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Social Security numbers are easy source for identity theft By
Dereck Jeffery
Do you have a Social Security number? If so, you could become a victim of the fastest growing crime in America. How? As a student you are constantly handing out the personal identification that marks you as an individual on Earth. While waiting in line to buy a parking permit, Greg Vandermade, an undergraduate student, was asked to put his name and full Social Security number on a list that was being passed from student to student. "There was this sheet with something like 10 names and Social Security numbers on it," Vandermade said. "It wouldn't take much for someone to look at this sheet and memorize a name and a number." Identity theft is a crime where someone uses information that belongs to another for some kind of personal gain. This gain can be financial, as when a Social Security number is used to gain credit, or criminal, as when a name and driver's license number are used to avoid a criminal record. According to the Identification Theft Center, an estimated 700,000 consumers became victims of identity theft during 2001 across the nation. Statistics show identity theft has become a major epidemic. College ages are a primary target for identity theft according to a website called Fraud Training. Ages 19 to 30 make up nearly 27 percent of reported identity theft in the United States. Anyone who has a Social Security number is at risk and more frequently than not, the Social Security number is being used as a student identification number, and that is a problem area. However, the Social Security number is still a student's primary means of identification, punched into computers to get book lists or dialed on a phone to register for classes. Another concern among students is that parts of Social Security numbers are often used by professors to take roll. Barry Mclaughlin, an undergraduate student at USU, said, "In classes, instructors often take roll by passing around a sheet of paper and asking for your name and the digits of your Social Security number." It is an everyday occurrence to nonchalantly hand over your Social Security number, especially on campus. And with today's technology you can never be too cautious when anything is possible. So the next time you catch yourself saying "I don't remember charging these items, I've never been to that store," consider that maybe you never charged those items but someone else did -- someone who used your name and personal information to commit fraud.
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