SSN Search Records

How Do Social Security Numbers Get Stolen?

Here is an essential list of where identity thieves locate the information they need to steal and embezzle Social Security numbers:

• Stolen wallets and purses,
• Stolen mail which regularly contain; bank and credit card statements,
• Information you provide to an unsecured site on the Internet,
• From unsecured business or personnel records at work,
• Dumpster diving in businesses and public trash dumps for personal and corporate data,
• Phishing by phone or E-mail by masquerading as someone who legitimately needs information about you, such as employers or landlords,
• Buying personal information; an identity thief may have an arrangement with an employee at a big ticket store to provide vital purchase information you disclose during a purchase.

It is vital to your financial survival these days that you be very careful with all your personal information.

Although it may surprise some readers, it is actually a good idea to never carry anything with your Social Security number on it around.

There are really very few occasions you need the card itself. We all have our numbers memorized after all, so why do you have to have it in your wallet or purse? You should only carry the actual card when an upcoming occasion requires actual proof of the card. Those events are mostly restricted to original employment interviews, certain banking occasions and maybe buying or selling a house.

If you suspect your number has been stolen, here’s what to do.

There are two types of duplication; by mistake and on purpose. If you believe, for whatever reason, that your Social Security number is being used by another, please get in touch with us right away. We will immediately review your earnings records to see if we can identify the same problem or not.

You should have a Social security Statement (Form SSA-7005) Social Security Statements… if you are 25 or older… that you received in the mail last year… if not we will order a duplicate for you. This statement will also help to identify any irregularities that may exist. You also can get a Statement at any time by requesting one online at: 800-772-1213 or by calling our 800 number.

What Should I Do If I Know My Number Has Been Stolen?

If your number has been stolen the Social Security Administration is not able to help…. unfortunately. Your first contact should be to The Federal Trade Commission Fed Trade Commision ID Theft.
* Telephone- 1-877-IDTHEFT (1-877-438-4338)
* TTY- 1-866-653-4261

The next thing to do is get in touch with all three major credit bureau’s and have them place an alert on your records. An alert has a very specific meaning in the credit community and the specialist at the credit agency will explain it to you in detail.

In essence you are putting the world on alert that your credit has been stolen or that you have reason to believe it has and that any further credit granted must be at your specific instruction. Then get copies of all three reports and verify each item to find out where you are.

Having your credit stolen is no picnic and you have our complete empathy if you have been a victim. If you have not been a victim we advise you to keep your guard up. There are many excellent credit protection services that do a great job for their clients… you might want to take a look at Debix they are terrific at what they do.

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Mystery Phone Numbers And What To Do About Them

Whose phone number is this in my pocket, I’ve never Seen It Before!?

This scene is especially embarrassing when you are waving the slip of paper with the number at a friend or co-worker… or your spouse.

Am I really that forgetful? Where did this number come from?

The question that hanging in the air right now is;

“How Important Is This Number”?

In your mind, you tear back through your day dissecting each moment you can looking for the moment you wrote it down… nothing simply no idea, nada.

We have all had this experience, some of us more than others, but we have all gone through momentary Alzheimer’s at one time or another in our busy lives.

We wonder if we should call the number and ask who it is. But on reflection what do we say? “Hello, can you tell me who this is?”  No matter how you plan it out in your head it’s an exercise in looking stupid.

But you really want to know now more than ever, don’t you?

Well there is a solution to this particularly annoying conundrum of modern life.

The answer is to use online phone databases that can provide you with instant reverse lookup information <a href=”http://www.reversephonedetective.com”>Click Here</A>.
There is a small annual fee and you can look up all the numbers you want for the net 12 months.

Another terrific use for this service is in solving the perpetual mystery of weird numbers on your cell phone bill. More and more plans today provide unlimited calls, yet it would sort of scratch an itch to know who those numbers belong to wouldn’t it?

If you have <a  href=” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID”> Caller ID</a> caller id then you are probably curious about all those strange numbers on the machine when you get home at night. You know, the ones with nothing but a phone number… no name. Often these are cell phone calls because mobile calls don’t tend to come through with any id… just thhe number.

