[jman220]

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This is really stupid, however:

I just started at new job. It's a new location/expansion for the company in question and a little over half the staff are new hires. More than 100 new employees.

About a week before orientation, I get a call from someone who claims to be from my new employer asking for my SSN so they can set up payroll (I'd already given them my SSN during the interview process).

I basically reply, "Uh, you're calling me up out of the blue and asking me my SSN over the phone?" They replied that they were, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Instead of giving them my SSN I asked for a number to call them back.

I hop on the net and try to do a reverse look-up on the number to make sure it really is from my new employer. When I can't do that (because it's not listed in any directory due to it just being someone's office number and not a central number) I call the operator and have the operator verify that the number does belong to my new employer.

At which point I call them back and give them my SSN. They were quite surprised that I'd gone through the trouble. So apparently nobody else (more than 100 people) had any hesitation in giving out their SSN over the phone to a complete stranger who could've just grabbed a list of new hires out of a garbage bin and then looked through a phone book...

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What does having someone's SSN get you?

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One more piece in a puzzle needed to successfully complete identity theft.