Document Most Susceptible to Identity Theft and Fraud

I don’t fully know if you are aware that there is one single document that can make identity theft a very good possibility. Some of you already know what it is, but some are still clueless. It is not your utility bill or credit card and it isn’t your state id or driver’s license. Simply, it is your social security card; the single most important identifying data that should be made unavailable to criminals.

Your social security number is the one that’s used to associate you with all your bills, credit cards, car loans, student loans, and home loans (to name a few). You see, anyone can know someone’s name and address but no one should know your social security number. Therefore, it isn’t your name, address, or telephone number that facilitates the most successful identity theft scams, it is the nine digit number that took you months to fully remember.

That brings me to another point. Try to remember your social security number rather than remember to carry it in your wallet. As you know you don’t need your social security card with you everywhere you go. Right? Therefore, stash it away in a safe place and avoid taking it outside of the safe place. If you consider your wallet or the term “on my person” a safe place you have some issues to fix.

Your social security card number is used for more than bills and loans:

• Job Applications
• Employee ID
• Contracts
• Legal Matters
• Etc.

Even so, that doesn’t make you exempt from purging your wallet and pockets from unnecessary personal information. A lot of us forget our wallet, or loose it somewhere, or we get robbed or pick-pocketed. Then what? Your identity is at risk and your bank account may soon be crumbling. Your bluish paper card can wait happily at home… without you.

Identity thieves consider the social security number as the “Holy Grail” of successful scams and lucrative frauds. Obtaining your name and address is often an easy task to piece the puzzle together. With a full arsenal of identifying information white collar criminals are able to buy cell phones, cars, and even houses.

The moral of this story is simple: read the title again!