RE: The Last Four Digits of Your Social Security Number

The last four digits of your social security number


Because of identity theft and privacy concerns, many businesses ask for only the last four digits of our Social Security numbers. There seems to be an assumption that only four digits of a nine-digit-number shouldn’t be a concern.

“How hard would it be for someone to guess the first five digits of my Social Security Number if they only had the last four?”

The obvious answer is, about 9,999 times easier than if they didn't know the last four.

In fact it’s even easier than that. Your Social Security number is not a random set of digits. The last four numbers are created sequentially. They have no other relation to you. The rest of your Social Security number, however, is determined by where you requested it; usually, this is where you were born.

There is a sense in which this entire discussion is irrelevant: because the last four numbers of your SSN are what businesses ask for, they are all that a criminal sometimes needs to use your cash or credit.

The first three digits of your Social Security number are an “area number”. If someone can determine what area the person applied for the SSN in, they can determine the first three digits; it is currently based on zip code. There are currently no more than 772 area codes.

You can check the state ranges against your SSN at the Social Security Number Allocations page on the Social Security Administration web site.

The middle two digits are the “group number”. This is probably more difficult to determine, but they are distributed in a pattern. In any case there are only 99 of them, usually less. For any specific area code, the Social Security Administration publishes the highest group number used.

There are also some other Social Security numbers that have been invalidated. For example, if the last four digits are 1120, identity thieves know at least one area code/group number combination that it is not.

When you give out the last four digits of your Social Security number, you are giving out what is probably the least-easily determined part of it. Once a criminal has the last four, if they truly want your identity (as opposed to just anybody’s identity), they ought to be able to bring down the total possibilities to no more than several hundred.

Giving out the last four digits of your Social Security number makes your entire number a lot more vulnerable. Armed with a computer and an on-line authorization site that doesn’t care if an SSN is checked every day, they probably won’t have any problem finding the rest. Your only hope is that they won’t want to.

http://www.hoboes.com/Mimsy/?ART=432

I'm good at guessing! Let me try!

I'm guessing your number is:- 342-33-2345

Am I right!?

If we have to give Our Social Security Number Just For a Game....
Count Me Out!

It's a platform!

Better tell SL to fix Their Description when you look them up then!


"Second Life
Official site for the online game where the world is entirely shaped by its residents' creativity.secondlife.com"



KEYWORD: GAME

Aww, I was playing.

I agree with you. I also think that it's a game. A role playing game.

My role is to be a pain in the ass.

And a damn fine job you do at it, 2k

LOL


So SI Anyone Here Giving Up There Social Security Numbers?

Aww shucks

If it's a game... 2k... you win already.

What are the legal responsibilities of the users to provide accurate answers to their verification questions? If, for example, one provides their third party service a random set of numbers for the last four digits of their social security number, how does LL know that you've lied and what legal recourse does LL have if they find out. Beyond booting you off the grid, of course.

My concern isn't that LL wants to know my age; I'm well over the limit, thank you very much. I'm more concerned that they're getting other data. Like where I live. I don't even want them to know what country I live in, since that gives them regionalization data and potentially the ability to ban me from certain activities if they decide my country doesn't want me to participate in those activities.

And I certainly don't want my official ID falling into the wrong hands!

I like Second Life because of the freedom from bureaucrats it represents. I don't need to drag in all that other pointless bullshit that whining nanny-staters have forced down my throat for the last four decades. I want my liberty back, if even just for a few minutes in a virtual world.

i find it funny people will use their credit cards all over the internet but not want to provide part of their ss number or id number...to me its more dangerous to have my cc number out there

ill provide my last 4 or my dl number whatever they want

people have been yelling for months to get age verification well now its here

I don't know about other data, but throughh your ip address each time you log into SL, they always did have your regionalisation data, in 99% of cases down to the city, unless you intentionally use ip masking tools.

