because they have to background check you. When you apply for a federal loan, you definitely need this number.
Enrolling in organizations like Medicare require a Social Security number. Your tax return is necessary to file with the IRS matching you have reported on your tax return. You need a Social Security number to apply for a driver’s license. You cannot get a driver’s license without a Social Security number. If you have a Social Security number, you are a legal immigrant or an American Citizen. A Social Security number is what you need to legally work in the United States. If you get medical care, you can leave the Social Security number line blank with nobody able to question why you did that. If your Social Security Number is outright stolen, you have to report it to the Federal Trade Commission or FTC, using their identitytheft.gov website. Thieves can use your number, and other personal data.
Using another person’s data is illegal, resulting in many a headache for you. Thieves can apply for credit as well as take out a loan, to get a job or even get themselves decent healthcare in their name. You have to keep your tax returns in a safe place, if you have a home break-in situation on your hands. Social Security fraud using your number has to be reported because you have to state when you apply for benefits that all the information you left in your application is true and correct to the best of your knowledge.
Social Security takes truthful reporting very seriously. You cannot necessary bend the truth for them without getting into trouble. People who have social security benefits are sometimes unable to manage their money by themselves so they rely on a conservator or someone else to manage their finances for them. Managing finances means having a good social security number to use at banks if you need to. Businesses ask for a Social Security number because it is a good way to keep track of customers. Colleges use Social Security numbers to prove legal citizenship. that means you are eligible to enroll. If you lose your social security number, you also have to contact the three credit bureaus such as Equifax, Experian and Transunion to see who is misusing your number.
While this may or may not happen to you, it is best to freeze your credit so no one can misuse it. After a case of identity fraud, the Social Security people may not be able to give you a new number, so you will have to repair your old number, which is only possible if you file a police report. Checking your credit once a year is a necessary situation you need to do anyway. There are identity theft service providers out there that can help you repair what has gone wrong with your number. It is always a good idea to review your annual social security earnings to see how much money got put into your pension. Social security information has to be kept safe plenty of times, as you have to order replacement social security card online.