Oftentimes though it’s a telemarketer or someone else you don’t want to talk to. Many people climb the wall not knowing who called and now there’s a quick and inexpensive solution to your curiosity. With a reverse lookup service there’s no more wondering if what you missed was an important call or trash.

The truth is that we all carry around huge quantities of information. It’s a wonder we don’t forget a lot more than we do. Research has shown that we all have a limit to how much we can absorb at any moment. If that moment of information includes the moment you wrote the note, information overload kicks in and the memory simply gets dropped. So even though you might feel dumb… you really shouldn’t… it’s a pretty normal thing to do.

Knowing you have tools available like phone lookup will help ease some of those thoughts that you are losing your mind.

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Would You Like To Find Someone You Lost?

The phrase “private detective” will cause many of us to conjure up a rough looking character in a trench coat. As in most things… times and stereotypes change.

Trench coat sales are way down in recent years and computer sales are through the roof. The new private eye wouldn’t be caught dead in a gloomy fog strewn alley or knocking on doors all night. Today’s successful investigator can be found safe and warm behind his computer monitor.

In fact thanks to the huge growth of on-line data bases and with it access to information considered impossible to obtain just a few years ago, the chances are the best detective you could ever hire… is in fact… you.

You can search hundreds of thousands of records in a moment to find just about anyone, as well as where they live, what kind of cars they drive, what kind of neighborhood they live in, even who their neighbors are.

If you reflect for a moment about how the information of our lives is collected and stored, you will soon realize that it resides in thousands of small pockets all over the place. School records, social security, work, utilities, credit cards… the list is close to endless.

So the really amazing thing about these services, is their ability to link all these disparate sources of information together to research one common element (in this case, who you are looking for).

It is one thing to go through a large group of records in a moment it’s quite another to look in thousands spread all over the world.

To jog your thinking on these services, take a look at this list;

• Find that person who owes you money,
• Check up on anyone,
• Locate phone records
• Does that person have DUI’s?
• Are they subject to any Criminal proceedings, past or present?
• Are there Judgments & Liens that might alter your plans?
• Is Child support owed or overdue?
• You can find lost relatives or other misplaced family members,
• Quickly locate old friends you lost touch with ages ago,
• Find old neighbors,
• Organize a really impressive family reunion.

The list is endless

Ever want to find an old flame? A man named Gerry Cadence tracked down his old high school girlfriend fifty years after graduation… and married her. www.classmates.com

Another fellow by the name of Tom Shell wondered what had happened to his buddies after their return from Vietnam forty years ago. He found three of them alive and well and living within three hundred miles of him. www.military.com

While doing genealogical research to find his great grandfather John Surgate discovered seven first cousins that he had no idea existed living right in his home town. www.Ancestry.com

If you have been adopted, online data bases are a great way to start searching for family if you are so inclined. http://www.cyndislist.com/adoption.htm

The internet and the tools that it has spun off … has brought us all closer than we have ever been in the history of the world

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Can “Reverse Search” Relieve Stress?

Although the headline might be a shade ambitious, most of us are constantly annoyed by phone numbers in our life that we can’t identify.

They are an itch that needs to be scratched. Depending on your personal level of obsessivness, mystery phone numbers can be worse than mosquitoes.

The goal of this article is to show you that at least this particular information age irritation can end for you immediately. After all… this technology that surrounds us, dictates that your use of it should provide more convenience, not less.

Perhaps the most common example is the mystery numbers that seem to show up on nearly everyone cell phone bill with fair regularity. Understandably most folks aren’t too excited about placing calls to unknown numbers.

As an aside, it’s difficult to believe the phone companies are not aware of this annoyance we all put up with.

If your phone plan is by the call, this slippage can get expensive. If you have unlimited calling, it would still satisfy that itch to know; “just who in the heck these people are these folks from Milpitas California that call me all the time”.

Keep reading because there is a solution.

If you have kids with cell phones, it is very smart to be checking the phone bill for out of area calls. All kids today are playing on the internet. Predators know this better than you do. It is important to monitor the playground for your kid’s sake. So called “Social Sites” such as Facebook, have become unbelievably successful simply because of the tens of millions of kids who subscribe. Phone numbers are shared a bit too freely in some instances. Your kids are well intentioned but naïve. It is not in the least obtrusive of you to monitor phone traffic. There is an ideal tool for this task.

