A dishonest person who has your Social Security number can use it to get other personal information about you. Identity thieves can use your number and your good credit to apply for more credit in your name. Then, they use the credit cards and don’t pay the bills, it damages your credit.

What do I do if someone used my Social Security number fraudulently?

Do you suspect someone of committing fraud, waste, or abuse against Social Security? You can contact the Office of the Inspector General’s fraud hotline at 1-800-269-0271 or submit a report online at

What happens if I gave a scammer my address?

With a name and address, a thief can change your address via U.S. Postal Service and redirect mail to their address of choice, Velasquez says. With access to your financial mail, the thief may intercept bank statements and credit card offers or bills, then order new checks and credit cards.

What happens if you give your Social Security number to a stranger?

Keep in mind “just doing a credit freeze and just monitoring isn’t going to help you in certain situations,” Levin warned, especially when it comes to a compromised Social Security number. Keeping an eye on your credit, for instance, won’t alert you to medical identity theft, taxpayer fraud or, worse, any criminal activity linked to your name.

What to do if your Social Security number is compromised?

If you know your Social Security number has been compromised, you should do a credit freeze, Levin said. Credit freezes let consumers deny potential creditors access to their credit reports, and, as such, prevent new accounts from being taken out in their name, especially when their credit is frozen at each major credit reporting agency.

Can a victim of identity theft get a new Social Security number?

SSA.gov lists an identity theft victim continuing to be disadvantaged by “the original number” as one of five cases in which they’ll consider assigning new digits. Per their site, you’ll need to do the following in order to qualify:

What happens to the last four digits of a Social Security number?

The last four digits of a Social Security number are frequently used as an identifier during telephone contacts with banks and other financial institutions. A person who knows your Mother’s account number and the last four digits of her Social Security number could conceivably “socially engineer” his way to access her bank account by telephone.