The Ability to Validate New Social Security
Numbers Will Change on June 25, 2011
• Why will this become important to preemployment screening?
• How should employers and employment
screeners prepare?
Presented 06/23/2011 by John Beaudette
Legal Disclaimer
 ESS Webinars and Presentations are
presented for General Discussion
Purposes Only. ESS does not provide legal
advice and nothing presented or stated in
ESS webinars, presentations, ESS websites,
or by ESS personnel at this or any other time
should be deemed or construed as legal
guidance or legal opinion. You are urged to
consult your legal department regarding your
own situation and/or specific legal questions.
Questions and Answers
 How has traditional SSN enumeration been working?
 What is Social Security Number Randomization?
 Why is the Social Security Administration changing it?
 What does this mean to the SSN Trace?
 What is a Consent-Based Social Security Number
Verification (CBSV)?
 What are “Consumer Profile Numbers” and how can this
hurt the integrity of the standard SSN Trace.
 Looking ahead, what methods are best to verify SSN’s?
Current Social Security Number
Issuance Guidelines
 First three numbers of the SSN, called the area number, denote
the state of issue (based on zip code used on SSN application)
 Middle two numbers, called the group number, indicate
approximately when the SSN was used.
 Last four numbers are called serial numbers, issued
consecutively.
 Based on the Social Security Administration’s current SSN
assignment and historical issuance data, one can determine:
1. if an SSN has been issued, has yet to be issued, or
2. if the number has been retired to the SSN Death Index.
3. if issued, indicates when/where
This is called: Social Security Number Validation
 does not verify Name-SSN Match through SSA master files.
The ESS “SSN Trace”
SSN Validation + Name/Address History = SSN Trace
 The source of the Name/Address History that is been linked to
a given SSN is through multiple commercial databases,
primarily header information from the three credit bureaus.
 Ideally, only the holder of the SSN appears as the commercial
User of the SSN
What exactly changes on July 25, 2011?
Social Security Number Randomization
“SSN Randomization” means beginning June 25, 2011,
the newly issued SSN’s will no longer follow any
geographical or chronological pattern.
 No longer know the state of issue
 No longer know when it was issued
 Previously unassigned numbers (000, 666, 900,
999) will be assigned
Randomization will allow the SSA to:
1. Extend the longevity of the nine-digit SSN.
2. Help protect the “integrity” of the SSN.
How will this affect ESS’s SSN Trace?
SSN Traces After June 25, 2011….
1.
The standard SSN Trace doesn’t change for SSN’s issued before
06/25/2011.
2.
Most non-immigrants are issued SSN’s at birth, deferring the impact
of the SSN Randomization for many years (for the most part).