Keep reading, there is an easy way.

How about tracking down lost friends from high school or college? As time has passed, you have lost them in the hustle and bustle of your own life and now haven’t a clue where they are or what they might be doing. The time has come to renew old friendships, but where do you start?

Here is the answer.

Today, right now in fact, you can enroll in any number of inexpensive programs that will present you with rather extensive options to check anything from phone numbers to criminal backgrounds and more.
One of these can be found at; People Finder. Many more can be found by Googlingthe phrase “find people”

You might also want to look at an article on free search services that ran in PC World Free Search Methods

These services are able to provide you with an astonishing amount of information on any person or phone number.

For good or ill, information on each of us continues to be more and more available. Instead of worrying about it, why not use the available data to have some fun and re-unite some old friendships or to protect your family… you’ll be glad you did.

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A Question Of Trust

Many of us have made a major purchase at one time or another from someone we don’t know. Usually that person has offered us some sort of value or bargain, perhaps through a classified ad or some such conduit.

We rarely stop to think at a time like this, whether or not we trust the person we are buying the item from… the thrill of the chase often blinds us to the details of success.

There are so many ways to be stripped of your money that you will never keep up with them all. So relying on certain basics such as trust in one form or another… is crucial.

How do you decide to trust someone you never met? The person might be a saint or a criminal… how are you to know one way or the other? On one hand, the reason you are buying from this person is obviously pretty persuasive… but can you trust them to deliver what you bought and in the condition you have had represented to you?

What if there was a way to know whether or not the person is honest.

Well, there is. If you point your browser to Criminal Backgroundsyou will quickly see if your seller has a criminal record. The search also will let you know if charges have ever been filed, in other words, whether they have swindled or defrauded others in the past. Having this sort of information can not only be a huge relief… it can save you from losing your hard earned money.

When money is at stake in any transaction outside of traditional channels… stores, dealerships etc…. you should always do this sort of homework in order to give yourself the edge you deserve.

This advice is especially true when dealing with unknown small businesses such as home repair and remodel companies. When you hire people to work on your home, remember they will be loose inside your house where they have access to anything in the house and perhaps it’s theft.

In the case of dealing with companies as in the above example, you should look at state records to see if any lawsuits are of record. Many states now have computerized court records, if yours is one of these states finding information on a contractor will be easy. Start here by State Websites. Now just drill down to your jurisdiction and look around for court records.

If your state is not online with it’s courts yet try looking at this paid searchNational Court Records

The purpose of this article is not to induce paranoia, but rather to get you thinking defensively. There is nothing in the world wrong with being careful, is there? In fact, being careful is simply the smart thing to do all the time.

Even more to the point is that, being careful is easier than at any time in history, because all the information you could ever need… criminal records, arrest records, marital records, even death certificates… to assure yourself that you are being careful… is as close as your computer.

So in the future, please consider these steps as cheap insurance that you can take out to be certain you, your family and your possessions are safe from the bad guys.

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5 Reasons To Investigate Your Family History

1. The stream of life goes by at a blinding speed… faster each year. Knowing your roots can help slow it down a bit. When you identify how you connect to that stream, it can lead to a sense of belonging.
2. Ongoing advances in DNA medicine often allow you to prevent a re-occurrence of an illness or condition that afflicted an ancestor in an earlier time.
3. Who lived and when, can confirm or dispute inheritance issues.
4. Learning and researching vital records can be indispensable in searching for biological parents or tracking adoptions.
5. Vital records can quickly locate missing or forgotten relatives as well as some you may have never known existed.

The term, “Vital” records are those that cover our four principal life events: birth, death, marriage and divorce. This is just the sort of information needed to effectively trace family origins.

Here are some easy ways to start a genealogy search for your family. Anchor yourself to the top of your new chart by obtaining a copy of your birth certificate A good source of birth certificates . Some people are surprised to find their parents or more likely their grandparents names are slightly different than what they are used to. This is a pretty common occurrence, as names are often modified as years go by. Note any variances and accept them as normal name evolution patterns.

