Why You Need To Guard Your Social Security Number


	Why You Need To Guard Your Social Security Number

murieleileen

1-4-2008 4:23 AM

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tags:

ssn, social security, number, fraud, safety, bank, credit, money

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1-4-2008 9:05 AM

dorine

A veterinarian wanted our SSNs to treat our cat! We refused and found another vet.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/5a797788-38f0-4bd5-b3e5-8c05440a30d5/422B9F96-68B0-4596-A229-258A20FA4B0B/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1/3/guarding-your-social-security-number.aspx" href="http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1/3/guarding-your-social-security-number.aspx" style="font-size: 11px;">articles.mercola.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1/3/guarding-your-social-security-number.aspx"><DIV>
<IMG align="right" src="http://articles.mercola.com/ImageServer/public/2008/January/1.3ssnumber.jpg" alt="guard, protect, identity theft" />Anytime you want to start phone or utility service, apply for a credit card or even visit your doctor, you will be asked for your Social Security number.</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1/3/guarding-your-social-security-number.aspx"><DIV>Most people assume that they have no choice in the matter, and simply hand it over. In reality, you do not have to give out your Social Security number in the vast majority of cases.</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1/3/guarding-your-social-security-number.aspx"><DIV>Your employer and your bank are about the only two companies that actually need your Social Security number. The rest of them are simply using it as an identification number, which they could just as easily do with your driver’s license number or another piece of information.</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1/3/guarding-your-social-security-number.aspx"><DIV>Because if your Social Security number falls into the wrong hands, criminals can open credit card accounts and even apply for a mortgage in your name. By the time you realize what’s happened, months or even years may have gone by -- and you’ll have a hard time convincing creditors that it wasn’t really you who made all those purchases. </DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1/3/guarding-your-social-security-number.aspx"> In 2005, over 8 million Americans</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1/3/guarding-your-social-security-number.aspx"><DIV>identities stolen.  </DIV></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/422B9F96-68B0-4596-A229-258A20FA4B0B/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>