Social Security Number and Job Application Concerns

Everyone knows that your social security number is to be guarded and not to be handed out without reason. More and more applications online give you the option of putting in your social security number or want you to verify your data with the last 4 digits of your social security number. If at all possible you should avoid putting that tidbit of information in there. To begin with it’s unnecessary unless the employer wants to run a background check on you, which they won’t do until after they have decided you are a possible candidate. More importantly you should guard this number online to protect your identity.

Most people are lulled into a false sense of security when they are only asked for the last 4 digits because well at least it’s only less than half of the number. We have pointed out before how there is not a shortage of scam artists and shady employers there also exists website that supposedly are meant to help land you a job that are merely set up to skim your social security number and steal you identity. Even when not faced with the worst case scenario other sites might be looking to find information on you that might border on intrusive.

Why you should guard your last 4 digits of your Social Security number specifically?

It is not very difficult to guess the rest of your Social Security number with high degrees of accuracy. The last 4 digits uniquely identify an individual. The number can be looked at as Area Number – Group Number – Unique Number.

Why hasn’t someone fixed this security problem?

The Social Security Administration is changing the system. The issue at hand is that this change only really affects new births. Newborns with this new system won’t be hitting the job market for at least another 16 years. A thief looking to skim your social security number doesn’t need to change what they are doing for quite a few years.

What can I do to protect myself?

Never give your social security number online if you can avoid it. Any reputable company is going to actually communicate with you the fact that they would like to run your  background check since you are a possible candidate. If you must give your social security number online then at least make sure that the site belongs to a reputable company and that the website has security. The most common indicator of this is when you see a padlock in the lower right corner of your browser when you enter the page.