U.S. government gives away Social Security numbers

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August 19th, 2009 - Posted by Caitlin

In March, Holly Ramer received a letter from a debt collector demanding that she pay $7,306 in two days. But she didn't owe that money. Instead, the debt belonged to a Micronesian man who defaulted on a disaster loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Because that Micronesian man had the same Social Security number as Holly Ramer, his debt ended up associated with her credit file.

The Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau each has an independently operated Social Security Administration. In exchange for defense rights, the U.S. provides these nations with aid, including grants and loans after disasters. When grant and loan applicants provide their local Social Security numbers to federal agencies, the numbers are sometimes reported to credit bureaus. Two of the three Pacific Island nations use Social Security numbers with eight digits, rather than nine, and in some cases, computers automatically enter a zero to fill in the blank. That can create new numbers beginning with two zeroes, which makes them identical to numbers in New Hampshire and Maine. If your Social Security number starts with 002-6, 003-9, 005-7 or 007-8, it could match a number in Micronesia. Numbers that start 006-4 could match numbers in Palau. Those that start with 004 could match numbers in the Marshall Islands. Nobody knows exactly how many Social Security numbers overlap, but estimates show that there are roughly 135,000 possible matches. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is aware of the issue and claims to be working on a fix, but so far, nothing has been done.

Your Social Security number and your credit file can impact so many aspects of your life. Monitoring your credit or subscribing to an identity theft protection service are two ways to maintain some level of control and awareness over your credit and your name.