Yes, You Can Freeze Your Social Security Number to Thwart Identity Thieves. Here’s How
reveal your social security number It’s a requirement when you apply for a job, file a tax return, or open a new credit card account. But if your SSN is exposed to data breachit may cause you some problems.
Identity thieves can use your SSN once they get it Get a job on your behalfaccumulate credit card debt based on your credit score, and Steal your tax refund.
To stop cybercriminals in their tracks, you may need to lock your Social Security number. Blocking access or “locking” your SSN makes it difficult for identity thieves to use your SSN for malicious activity. This, plus one credit freezecan help stop identity thieves and keep your identity safe.
Blocking electronic access to your SSN can be inconvenient and extreme. However, if you have experienced identity theft or your personally identifiable information has been compromised in a recent data breach, such as a hack changing healthcare or national public datalocking your SSN protects you from future harm.
Read more: Social Security November 2024: When to get your check
How to lock your Social Security number
There are two ways to block access to your Social Security number.
Call the Social Security Administration
You can contact SSA via: 1-800-772-1213 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time. Wait times are usually shorter in the morning and later in the week. Once you confirm your identity, the SSA will wave a magic wand and block electronic access to your SSN number.
Create an E-Verify account
You can also create a MyE-verification Online account to lock your SSN and use the service Self-locking function. The life of the lock is one year. But you will receive a reminder 30 days before expiration, and you can choose to extend the lock time.
This resource is helpful because many employers use E-Verify, a service administered by SSA and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, to check your employment eligibility.
When you lock your Social Security number, companies that want to verify your Social Security number won’t be able to verify your identity, preventing criminals from committing fraud. This option is also convenient if you don’t want to pick up the phone every time you want to unlock your SSN.
Disadvantages of Locking SSN
The main disadvantages of locking an SSN are familiar to anyone who has an SSN. credit freeze in place. When you block access to your SSN record, you also limit your own access to it. This means you have to go through the hassle of unlocking it every time you need a new employer to verify your eligibility to work in the U.S. or you want to receive government benefits.
For those who have suffered from this, the back and forth may be worth it employment identity theft and tax fraud. To further protect against tax identity theft, you can create a ID protection pin Contact the IRS to prevent others from using your SSN or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to file a tax return.
What is the difference between locking your SSN and a credit freeze?
A credit freeze is not the same as a Social Security number lock, although both are free. One blocks online access to your Social Security record, while a credit freeze blocks access to your credit report. arrive Place a credit freezeyou need to contact all three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) to stop anyone from creating new credit accounts in your name.
Will locking my SSN protect me from identity theft?
The answer here is rather unsatisfactory: it’s possible. Locking your Social Security number can prevent employment identity theft or stop criminals from collecting government benefits in your name. But it doesn’t prevent all forms of identity theft. As an extra precaution, you should only share your Social Security number when absolutely necessary and never share your Social Security number in an unprompted phone call or text message.
It’s also a good idea to monitor your financial accounts and credit reports for any unusual activity. If you’d like a service to do this for you, you can sign up Credit monitoring services or a Identity theft protection Serve. You can usually sign up for credit monitoring to keep an eye on your credit report. ID theft protection often includes credit monitoring as well as dark web monitoring and alerts if your information has been compromised through a data breach. If your identity is compromised, Identity Theft Protection can help you restore it with white-glove recovery services.
For extra security, you can freeze your credit through Experian, TransUnion and Equifax to prevent identity thieves from opening new lines of credit in your name. Just like a mortgage or car loan, I did it recently and found the process surprisingly simple.
