Hey everyone, I accidentally sent my SSN to the wrong number today because my employer gave me incorrect number, and after realizing it I contacted the person who got the SSN and she told me she deleted it and not to worry. But I want to be safe and I just recently got my SSN and I don’t have a credit card or even used it any bank yet so I want to know what I should do, should I report it to the SSA or is there anything I should do please I am worried??
Sent SSN to the wrong number
byu/ImmediateBoot5955 inpersonalfinance
Posted by ImmediateBoot5955
6 Comments
Contact the big three credit agencies and lock your credit. Any new lines of credit will get blocked automatically.
Freeze your credit if it isn’t already:
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/identity_theft/
With how many data breaches there have been, basically everyone’s SSN has been compromised at some point anyway.
The odds that you sent your SSN randomly to an individual who would have any desire to do anything negative with it is ***extremely*** small.
And there have been so many data leaks over the prior couple decades that your SSN is already out there (or will be shortly if it’s new) and actively available to people who are able to do something negative with it if they were inclined.
There’s nothing to do. There’s nothing you even could do if you wanted. Just be diligent, watch your credit for new accounts that shouldn’t exist — which you should be doing anyways. You can (and arguably should) freeze your credit so that new lines can’t be opened very easily. But that’s something you probably should do regardless of this incident.
Why would your employer need your SSN via text message?
There’s just too much here but really quick:
– Your employer should NEVER ask you to send your SSN via text, etc.
– Save screen shots of everything you sent as well as the txt from your employer proving they told you to send you SSN via txt
– Place fraud alerts on all credit bureaus (or better – put a freeze on them & then unlock them whenever you’re going to apply for credit)
– Visit [IdentityTheft.org](http://IdentityTheft.org) just in case your SSN is used, you know how to file a claim there.
– Draft a letter to your employer & mail it (signature required) asking that, since they told you to send your SSN & gave you the wrong number – they should consider paying for a credit monitoring service for you for at least the next 2 years.
– Keep records if anything bad does happen with your SSN, so that if you decide to see an attorney you have all the documentation on what happened.
Why were you sending a TEXT MESSAGE with your SSN in the first place? No employer or bank should EVER ask for that for ANY reason. They will either accept it over a VOICE call, or in writing. NEVER NEVER NEVER transmit your SSN over an unsecured method. And SMS is not secure.