The advent of the internet has come with many conveniences. You can now easily use your credit card all over the world and access that document that you were working on a day earlier on your PC back home. However, the internet has come with some dangers as well, and with that comes the question of how to check if someone is using my social security number.
One of the greatest dangers of networking includes rising cases of identity theft. Identity theft can strike the heart of your wealth, social services, and employment, among others. Your identity, especially the electronically encoded one that enables you to access your bank accounts, home security systems, and your email and network resources, can be stolen and used to commit crimes.
Signs That Someone Is Using My Social Security Number
Below are some of the warning signs that someone stole your SSN and is using it.
- You receive letters or calls from collection agents or creditors you don’t recognize or remember.
- Credit card companies or banks follow up on credit confirmation letters or payment arrangements for loans that you didn’t take out.
- A sudden and unexplained change in your credit score.
- You receive errors when you attempt to file your income tax.
- Updated social security status reports showing incorrect hours of employment or level of salary per quarter.
- Financial mail or bills not showing up in your usual mailbox.
- Unauthorized transactions on your credit cards or bank accounts.
- You receive tax documents that you didn’t request.
- You receive a tax refund even before you file your taxes.
- Your emails go missing.
- Your employer informs you about a problem with your SSN when doing tax filings and their paperwork.
- You receive two-factor authorization requests that you didn’t submit.
- You notice small test charges on your debit or credit accounts
- You suddenly start to get ads for high-end items such as boats, cars, and home improvement loans.
Directly Checking Your Social Security Number
There are three ways you can directly check for activity related to your social security number.
Request For Your Social Security Statement
The Social Security Administration has an online service that enables you to find out what you’ve paid into social security. The service also shows your expected benefits upon your retirement and the hours of work reported each quarter. You can check the figures on your statement against the last statement and also against the paid work you’ve been doing. This enables you to quickly see if someone could be logging hours to your social security account.
Getting a Tax Transcript
Another way to detect activity on your social security account is by requesting your most recent tax transcript. In case someone has filed any tax documents using your SSN, the transcript will show the activity that you didn’t originate.
Checking Your Credit Report
The Social Security Administration can tell whether someone is working using your SSN. Similarly, the IRS will tell you whether someone is filing taxes on your social security account. However, only credit agencies can tell you if anyone is using your number to acquire credit and use it in your name.
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