Social Security Numbers are too easy to obtain onlineFresh from our ordeal concerning US Bank and the fraudulent account set up with my husbands social security number, I decided to move on and begin something new.
I began to fill out the paperwork that would allow me to start a business in a new city. Of course, they want my social security number on the business application that will surely become part of the public record. A representative with the tax department gently explained that they needed my social security number just in case I owed money in an audit. This makes sense to me.
I asked who had to share this information and was told nearly everyone who did not have a tax license number: sole proprietors, entrepreneurs and officers at national corporations that do business with the city. I found that latest tidbit to be a bit interesting - US Bank is a national corporation.
I was told that cities tend to store the data on encrypted employee databases where few could access the information without several passwords. In my city, few was defined as about 100 people. So, hypothetically speaking, if one is an officer for a national company or bank that does business in hundreds of cities across the United States there is the possibility that his or her social security number could be seen by countless people he or she has never met.
That is a scary thought, is it not?
What is scarier to me is that US Bank does not confirm social security numbers with names prior to opening checking accounts. Do these people not realize that this practice exposes countless consumers to possible identity theft? Sadly, the corporate officials themselves are not immune.
It gets worse. In my curiosity, I wanted to see how easy it is to obtain social security numbers online. I searched and found several websites claiming to sell
anyone's social security number for less than $50.00!! Only
one website wanted proof that the customer had a right to such private information, just one! All I need to obtain someones social security number is a name (
there are several on the US Bank corporate website) and a past or current home address(
easily found online for free).
I'm even more scared now. Identity theft can happen to anyone!
Lucky for them, I'm an honest cheapskate: $600.00 would be too much money to spend for the privilege of sending a letter to every US Bank officer in order to illustrate how easy social security numbers are to obtain and to express the need to verify names with social security numbers prior to opening accounts. I really want the Big Kahunas at the helm of US Bank, especially CEO Jerry Grundhofer, to investigate the matter further. They should do it for their own sake and the well-being of their consumers.
Mr. Grundhofer, ask whoever fills out your business applications to find out how many cities request your personal information for their database. Try to find out, for your own sake, how many cities allow their employees access to your private information. Maybe then you will understand how easy it is to become a victim of an identity thief and a lazy banking institution.
Mr. Grundhofer, mandate that your banks confirm names with social security numbers. If it is your policy to confirm this information, then make sure your employees actually do this. I spoke to two branch managers who refuse to match social security numbers with names because they do not have to do it!
It would surely be poetic justice if one of US Banks least brilliant employees opened up a fraudulent account for a thief using a Bank Officers Social Security Number! Honestly, I would not want anybody to go through the garbage that US Bank has put my husband through this week. Freezing your credit, not being able to open a checking account, and fighting with abusive bank representatives really is not a lot of fun: although I am sure bank employees would be nice to a bank officer once they realized who signed their paychecks.
Prevention is the answer, Grundhofer and Company! Do something...you are at risk, I am at risk and anyone reading this post is at risk so long as you allow people to open checking accounts without verifying that the Social Security Number belongs to the person associated with the accounts.
If it is true what we were told by one of your Branch Managers, that all other banks open accounts without verifying Social Security Numbers, you can improve your shakey image in the eyes of consumers by being an industry leader with regard to ID Theft.
Think about it! Do Something! Be a leader, not a follower!
And, by all means, keep yourself and everyone else safe from ID theft.
I read that Mr. Jerry Grundhofer will be retiring his post soon.
I hope he leaves Richard Davis with a bank that has a much better reputation than it has right now.
Carpe Diem, Mr. Grundhofer, Carpe Diem! Make the change or it will be made for you when the voice of consumer demand raises far above your own! You can take the credit for the changes or be swept away by them. It is really your choice. If you want to help light a fire in the chair of Mr. Grundhofer, or have your own US Bank horror story to tell, send a letter to:
Jerry A. Grundhofer
U.S. Bancorp
225 S. Sixth Street
One letter will not do very much, but many will. Letters are like drops of rain in a bucket: they add up and the results soon become visible (and if they do nothing while the rain pours in - they will drown after awhile).
Consider sharing your story with the US Bank complaint sites listed in my previous post. It may even be a good idea to contact your local Attorney Generals Office as well.
Halieh S.
P.S.
