UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES IN NEW SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER AND EMPLOYMENT VALIDATION
After decades of refusing to validate their Social Security Number (SSN) records with new employers, the Social Security Administration has revised its policies and will validate SSN’s. Validation will be performed only when a valid employment application has been completed and presented to a prospective employer.
The Social Security Administration describes the validation service as follows:
“SSNVS allows employers to use the Internet to match their record of employee names and Social Security numbers with Social Security records before preparing and submitting Forms W-2.
With SSNVS you can:
--Verify up to 10 names and Social Security numbers online (per screen) and receive immediate results. This option is ideal to verify new hires. OR
--Upload batch files of up to 250,000 names and Social Security numbers and usually receive results the next government business day. This option is ideal if you want to verify an entire payroll data base or if you hire a large number of workers at a time.
Using SSNVS is faster and easier to use than submitting your requests on magnetic media, paper listings, or even using Social Security's telephone verification option.
Making sure names and Social Security numbers on the W-2 match our records is important because unmatched records can result in additional processing costs for you and uncredited earnings for your employees. Uncredited earnings can affect future eligibility to (and amounts paid under) Social Security's retirement, disability and survivors program.”
Those who are seeking employment using false or forged identity documents often either make up a number or steal/purchase a valid number from another. Prior to the new SSA service the fraudster would use his own name and a stolen number to seek employment. With this new policy the name and number must match.
The Unintended Consequence – stolen SSN’s with valid names are readily available to those seeking false employment. They can be purchase on street corners where the undocumented gather. They are freely traded among criminals.
The result of this new process will be simply to drive up the price of valid SSN and name combinations. Street prices vary from $10 to $50. Future prices may be a bit higher. Unfortunately, the new SSA validation procedure will prove of little value, as identity thieves adjust to the new requirement for a SSN and name match.
posted by KnightsBridge Castle @ 11:21 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
An increase in the cost of stolen SSN's will reduce the number of people who can use them.
The Social Security Administration should work with Credit Reporting Agencies to determine when identity thefts have occured. They could then look into those SSN's a little closer when they are requested to be validated.
What do you believe would be a better solution?
What is the solution to the fraudulent use of SSN’s?
First, the SSN should not be used as a validation or identification tool. At the “ID Analytics” conference last year the major financial institutions confirmed that the SSN is no longer an appropriate method for validation of identity. Your SSN is simply too exposed to be of value.
Some have argued for a national identity document, however such a document and its accompanying validators is likely to be subject to fraud as is the SSN. Some technologists argue for “biometrics” as validators while others say any technology solution will led a technological counter-measure.
Validation cannot be performed with a single identifier. Validation is best performed by a series of data points that provide a high probability of verifying an identity. Relying on one point, such as SSN, or a series of predictable points such as SSN and mothers maiden name, wont work.
Combinations of elements such as the town you lived in during high school, the make of your first car, a cousin’s name, etc., provide a higher degree of validation than current systems. We use such a system today to validate our clients. They are not fool proof, however, they are certainly harder for most identity thieves to spoof.
In the long run, law enforcement is the answer. Police need resources to deal with fraud using SSN’s, and we need stronger laws for enforcement and punishment.
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