Enabling Criminals - Not Consumers
Maybe someday the federal government will outlaw the use of the social security number for ID purposes, until then, consumer safeguards should be in place - this is not the case in 2009.
Mini-Mart operator sells six-pack to 18 year old adult- undercover sting operation- busted- fined- possible loss of liquor license, etc.
Meanwhile, somewhere across town, bogus social security numbers are accepted- no questions asked.
What prevents the use of a bogus SSN?
An Honor System.
The "quantity vs. quality" administrative methods used by business and government make consumers vulnerable.
It should be just as hard to use a fake social security number as it is to use a fake lottery ticket-
Try passing a fake lottery ticket anywhere in the state and see what it’s like to run up against a system that is designed to prevent fraud.
So- a business processing a credit/loan application will accept a bogus SSN and not do a crosscheck to reveal it belongs to a child? - Gross Negligence - Brought to you via a cooperative effort of government and private enterprise.
What do we hear about ID Theft?
From the Government-
ID theft is the number one fastest growing crime- we are warned to safeguard our social security number and shred our receipts.
Much talk about what do do with your SSN.
No talk about what others may do with it.
What prevents the use of a bogus SSN?
An honor system- that is all.
From Business-
Private enterprise can help by offering several ways to monitor our credit file- profiting from selling us data about ourselves- like paying a middleman to view a police report before and after you have been the victim of a crime.
For Consumers-
Both major political parties seem to have failed to act on ID theft. This issue was nowhere on the radar screen in our 2008 election.
In the Workplace-
It takes a fingerprint background check to work at a school district. If this was too difficult a task for an HR department- there would be hundreds of school districts that would not be able to hire people who are supposed to be safe to work around kids.
Bogus social security numbers are passed around and accepted on an “honor system” basis- for the purpose of obtaining employment, filing out credit/loan applications, etc.- for some reason- the government shows no sense of urgency whatsoever about taking action to prevent fraud Re: your social security number.
Let’s say I was arrested for some reason. When it comes time to have my fingerprints taken, I reach into my bag and pull out a card that already has prints on it-
“Here, take these”
The police department accepts the card I hand over as a step-saver instead of taking my prints.
This is what is happening now with social security numbers.
The burden of preventing identity theft should not lie completely on the consumer.
Identity theft is when an account you do not know about is opened in your name. Statements for this account are sent somewhere, but not to you. ID theft is not when someone fraudulently uses your credit card number- you are already protected in this case- read the back of your credit card statement to learn about your rights.
People are having their lives temporarily ruined because credit agencies will not be inconvenienced by taking common sense steps to prevent fraud.
Businesses would loose money if they had to slow down and take steps to prevent fraudulent accounts from being opened- they do not want to do this.
The fear of "Identity Theft" could be reduced if credit agencies were required to notify the person who has established credit whenever a person with the same name, DOB, and SSN makes an application under a new address.
We live in a world of passwords and PIN codes-which we can change daily. Our system of assigning a lifetime number to each person and using that number to create vulnerability is lazy. It should take more than raiding one’s mailbox to go on a fraudulent spending spree.
Many credit monitoring products can be purchased to keep an eye out for an ID theft attack- (business profiting from lack of consumer safeguards which should already be in place)- You want to make it better? Buy more stuff.
When we do on-line banking, we don’t pay extra to have our account password protected- why should we have to pay extra to have our social security number protected?
How about an opt in/out program where the SSN is useless without fingerprints?
If companies will not take steps to prevent fraud voluntarily, it should become a legal requirement.
A Symbol of Freedom & Federal Government Credibility Alex Hepler photo