A Small Neglect with Your Social Security Number May Wind Up Your Entire Life!

Social security number is allotted to you only once in your life. Even if it is compromised at any time, you cannot change it. People are very careful about their credit cards or debit cards. They take all sorts of precautions for protecting the card details. However they are not that vigilant about their social security number. Theft of the social security number can lead to far more serious consequences which can even ruin your entire life.
Social security number is the main form of identification in US. It is asked for even a very small work and people tend to submit it freely. This weakness is realized by identity thieves who steal such number and use it for malicious purposes.
The thieves will use your social security number in two ways. Either they will use both your name and the number together for fraudulent financial transactions or they can use your number with their own name. Both the things have evil consequences.
1. Opening of new lines of credit or utilities - Your name is used for opening a new line of credit, a mortgage or a credit card, quoting your number with your personal details. The thieves will siphon all the money and will never pay the dues. Finally the dues go into collection and you start receiving notices from the collection agencies.
2. Gain illegal employment - Illegal immigrants may buy or steal a social security number for getting employment. They will always keep withholdings at a very low level and finally end up in huge tax liabilities. As the office of social security never verifies the name and corresponding number, the employer will not be able to know the reality of the employee. Finally, the person in whose name the social security number really stands for will get unexpected tax liabilities.
3. Obtaining documents like a driving license - The thieves may apply for a driving license quoting your number. They may use it for criminal purposes. All their crimes will go in you record. You may be arrested or even fired from your job due to a criminal history which you have never created.
4. Misuse in medical facilities - Quoting your social security number, someone can get costly medical care in your name. And then without payment of bills he/she can disappear leaving behind a huge debt for you. Even worse, your medical record may be spoiled because of such incidence. Your blood group, your allergies and other precautions may be wrongly entered on your medical record and this can create serious complications when you get admitted for any reason.
As it is not possible for you to change your social security number, you should take extreme care while handing it over to any person or institution. If you think it is not necessary, you should question the institution or person about the purpose of taking it. You should regularly check your credit report in order to find suspicious entries. If anyone has used your name and your number to get some benefit, you may come to know about it sooner. However if your number is used with another name, you may not find it for years.
There are some professional monitoring agencies in the market who can undertake the work of guarding your identity. They will apply some special software in order to find out whether there is any misuse of your social security number, your credit or debit card or any other personal information on the Internet or in public records. You can subscribe to one of these services and get some peace of mind. After all, your life must not be ruined for a small neglect.