Copyright 1999 Gannett Company, Inc.
USA TODAY
July 2, 1999, Friday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: MONEY; Pg. 6B
LENGTH: 1111 words
HEADLINE:
Protect your Social Security number Don't be a victim of identity theft
BYLINE: Christine Dugas
BODY:
Laura Thomason went to her dentist for what she thought would
be a
routine cleaning on May 25. Instead, she was denied treatment
because she
refused to divulge her Social Security number.
"I said, 'You don't
need it for billing. You have my driver's
license and credit card numbers,
and I've been treated here before.'
" The receptionist left to confer with
the dentist, and Thomason
says she heard him say: "Show her the door."
But that wasn't all. At that moment, Thomason's husband was in
the
dentist's chair. Even though he had given the office his Social
Security
number, the receptionist told him he would have to leave,
too.
No federal law prevents businesses from asking for your Social
Security number -- which can be used as a key to your credit report
and
other private financial information.
Of course, you are under no
obligation to comply. If you decide
not to give your number, your doctor or
cable TV company can refuse
to do business with you.
"It's
troubling, especially when a company like a cable TV service
has a
monopoly," says Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights
Clearinghouse in
San Diego. "You can't go anywhere else."
By contrast, federal, state
and local government agencies are
regulated by the Privacy Act of 1974. It
requires them to explain
whether your Social Security number is mandatory or
optional,
how the number will be used and under what law or authority the
number is requested.
More than 390 million Social Security
numbers (SSNs) have been
issued since Social Security began in 1936. The
numbers are the
most widely used identification numbers in the USA.
SSNs are used by the IRS to identify taxpayers, by the armed forces
to identify personnel and by Medicare. Federal law requires financial
institutions to have the SSNs of all customers.
"It is the key
number used in issuing credit. (But) having it
so readily available exposes
you to fraud," says Mari Frank,
a lawyer and author of Identity Theft
Survival Kit. Frank
should know.
On Aug. 16, 1996, she got
a call from Bank of New York asking
why she hadn't paid her $ 11,000 credit
card bill. She explained
that she didn't have a card with the bank.
Nevertheless, the bank
sold the account to a collection agency, and she
began receiving
threatening calls.
Eventually, Frank learned
that a woman in Ventura, Calif., four
hours from her home, was impersonating
her. The police arrested
the woman, but Frank was left to clean up $ 50,000
in fraudulent
debts.
It took her about 500 hours of work and
five boxes of correspondence.
"I'm an attorney, but even for me, it was
overwhelming," she
says.
Identity theft has become epidemic.
Trans Union, one of the big
three credit agencies, got about 388,000
requests for help from
victims last year. The Secret Service made 9,500
arrests in 1997,
up from 8,800 two years earlier.
Identity theft
is usually a low-tech crime. Because Social Security
numbers are so widely
used, thieves can scavenge for them through
discarded mail or grab mail from
mailboxes before you get it.
And if your wallet is stolen, it
probably will contain a blueprint
to your identity, because a number of
states still use SSNs as
driver's license numbers.
If you
provide your Social Security number on an application form,
don't be shy
about asking where the information will be stored
and who will have access
to it.
When Steve Shatnawi of Santa Rosa, Calif., joined a health
club
several years ago, he filled out an application, including his
SSN.
The club kept the forms in an unlocked file cabinet. An employee
used the
information to pass himself off as Shatnawi, opening
bogus bank accounts and
writing about $ 9,000 in bad checks, says
Brett McKague, Shatnawi's lawyer.
Relief may be on the horizon. Rep. Gerald Kleczka, D-Wis., has
introduced a bill that would, among other things, prohibit commercial
use of SSNs without the owner's written consent.
In most cases,
it would be illegal to refuse goods and services
to someone who doesn't want
to disclose his or her Social Security
number.
Do's,
don'ts for passwords
Experts say the most secure passwords combine
letters, in both
upper- and lowercase, numbers and punctuation marks. But
don't
make it so complicated that you'll forget it.
And don't
write down your password, unless it is disguised as
something else. For
example, you might list it as the street number
for a fictitious Aunt Sally
in your address book.
If you are really absent-minded, ask your bank
to store a question
in your file that only you can answer, says Beth Givens,
director
of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. The answer would be your
password. Then, if you forget it, the bank can ask the question
to
prompt you. For example, who was your best friend in first
grade?
Do not use:
* All or part of your Social Security number or
current
address.
* Your birth date or the birth dates of family
members.
* Your maiden name or your mother's maiden name.
Do use:
* Obscure names few others would know, such as the
name
of your first pet.
* A sports statistic that has special
meaning to you.
* A line of poetry or a Bible verse -- use the first
or
last letter of each word.
Tips for safeguarding your identity
* If your employer uses Social Security numbers (SSNs)
for
identification numbers on badges or parking permits, ask if
they will use an
another number.
* Never volunteer your Social Security number to
unsolicited
telephone callers.
* Do not keep your Social
Security card or other cards
bearing your SSN in your wallet.
*
If your health insurer or state department of motor vehicles
uses SSNs as an
identification number, ask for an alternative
number.
* If you
decide to give your SSN to a company or doctor's
office, ask how it will be
stored and who will have access to
it.
* Before you throw away
letters, financial documents, credit
card receipts, credit offers or the
like, tear them up or shred
them.
Some helpful Web sites:
* Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, www.privacyrights.org
*
U.S. Public Interest Research Group, www.pirg.org, click
on consumers, then
pick personal privacy
* Electronic Privacy
Information Center, www.epic.org
* American Civil Liberties
Union, www.aclu.org, click on
privacy
* Mari Frank, author and
victim of identity theft, www.identitytheft.org
* Privacy
Times, a biweekly newsletter, www.privacytimes.com
* Social
Security Publication 05-10064, When Someone
Misuses Your Social Security
Number, www.ssa.gov/pubs/10064.html
GRAPHIC:
GRAPHIC, B/W, Jerry Mosemak, USA TODAY, Source: Louis Harris & Associates
for Privacy & American Business (BAR GRAPH); PHOTO, B/W; Frank
LOAD-DATE: July 02, 1999 
