Protecting Your Identity and
Social Security Number
One of the fastest growing crimes in America is identity theft. Many people have been victims of this criminal act and as reported, the common cause is the use of stolen social security number.
When a dishonest person has your social security number, the thief can use it to obtain other personal information about you. Most of the time, these identity thieves use your number as well as your good credit to apply for more credit in your name. What happens next is that they will use the credit cards and do not pay the bills. You will only find out that someone is using your social security number until you are turned down for credit, or when you start to get calls from unknown creditors demanding payment for items you never bought.
Given this fact, protecting your social security number is no doubt a matter worthy of consideration. But, before taking a look at some ways to protect your SSN, let us first consider the basic facts about the social security number.
What is Social Security?
The term “social security” generally describes a program that uses public funds to provide a degree of economic security for the public. The SSN, as often called, has one original and essential purpose – to keep track of the money you deposited into the social security program so that you can get the benefits you’re entitled to.
The government needs lifelong and unique identity numbers in order to keep track of the people’s payments throughout an entire working life. And, no matter how often we change occupations, move locations, or even change our names, our social security number is always there and is very important.
Structure of Social Security Numbers
On its most basic, the social security number consists of nine digits. These digits are commonly written as three fields separated by hyphens: AAA-GG-SSSS. The first three-digit field, which I marked as “AAA” is called the “area number”. The two-digit field at the center is the “group number”, and the final four-digit field marked “S” is the “serial number”.
Area Numbers
The area numbers are basically assigned to geographical locations. Just like the zip codes, the area numbers increase from east to west across the continental US. Although the series 700-729, for example, was assigned to railroad workers regardless of location, most of SSNs were assigned according to state or territorial boundaries.
According to some resources, the area numbers assigned before the 1972 transition are an indication of the SSA office which originally issued social security numbers. Since that year, the area number in SSNs corresponds to the residence address given by the applicant on the application for the number.
In some regions, it is said that the original range of area number assignments was eventually exhausted as the population grew. Then, as needed, the original area number assignments have been amplified. The original assignments are indicated with numbers less than 585, except for that railroad worker series mentioned above. The area numbers of “000” have never been issued.
Group Numbers
Unlike the first three digits, the group number is not related to geography. It is rather related to the order in which the social security numbers are issued for a particular area. As noted, only half of the group numbers were used prior to 1965. During that time, the odd numbers were used below 10 and even numbers were used above 9. However, this system was changed in 1965, so the assignments continued with the low even numbers as well as the high odd numbers.
Here is the exact order of group numbers assigned for each area number:
- Odd numbers, 01 to 09
- Even numbers, 10 to 98
- Even numbers, 02 to 08
- Odd numbers, 11 to 99
As with the area numbers, group codes of “00” are not assigned.
It is further worth noting that in every region, all possible area numbers are assigned with every group number before using the next group number. The implied meaning of this system is that the group numbers can be used to find a chronological ordering of social security numbers within a particular region. When new group numbers are assigned to a state, the old numbers are usually used up first.
The SSA publishes a list of the highest group assigned for each SSN area every month. So, if the highest group assigned for area 999 is 72, then it is clear that the number 999-04-1234 is an invalid number for the reason that even groups under 9 have not yet been assigned.
Serial Numbers
The serial numbers generally comes in chronological order within each area. The group number as the applications are processed, and the serial number “0000” is never been used.
Prior to 1965, when the number assignment was moved to the central office from the field offices, the serial numbers may have been assigned in a strange order. I’ve read some claims stating that the 2000 to 7000 series numbers were assigned out of order. Well, these days, that no longer seems to be the case. The serial numbers as of the present are assigned in strictly increasing order with every area and group combination.
Well, the process of assigning numbers has actually been changed at least twice. It was reported that until 1965, only half the group numbers were used. Then, prior to 1972, the numbers were assigned by field offices, and since that year, the numbers have all been assigned by the central office. Further adjustments on the process of assigning numbers occur in the following years, but it was in the 1972 transition that the order of which the numbers were assigned was altered. There may have been other changes, but it seemed difficult to obtain information on how things used to be done.
Index of Valid Social Security Numbers
I have here below the social security index of valid numbers. Note that the first three numbers, as mentioned above, indicates the state in which that number was assigned. And typically, most people obtain their social security card from the state they reside in. You can use this guide to help you determine the legitimacy of the number in case you consider a sort of background checking.
001-003 New Hampshire 004-007 Maine
008-009 Vermont 010-034 Massachusetts
035-039 Rhode Island 040-049 Connecticut
050-134 New York 135-158 New Jersey
159-211 Pennsylvania 212-220 Maryland
221-222 Delaware 223-231 Virginia
232-236 West Virginia 237-246 North Carolina
247-251 South Carolina 252-260 Georgia
261-267 Florida 268-302 Ohio
303-317 Indiana 318-361 Illinois
362-386 Michigan 387-399 Wisconsin
400-407 Kentucky 408-415 Tennessee
416-424 Alabama 425-428 Mississippi
429-432 Arkansas 433-439 Louisiana
440-448 Oklahoma 449-467 Texas
468-477 Minnesota 478-485 Iowa
486-500 Missouri 501-502 North Dakota
503-504 South Dakota 505-508 Nebraska
509-515 Kansas 516-517 Montana
518-519 Idaho 520 Wyoming
521-524 Colorado 525 New Mexico
526-527 Arizona 528-529 Utah
530 Nevada 531-539 Washington
540-544 Oregon 545-573 California
574 Alaska 575-576 Hawaii
577-579 District of Colombia 580 Virgin Islands
581-585 Puerto Rico, New Mexico, American Samoa, Guam, Philippine Islands
586 Guam, American Samoa, Philippines, Mariana Islands
588 Mississippi 589-595 Florida
596-599 Puerto Rico 600-601 Arizona
602-626 California 627-645 Texas
646-647 Utah 648-649 New Mexico
700-729 Railroad
Continued >
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