Afraid of a Data Breach? Lock Your Social Security Number to Protect Your Identity

Your Social Security number is used to identify you in a variety of ways from filing your tax return, to applying for a job or opening a new line of credit. This makes it a target for identity thieves, and why it’s such a big deal if it’s exposed in a data leak. If your identity is stolen, thieves can rack up credit card debt, steal your tax refund and cause chaos in dozens of other ways. 

Freezing, or locking, your SSN makes it much more difficult for cyber criminals to access and take advantage of your personal information. By combining a lock on your SSN with a credit freeze, you’re protecting yourself from malicious activity. 

Prohibiting electronic access to your SSN may feel inconvenient and extreme. But if you’ve experienced identity theft or your personal identifiable information was compromised in a recent data breach, like the hacks of Change Healthcare or National Public Data, locking your SSN could protect you from future harm.

Read more: Social Security November 2024: Here’s When to Expect Your Check

How to lock your Social Security number

There are two ways to block access to your Social Security number.

Call the Social Security Administration

You can contact the SSA at 1-800-772-1213 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. local time, Monday through Friday. Wait times are usually shorter in the morning and later in the week. Once you confirm your identity, the SSA will wave its magic wand and block electronic access to your SSN.

Create an E-Verify account

You can also create a MyE-Verify online account to lock your SSN and use the service’s self-lock feature. The lock will last one year. But you’ll be alerted 30 days before it expires, and you can extend the lock if you choose.

This resource comes in handy because many employers use E-Verify, a service administered by SSA and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, to check your employment eligibility.

When you lock your Social Security number, a company looking to verify your SSN won’t be able to verify your identity, stopping criminals from committing fraud. This option is also handy if you don’t want to pick up the phone every time you want to unlock your SSN.

The downside of locking your SSN

The main drawback to locking your SSN will sound very familiar to anyone who has a credit freeze in place. When you block access to your SSN records, you also restrict your access to it. This means you’ll have to go through the hassle of unlocking it whenever you need a new employer to verify your eligibility to work in the US or you want to receive government benefits. 

This back and forth may be worth it to individuals who have suffered from employment identity theft and tax fraud. For added protection against tax identity theft, you can create an identity protection pin with the IRS to prevent someone else from filing a tax return with your SSN or individual taxpayer identification number.

What’s the difference between locking your SSN and a credit freeze?

A credit freeze is different from a Social Security number lock, though both are free. One blocks access to your Social Security record online while a credit freeze restricts access to your credit reports. To conduct a credit freeze, you’ll need to contact all three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) to stop anyone from creating new credit accounts in your name.

Will locking my SSN protect me from identity theft?

The answer here is pretty unsatisfying: it might. Locking your Social Security number can prevent employment identity theft or stop a criminal from collecting government benefits in your name. But it won’t prevent all forms of ID theft. As an added precaution, you should share your Social Security number only when it is absolutely necessary and never on an unprompted call or text message.

It’s also a good idea to monitor your financial accounts and your credit reports for any unusual activity. If you’d prefer to have a service to do this for you, you can sign up for a credit monitoring service or an ID theft protection service. You can often enroll in credit monitoring to keep an eye on your credit reports. ID theft protection often includes credit monitoring as well as dark web monitoring and alerts if your information is compromised in a data breach. If your identity is compromised, identity theft protection can help you recover it through white glove restoration services.

For extra security, you can freeze your credit with Experian, TransUnion and Equifax to prevent identity thieves from opening new lines of credit in your name, like a mortgage or a car loan. I did this recently and found the process surprisingly easy.

More advice on protecting your identity

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