DALLAS
Recently some Stanford employees reported that criminals have applied for Social Security benefits using the employee’s personal information. It is not clear how the criminals were able to obtain the employee’s personal information, but they somehow acquired enough information to apply for Social Security Benefits online.
It is very important that people safe guard their social security numbers and private information. Never give out your SSN or other private information online unless it is on a secured (https: or SSL sites) website and you are positive the website needs the information like the Social Security Administration’s ssa.gov website.
The scam begins with the criminal submitting a fraudulent Social Security benefits application online using your personal information. In order to do this, he needs your name, Social Security number, date of birth and mother’s maiden name, plus supplementary identification questions regarding information from your credit report (e.g., current or past loans, accounts, and mailing addresses). It is common for criminals to collect this information from various online services or by contacting you directly by email, phone, text message or U.S. mail and posing as SSA representatives. If you receive any such communication, do not reply. Instead, contact the SSA directly at (800) 772-1213.
Read the full article at: news.stanford.edu