Scary. MY phone company got my SS #
 

OK. Im one of those folks who dosnt provide my ss#. To have my phone and electric turned on I paid security deposits. Called my Phone company today about a billing issue and they asked for the last 4 didgist of my ss#. HUGH? I said "you dont have that". They said yes they did. Its in my wife's name only first off, second we would never have given them any SS #'s.

What the heck is up with this?



Company is Windstream/Altell

What's your credit like? Usually to have to pay a security deposit for utilities you have to have a history of missed payments or other debts. That would be a reason to have to provide your SSN.

I donno...I used to be in finance and I think we had some credit report programs that would allow you to pull personal credit with a birthday, name, and an address. Does it say in the fine print that they can pull personal credit whenever they want to? That's my only guess though...I have no idea how they got it. :shrug:

One of my prior employers, a large US corporation owned a subsidiary that (at the time) was the largest collector of personal data in the US. Purchases made, current prior addresses etc. so I have no doubt that even if you did not give your SS# (which is why you opted to pay a security deposit), the info was available from another source. And as they probably can tie you to your wife, they may have yours too. Also it could have been a ploy to get you to provide a SS#. Our local natural gas company wanted our DL# a while back, I refused to give them out. Just beware that while some utilities report to credit bureaus, they may only report on the primary name (found this out when we got our credit report). Once I get moved into the new house, guess who is going to get a letter demanding the info be reported on both names? And interestingly enough, the credit reports show versions of our names that we NEVER use. Another letter out the door.

Why Didnt You Ask Them :shrug:

I did ask. They said we gave it to them....and everyone needs to provide a ss# to set up utilities. She was wrong on both counts. Law says you dont need to provide ss# to regulated utilities. We also never give it out. Thats why we paid a security deposit! Since they have no way to "hang" you if they cant extort your credit report....thats why they asked us for a security deposit. The girl I talked with said we paid a security deposit because we had bad credit....she was incorect.

After talking to a "superior" they agreed to remove our ss info from our record and claimed that they only had the last 4 digits. I get the feeling they got cought doing something fishy!



On a side note. A friend of mine worked for a major us auto maker's finance division as a "service rep" a.k.a. bill colector. She could look anyone in the US SS# with just basic info. I remember her looking up Monica Lewinski's and a few other celebrities info just for fun. She said it scared her how big companies had access to this stuff.

Another reason"excuse" for them wanting a security deposit is ..You may be a new customer..even tho your credit is good..If they don,t know you they mite want one.I had the gas company wants all that stuff and relaltives names/addresses etc..I refused and they just had me do a security deposit..They can ask..BUT..you don,t hafta give
Gord in BC

You dont need a SSN to pull a credit report, its more accurate with one, but a billing address past or current will work.

If you buy a house the title company will give your information to the utilities in the process of getting the old owner off and the new owner on. They will probably give the SS # along with other info.

Ken in Glassboro, NJ

www.accurint.com

Skiptracing has never been easier. :lol:

Privacy is a thing of the Past. You no longer have any privacy. If someone wants to find out about you, practically anything about you, they can as long as they have a few bucks they are willing to spend. The info is available. Just a Fact of Life Today. A sorry fact of life, but a fact nonetheless.

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Big Brother IS Watching!

Choicepoint is just one of many that collects and sells ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING about you/us. Even the government uses companies like this to collect info they can't Legally get on their own. But it IS legal for them to BUY it from other companies. :rolleyes:

LOTS of ways and means to get info now a days. You can find out practically anything for $50 from many of these companies, but the really huge ones contract to govs, phone companies, credit card outfits and more and sells your info for pennies in mass quantity.

:cool:

Ozarkguy

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one word.

acxiom.

http://www.acxiom.com/

I have worked in the title industry since 1983. In this area we don't give out the SS# to anyone. Also, here, people take care of getting their own utilities hooked up. I am surprised any title company has anything to do with that.

http://www.zabasearch.com/

I have used this one to find people it is good and fast. and if not this I just do a Yahoo People Search. if you just have a phone number if you just have a last name and State you can Backward searches. and find things out Cool. OR Just put your complete phone number in a Google search 12345678900 and not only will it give you the address but there is a spot to click on Map and points out just where you live. That is also neat if you don't know exactly where somebody lives you can then Print it out and Take with you to find there place.
Yup the Internet saves a person the trouble going to the court house, Library, etc. to find the info. :)

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Yep. Google and yahoo and many will do a free search. And just pay a few bucks and the others will make your credit history public, birth certificate, child support payments and what have you. It's ALL out there now, and no turning back. And let's NOT forget your e-mail and the websites you visit! :cool:

Ozarkguy

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Acxiom has the largest database on Americans. Bigger than the gov. They even have your unlisted number more than likely. Definitely your cell phone number. They have the last 6 years of your life there, with all of your trackable transactions on file and coalecsed.

.

"even have your unlisted number more than likely"

I got 34 phone calls on my unlisted phone number during our recent election! :flame:

Ozarkguy

.

Any kind of business like that, includeing the phone, electric & water, or the police, already know the number and more things about you than you would ever believe.
If you are a hoodlem, they use that for an excuse. If you work hard and make a good living, they want to know where it comes from.
If you are crooked, you either pay them or go to jail on there next round up.

an unlisted/unpublished number is not a guarantee
 

They program the auto-dialer to start with number XXX-0001 and continue sequentially. Simple as that so when you pick up the phone, voila! And I bet that they now know you have an unlisted number as it is easy enough to cross-reference to the listed database. Phone company makes money and bears no responsibility. This is why we must continue to fight to make sure cell phones have no directory and that telemarketing/"charity"/political calls of ANY kind are prohibited via cell phone.

if they run your plates, they get your SS#.

your SS# is all over the place.

relax.

Your friend is lucky she wasn't terminated
 

The financial institution where I worked terminated people for disclosing a person had an account with the company. You signed an agreement to not disclose information such as this and it was quite clear you would lose your job.

Most collectors don't sign those docs.

It seems like anything you want set up wants money up front. Even our long term (35 years) insurance company wants money to activate a new vehicle. We have an automatic monthly payment for all our insurance and still had to send $8.00 to add two snowmobiles. I had to repeat my SS# too. They talk about security/privacy but when all this information is out there in cyber space for everyone to see, that's not security.

Any large database could be exploited for unsavory purposes. The databases of Homesteading Today may contain information about people that they are unaware of.

Well you should get Vonage, no one knows I exist...great.