SSN Facts

Mar 01, 2014

         Facts About The Social Security Number Trace                                                                                                                                             

About the SSN Trace

·       SSN verification pre-hire is not available directly from the Social Security Administration.

·       The SSN verification from the Social Security Admin post-hire does not include an address history.

·       The SSN verification conducted by HRA is obtained from a 3^rd-party that employs a proprietary software database that gleans the name, addresses, dates of residence, usually DOB, and the date the SSN was issued, directly from “credit headers” of all three major credit bureaus.  Credit headers are the top portion of the credit report that shows all addresses reported to the bureau by creditors (no credit information).  Over the years HRA has found this source to be very reliable.

How HRA uses the SSN history

·       A source to confirm that the SSN belongs to the candidate.

·       A source to uncover any aliases or AKA’s.

·       A source to confirm the DOB.

·       A source to obtain the address history – especially of the past seven years.

·       A source to confirm that the date of issue of the SSN is in line with the candidate’s DOB.  Generally the issue date is same or within a few years of the year of birth.  If the date of issue is prior to the candidate’s birth, it’s a red flag.

·       From the address history, we ascertain the counties of residence of the past seven years and then conduct a county criminal records search in those counties.

How you, the employer, use the SSN history

·       For review of the data the candidate has provided you.

·       To see the justification for the counties searched for criminal records.

·       If the result of the SSN trace is “No record found,” and the candidate is 18 – 21, or so, it’s most likely there is no credit history from which to glean the information.

Red flags to watch for

·       A different name is returned matching the SSN.

·       The date of issue is prior to the candidate’s DOB.

·       The return is, “SSN has not yet been issued.”

 

 

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