Social security number identity theft...very scared !

[Worried23]

Hi my question is concerning identity theft. I am worried someone might have my social security number and might of committed crimes under my name. I am worried about this because many years ago I remember putting my number on a job application ( I know very stupid ) and now can't stop thinking about it. I'm scared I might have a criminal record I don't know about. A few months ago I was hired for a job and had no background check issues so maybe I am just being paranoid ?

I still feel like I can't get any peace of mind so would the best thing to do is just ask my local police station if there's any record on me?

Also lets say if I were a victim of identity theft and had records under my name , what would be the steps after to clear my name ?

Thank you.

 

[justalayman]

Too vague to really give you much of any answer.



The post oozes paranoia or trollonoia.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Years ago, it used to be common practice to use ones SS number as part of identification for many things. If someone obtained and fraudulently used your number, you better be prepared to prove it. 20 years ago, my wife showed a ticket from a locality nearby she had never rec'd a ticket from. She went to the court and determined it was not her signature and the vehicle was never one she had driven, though the ticket had been paid. I advised her the cost to prove it to the court was exponentially higher than the few dollars it would increase our insurance, so she let it drop and it never happened again. Life is what happens while you live it. Be prepared to deal with it the best you can.

 

[commentator]

In my career in employment services, we took literally thousands and thousands and thousands of people's social security numbers on job applications. Every now and then we would run across some nutcase who thought they were going to be stalked by the government (identity theft wasn't such a big thing back then) if they gave us their social security number. But you know what? They didn't get the jobs, and were NOT considered the smart ones. And all those applications are long destroyed now, the ship has sailed. If someone has your social security number and is using it, I suggest you check your wage records with the social security office. Is anything showing up in their records that doesn't seem to be somewhere you actually worked? How about your credit scores and records? Are you having charges and debts incurred using your identity that you didn't make?

Criminals who commit crimes rarely leave their social security number as a source of information and contact for the police, and most people get some sort of record involving their credit if they are involved with the criminal justice system. Or of course, you can always check to see if you have a criminal record you are unaware of. But come on!

So because you gave your social security number several years ago on one or even two or three applications and are now convinced that someone selected you out of the millions and decided to take over your identity and commit crimes and so forth does truly reek of paranoia. I suggest you buy a lottery ticket (what is it, your chances of winning are about as good as that you will be struck by lightning while drowning?) and then see a counselor.

 

[FlyingRon]

Criminal records are indexed by more than just a SSN. You didn't indicate your state, so I can't help you with particulars.

If you're overly paranoid, there are credit monitoring companies (though I'd avoid the one that the owner runs around with his ssn on the bboards).
They'll tell you if your SSN comes up in an unpredicted way. I keep getting hits on one account I have because for some reason they dropped my last name form the account (they have my middle name as my last name) so every time something gets reported I get a "someone else is using your ssn" report.

 

[HighwayMan]

You don't get a criminal record by having someone use your SS number.

 

[HighwayMan]

Criminal records are indexed by more than just a SSN.

Going by what I see in my state, criminal histories cannot be accessed by SSN and there is no way to run an SSN for this purpose. We include the SSN in the booking record when we arrest someone but it's not mandatory information - we have no way to verify that the defendant is even providing the correct number.

 

[FlyingRon]

Going by what I see in my state, criminal histories cannot be accessed by SSN and there is no way to run an SSN for this purpose. We include the SSN in the booking record when we arrest someone but it's not mandatory information - we have no way to verify that the defendant is even providing the correct number.

Exactly my point. However, I didn't feel like going into much more detail without knowing what state we are talking about.