Legal immigrants are issued new SSN’s
Domestic violence victims, and ID theft victims can also be issued a new SSN.
3.
If the SSN validation shows the SSN Number is invalid, ESS will
report the SSN is either invalid or issued after 06/25/11.
4.
Name and Address History linked to an individual’s SSN through
credit/commercial activity – unaffected.
There is a way to know with certainty on a pre-hire background check
whether an applicant’s name, date of birth, and SSN match with the
Social Security Administration’s Master File
The SSN “integrity” Issue:
AAA = area number, block of numbers to represent state of issue
GG =
group number, assign per established guideline
SSSS = serial number, issued consecutively
•
A Carnegie Mellon University 2009 report shows the relative ease of
predicting a valid SSN.
Synthetic Name Fraud or “piggy-backing” occurs when one blends his
own name, date of birth, and address with another person’s SSN.
The number is used to establish a new credit file, obtain credit
cards, rent property, apartment, hide other negative information that
is linked to the real SSN.
After 1989, about 96% of SSN’s are Enumerated at Birth (EAB) -- created a
huge pool of valid but dormant SSN’s.
ID thieves find valid, but unused SSN’s so there is less chance of
detection or at least there is delayed detection.
Making the Headlines
By BILL DRAPER Associated Press Writer, KANSAS CITY, Mo. August 2, 2010 (AP)
New ID theft targets kids' Social Security numbers,
could threaten credit system
“Thieves are targeting your kid's number long before the little one
even has a bank account.
Hundreds of online businesses are using computers to find dormant
Social Security numbers - usually those assigned to children who
don't use them - then selling those numbers.”
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11305930
ID Theft Against Minors –
may just be the tip of the iceberg
• FTC reports over ten million more credit profiles than there are
consumers, and
• 500,000 people under the age of 18 are victim of ID theft every year.
• ID Analytics says that over 40 million SSN’s are associated with
multiple people
 The stolen SSN’s have been marketed by ID thieves as Credit Profile
Numbers or CPN’s. They market them as if they were a legitimate service.
Ads have been found on Craigs List, YouTube, other web sites.
 Examples:
www.legalcpn.com
www.mycpn.webs.com
If you suspect your child’s identifiers have
been compromised, or you just want to check...
TransUnion
• Call the TU Consumer Relations Department at 1-800-9168800 or fill out the Child Identity Theft Inquiry at
http://www.transunion.com/corporate/personal/fraudIdentityTheft/fraudPrevention/chil
dIdTheft.page
• TU Fraud Victim Assistance Department 1-800-680-7289 or
go to
http://www.transunion.com/corporate/personal/fraudIdentityTheft/recoveringFraud/ab
outFVAD.page
Equifax: www.equifax.com
Experian: www.experian.com
Traditional SSN Trace Faces Challenges from
both SSN Randomization and CPN Pollution
As more time passes subsequent to 06/25/2011, more
immigrant applicants with valid SSN’s will hit the job
market.
 When these are run through the historical SSN issuance data, they will show as
“invalid.”
As more CPN’s are issued, employment screening services
will have more difficulty discerning the rightful user of a
SSN.
 There will be more cases where the Name/Address history, which primary comes
from credit bureau databases will show multiple names.
 For non-immigrants who present themselves with authentic looking I-9
documentation – how does one know for sure they are not undocumented
workers who purchased a CPN and created false documents.
 One option is to take advantage of the Social Security
Administration’s “Consent-Based Social Security Number
Verification” (CBSV)
Consent-Based Social Security Number
Verification (or CBSV)
About CBSV Use:
•
Launched by Social Security
Administration in Nov 2008
•
Requires written authorization on
form SSA – 89. Currently,
electronic signatures not
accepted.
•
$15 ESS fee
•
Does not replace value of the SSN
Trace
CBSV Benefits include:
•
100% accurate verification of your
applicant’s name, date of birth,
and SSN with the SSA Master
files
•
Okay for pre-hire use, or any
business use (SSNVS, E-verify, I9 docs cannot)
•
Strongly supports the FTC’s Red
Flag Rules, which requires a
written program to detect, prevent,
and mitigate ID Theft
•
Same day turnaround
CBSV “No-Match”
1.
ESS Verifies data was input correctly
2.
If data was input correctly, then the applicant/SSN
holder is contacted to determine accuracy of the
personal identifiers submitted – needs to match exactly
with SSA records – name, SSN, and DOB.
3.
If all data elements are correct, then applicant/SSN
holder must correct the issue at the local SSA Field
Office
4.
The search is re-run with the correct data
SSN Verification Options
Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS)





Post hire use only
Wage-reporting use only
Free after registration
On-line or over phone (TNEV – Telephone Number Employment Verification), same day
Confirms that Name and SSN mach, but not DOB
E-Verify




Post hire use only, within three days of hire, accompanies the I-9 documentation
Combines SSA and DHS information for Work Eligibility Verification
Free after registration and training
On-line, same day
Consent-Based Social Security Number Verification (CBSV)




May use pre-hire or anytime and not just for employment purposes
$5000 set-up fee plus transaction fee -- $15 per check with ESS
On-line, same day
Confirms accuracy of all personal identifiers – essential for integrity of criminal searches
Thank You!
Go to www.essclientservices.com to get :


SSA-89, the CBSV consent form
Recording and Screens of the webinar
Questions?
1-800-473-7778
John Beaudette
johnb@employscreen.com