If you have a Facebook account, you could be unknowingly inviting identity thieves to steal your social security number and other private information. Even if you rarely use the social networking site or have some or most of your profile information private, would-be thieves just need your hometown to get valuable information to steal your identity.
Your social security number has three parts: the first group of three numbers it the Area Number, the second set of two numbers is the Group Number and the third set of four numbers is the Serial Number. These numbers are not assigned randomly, so knowing a person's place of birth can help them gain valuable clues to their social security number.
Area Number
Prior to 1972, the area number was based on the state in which the card was issued. Since a person can live in one state but apply from another, this number does not necessarily mean the person was born there. Since 1972, the area number represents the zip code the applicant provided on the application. If a person has a different mailing address than their physical address, this number would not represent their hometown. But for those people that applied using their physical address, this number points to the person's hometown. Numbers were assigned with lower numbers on the east coast and higher numbers on the west coast.
The Social Security Administration adopted this system in 1936, well before computers were invented, so employees could look up records faster. Records were organized alphabetically as well as by region, so this made it easier to find a specific record or group of records.
Group Number
The middle two numbers range from 01 to 99, but are not assigned in order. The Social Security Administration assigns odd numbers from 01 to 09 first, then even numbers from 10 to 98, then even numbers from 02 to 08 and finally odd numbers from 11 to 99.
Serial Number
The final group of numbers, the last four digits of the Social Security Number, are issued consecutively from 0001 to 9999.
Facebook and Social Security Numbers
Obviously, it is never a good idea to post your personal information on a public page like Facebook, but just posting your birthday and birth place can invite thieves. The thief just needs to look up your profile by name, mobile number or email address. With just a glance, he can find your hometown, where you currently live and birthday and year.
Odds are pretty good that your parents applied for your social security number from the town you were born in using your physical address, so the first three numbers are not hard to narrow down. By learning your birth year, he can determine if your Area Number follows the rules before 1972 or after. Your age also gives clues to your Group Number. Once the first 5 digits are guessed, it takes just a few moments to randomly guess the final four digits.
Protect your identity by leaving this valuable information off your profile. If you want to share it with your friends, use the privacy settings so it only displays to friends. You can also create groups of people, so your hometown, for example, is shown to family and old friends, but others can not access that part of your profile. For more help, with Facebook's privacy settings, read their help section.
Byline
This article was written by Karl Stockton for the team at bail agents.
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