If you are researching an adoption, birth certificates can provide valuable clues as to where to start looking for biological parents.

You can also use obituaries A Good Source Of Death Records A data source of death certificates to find out more about family members. Between a relatives birth and death, a surprising amount of information can be translated into family history.

Death records also can provide an insight into your family’s genes. For instance, is there a recurring medical issue that might trace back even further?

Another insight might reveal real estate you may have an unknown interest in.

Ultimately, vital records will provide you a unique glimpse into the paths traveled by your family as well as who and how you ended up living where you do.

Vital Records Sources And Where To Find Them?

You have already seen some great sources in the above article. A large percentage of the information available… and there is a lot… will be best found through paid services such as; Ancestry main site. Some of the advantages of paid services are; immediate results, many hours saved by not doing manual research and accuracy of the information provided.

By doing your research on-line, you will quickly and easily find all of what you are searching for and as an added bonus you will save lots of time.

Using these strategies, finding out about your family may become your new favorite hobby.

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How To Take Advantage Of Your Social Security Card

A social security number, to many of us, might seem the least exciting thing we own.

Precious few of us ever reflect on what that number is, what it represents and what it can do for us over the course of our lives.

For starters you might want to know; what is actually behind the curtain the SS Administration draws closed around themselves, how can I keep thieves from using my number against me and how can I be sure my social security benefits are intact?

When you think about it, every transaction in our lifetimes is keyed to our Social security records. Their value to you, and… unfortunately… others who want them, is huge. The newly minted industry of identity theft depends totally on thieves obtaining stolen social security numbers.

Your Social security record (as opposed to number) consists of contact information together with a complete record of your month by month payroll deductions for your life to date. Your monthly contributions, along with hundreds of million of others, forms the basis for the social insurance programs you are entitled to because you have maintained gainful employment over the years.

Over time, the Social security card has also become a national ID of sorts, used for all sorts of purposes probably not originally intended.

So the punch-line is… that the social security card in your wallet is very valuable and you need to guard both it and against its illicit use by others.

A key way to accomplish that protection is regular verification of the information in your records.

Why Verification Of Your SSN Records Is Vital

With all the identity theft going on these days prevention of an experience should be your primary motivation. ID theft is not just limited to credit card issues… benefit thefts and misappropriations are huge and continue to grow. more about identity theft

The way the system is structured…. (losing your card)…. there are virtually no safeguards to protect your precious earnings information. More importantly, there is often no protection against others receiving your hard earned benefits.

The best place to start checking is in your Social security records. When the time comes to use your social security insurance, these records will be your benefits reality according to the government. If there are discrepancies, you are much better off doing a find and fix before you need those benefits.

The three major events that trigger record verifications are; retirement, death and disability. The loose cannon in this life list is obviously disability. You probably won’t see a disability event till it hits… having your records in order can make all the difference at a time like that.

While you’re at it, the next step is to review your credit report in order to be sure all that information is correct and especially to confirm no one has hijacked your credit.

The last reason in this list might surprise you… you should also check for the sake of posterity… which according to Webster’s is; all future generations. Future generations will find the task of connecting your life up with the rest of your family much easier with social security records.

In closing, it is a good idea to keep track of your records simply because they are yours and you not only have the right but also a certain obligation to yourself to know that they are correct.

How Do I Locate My Social security Records?

You can either go through government channels… notably the social security administration or obtain the information through service bureaus.

If you go through a service it will cost in the vicinity of $50.00 however the information will be on your computer in moments. You might try Government Records Data… please remember we have no affiliation with these guys, so as in all things, proceed carefully.

If you don’t mind a little slower process…. click here; . Social Security Administration

Rightly or wrongly, the information universe that orbits your social security number is increasingly important in determining your rights in our society…. Guard it well.

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Do All Government Agencies Have the right To Demand My Social Security Number?

Do All Government Agencies Have the right To Demand My Social Security Number?

This is going to be one of those “depends” kinds of articles… so be sure to read the entire article if you want the whole story.