The last four digits will be used with additional information you will be REQUIRED to provide to determine if they are indeed correct. The threat of identity theft from this process is very real and from LL's past performance we have little reason to have faith in their ability to protect this information. To verify age you will need to provide name, address and the last four digits or some other verifiable form of identification. Another very real concern is that the rumored company to be used for this keeps the information obtained and resells it to other interested parties, the government and political parties included.

Yeah, really...so bad that my credit card company cut them off for payment.

Cant say I'm SHOCKED..."Xio Jester" gets mail EVERY DAY...even telemarketers!

Yeah, from what I've seen folks will have to take a BIG RISK to give LL enough info for folks ta do identity theft among other possible "creative" threats by smarter "bad guys".

Actions speak louder than words, and from thier actions, the heads of Linden Labs don't seem ta give a s**t about Tech Support, Stability, Quality of Service/Product, and least of all ... their customers.

This issue should be pounded into the pavement in the most annoying and repetitive ways possible at the next Linden Town Hall. Even if It dam near shuts down discussion. We're talkin about a serious FIRST Life potential problem now

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THE LAST FOUR DIGITS ARE THE ONLY ONE'S UNIQUE TO YOU. ALL THE PRECEEDING NUMBERS ARE SHARED BY 100'S OF THOUSANDS OF OTHERS!! THE LAST FOUR DIGITS ARE YOUR UNIQUE SERIAL NUMBER.


Social security numbers (SSNs) are not random numbers. They are assigned regionally and in batches.

The nine-digit SSN, which has been issued in more than 400 million different sequences, is divided into three parts:


Area numbers - The first three numbers originally represented the state in which a person first applied for a social security card. Numbers started in the northeast and moved westward. This meant that people on the east coast had the lowest numbers and those on the west coast had the highest. Since 1972, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has assigned numbers and issued cards based on the ZIP code in the mailing address provided on the original application form. Since the applicant's mailing address doesn't have to be the same as his residence, his area number doesn't necessarily represent the state in which he resides. For many of us who received our SSNs as infants, the area number indicates the state we were born in. You can find out which area numbers go with each state here.

Group numbers - These two middle digits, which range from 01 through 99, are simply used to break all the SSNs with the same area number into smaller blocks to make administration easier. (The SSA says that, for administrative reasons, group numbers issued first consist of the odd numbers from 01 through 09, and then even numbers from 10 through 98, within each area number assigned to a state. After all the numbers in group 98 of a specific area have been issued, the even groups 02 through 08 are used, followed by odd groups 11 through 99.)

Serial numbers - Within each group designation, serial numbers -- the last four digits in an SSN -- run consecutively from 0001 through 9999.

http://people.howstuffworks.com/question719.htm

********
From "News for Public Officials Newsletter:"

4 numbers that stand between you and your criminal clone

Almost everyone living in America today has a Social Security number. But you may not realize that only four digits uniquely identify you as the legitimate owner.

Your bank understands this. So does your credit card company. This is why financial institutions ask you to identify yourself on the phone with only four of the nine numbers contained in the government issued number.

Identity thieves know this too. They know that with just a phone call and the last four numbers from your SSN, any criminal, from anywhere in the world can take control of your identity.

Your nine-digit SSN is composed of three parts, only the last part identifies you. The other two sets of numbers identify the group of people who received their numbers from the same region and at approximately the same time as you.

It is ironic that some government officials, while attempting to remove Social Security numbers from records posted on the Internet, often intentionally leave the most critical numbers intact.

Your Social Security Number Has Three Parts


Area Number

The Area Number Prior to 1972, cards were issued in local Social Security offices around the country and the Area Number represented the State in which the card was issued. This did not necessarily have to be the State where the applicant lived, since a person could apply for their card in any Social Security office. Since 1972, when SSA began assigning SSNs and issuing cards centrally from Baltimore, the area number assigned has been based on the ZIP code in the mailing address provided on the application for the original Social Security card. The applicant's mailing address does not have to be the same as their place of residence. Thus, the Area Number does not necessarily represent the State of residence of the applicant, either prior to 1972 or since.

Generally, numbers were assigned beginning in the northeast and moving westward. So people on the east coast have the lowest numbers and those on the west coast have the highest numbers.

Note: One should not make too much of the "geographical code." It is not meant to be any kind of useable geographical information. The numbering scheme was designed in 1936 (before computers) to make it easier for SSA to store the applications in our files in Baltimore since the files were organized by regions as well as alphabetically. It was really just a bookkeeping device for our own internal use and was never intended to be anything more than that.
Group Number

Within each area, the group number (middle two (2) digits) range from 01 to 99 but are not assigned in consecutive order. For administrative reasons, group numbers issued first consist of the ODD numbers from 01 through 09 and then EVEN numbers from 10 through 98, within each area number allocated to a State. After all numbers in group 98 of a particular area have been issued, the EVEN Groups 02 through 08 are used, followed by ODD Groups 11 through 99.

Source: www.socialsecurity.gov"

http://www.davickservices.com/News%20for%20County%20Officials.htm

Just to be perfectly clear:

YOU ARE NOT GIVING THEM TO LINDEN LAB.

You are providing them to a 3rd party. The third party simply passes a yes/no flag to LL to add to your account declaring if you're age verified or not.

This has nothing nothing to do with how relaible LL and everything to do with how relaible Integrity (the 3rd party service) is.

As I keep pointing out, amazon.com knows more about me than LL is asking for. PayPal knows WAY more.

I'm starting to think i lead a sheltered life here up in Canada with the eskimos and beavers and igloos and such. I"m simply not seeing why all this panic is. When I get a job they ask for my SIN number (all of it) when i open up bank accounts i have to give tons of info. When i get a loan i have to almost sell my sole yet I am me and no one else is me. If anyone wants to trade identities let me know please have 2.5 cars and a house with a two car garage though i dont want no grubby identity. Also you must earn at least a 6 figure income. People walk around with guns in the USA and the right to bear arms I would be more worried about getting my head blown off or mugged when going out for a walk in boston after dark then identity theft. ????

*really confused at this point*

Look at http://www.aristotle.com/

Follow "Power Tools for Politics".

Note "Aristotle's highly accurate U.S. registered voter file".

Don't you give your SSN when voting?

I have thoroughly gone through the Aristotle website. I don't see anywhere that the words "Aristotle's highly accurate U.S. registered voter file" are used. I see references to "the most accurate voter lists" but no mention of the word "registered"

And yes I gave my state the last 4 digits of my SS # when I registered to vote. I am willing to do that to allow myself to exercise the most fundamental privilege in a democratic republic. But giving this info in order to be allowed entry into a virtual dance club that allows coded pixels to portray partially nude AVs is a far different matter. And furthermore, unlike Integrity/Aristotle, my state has a very strict privacy policy respecting this info.

.
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Oh dear oh dear oh dear.

Well, maybe there will be a way to get verified (which, by the way, I thought I already was) without having to give them this.

coco

P.S. If they ARE a platform, then there's even less reason to have to give them these ss numbers. I mean, I didn't have to give them to AOL, or Firefox to access all of AOL or everything on Firefox.

And I never had to give them to any sort of online game. In fact, I can't think right now of ANYTHING I have ever had to give them to, except for bank things and taxes. (I suppose there is something else, but I'm not remembering it right now.)

Oh well.

coco

Guessing your specific number is like trying to guess the powerball number. Problem is, you call the bank for a balence transfer and they only ask you for the last four of your SSN. So if some hacker breaks into CITIBANK and grabs your data, your screwed. But SL says they are not storing the data, (you trust that statement right?) just passing it through some verification service. In order for somebody to verify anything, they need to have the info already. So your not telling them something they dont already know. Social security numbers make great ID numbers cus everybody has one, but using them as proof of anything, especially just the last four, is feeble. A decently constructed passward is more secure.

Dear if you wish to throw your information about on the internet that is your business.
Do not ask me to do the same. As mother used to say "if everyone jumps off a cliff, do you jump after them?"

There are too many ways that information can be comprised on the net. It starts from typing it it into your computer to who reads the info and what they do with it.


Rox