On one hand, there are certain agencies, Federal, State and Local, that do have the right to see your SS #… they are as follows;
* Agencies that tax;
* Agencies that provide welfare;
* Agencies that issue drivers licenses.

So, when it comes to these types of agencies, the answer is yes.

The question of whether to provide your information to the any of the rest becomes more serious if you consider that many agencies automatically request your number even though they are not mandated by law to require it.

Many people provide their number simply because they were asked by a governmental agency… often the wrong conclusion.

There was a bill enacted in 1974 by the Congress named The Privacy Act.

The Privacy Act states that any public agency, State, Local or Federal, that asks for your Social Security number is required to provide you with a disclosure statement. That disclosure must explain whether or not you are actually required to disclose your number in order to receive services from that particular agency.

If the agency you are dealing with falls under the so called optional disclosure provisions (which means you do not have to provide your Social Security number), then their disclosure must explain how your number would be used should you choose to provide it.

One of the most important rights in the Privacy Act states that you may not be refused governmental services under optional disclosure rules. In other words, if there is no legal basis to request your number and you choose to withhold it, there is nothing they can do to refuse you services or benefits that you are entitled to.

Should you find yourself dealing with a government agency that insists on your Social Security number with no disclosure, ask why and whether disclosure is required. In typically bureaucratic fashion there are no penalties to the ageny in question for failing to give you a disclosure form… so take charge and ask questions.

To further confuse the issue of your rights when it comes to your Social Security number, there is a new program, The Federal Parent Locator Service. The program is designed to provide State and Local agencies with identity information from Federal Databases, to help enforce child support and parental kidnapping cases. None of this information is provided with the consent of the searched.

The potential for this disclosed information to be used by the States for other situations is huge. So even though the intent is to protect children and their respective rights, personal information once released is pretty difficult to recover.

In the end, it is your Social Security number and there are very good reasons to keep it secure. Even when you are dealing with Federal agencies, be sure of your rights before you give out important personal information.

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To Tell The Truth… Internet Style

One of life’s most challenging tasks is how to know if someone is telling the truth. Certainly the experience of years helps, but there is no magic bullet for this major issue in all our lives.

Truth is often self serving and most important to us and us only. All too often, peoples version of the truth depends on what it is they want from another.

This is one of life’s great paradoxes. A persons truth is often based on what is best for them not you. Others will often use deception as a tool in order to get what is best for them.

Obviously what is most important is that you make the best decision for yourself or your cause.

If a friend asks for a loan, is there information you would be better served by knowing. Chances are good your friend is not going to tell you anything negative that might turn you against the idea of the loan.

But what if you found out through another source that your friend is losing his house to foreclosure and has had two back to back bankruptcies?

Is this information your friend should have shared? Would you feel a little “ill used” for not having these additional facts disclosed? Would that knowledge bear on the decision to loan your friend the money?

I’ll leave the decision up to you… but one thing is for sure… you could have gathered this information quickly, cheaply and discretely. Lack of knowledge about any situation puts you at a disadvantage… that’s just how it is.

If you do a little homework then a way to save the friendship may evolve as well as a safer way to make that loan.

It is perfectly normal for people to be reluctant to do background checks on friends. The fear that the inquiry will be found out and ruin the relationship is usually the first and foremost concern

There is a data research website that allows you to remain completely anonymous, after all this is about your protection not a personal confrontation.

The website is State Records

All of these records are public so remaining anonymous is a forgone conclusion; you will never violate privacy laws with public records research… and no one will know but you.

Results are nearly instantaneous which is really what you are paying for.
The alternative is to go to an unknown number of court houses and wade through records for who knows how long.

All you need online is the persons name and what state they live in… pretty straightforward really.

Records returned usually include; state court record reports, state civil and legal judgments, national and state bankruptcy records, state criminal history and arrest records, state liens, arrest warrants, and state property records.

The knowledge you gain will help you not only in your decision but also in how to structure the loan so that you have the best chance of getting repaid.

If you are going to loan money, be sure to take a few moments to do your homework… it very well might save a friendship and your money in the bargain.

Needless to say, there are many situations like this in life where you can now have the edge of real truth on your side.

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