You need your Social Security number to apply for a job, file your tax return and open new credit cards and loans. But if this nine-digit number is exposed in a data breach, identity thieves can also use it to get a job in your name, rack up credit card debt against your credit score and to steal your tax refund.
But did you know you could actually lock your Social Security number to block cybercriminals and better protect your data?
Prohibiting electronic access to your SSN may feel extreme — it’s certainly inconvenient. But if you’ve experienced identity theft or your personal identifiable information was compromised in a recent data breach, like the hacks of Change Healthcare or National Public Data, where hundreds of millions of people were affected, locking your SSN may protect you from future harm.
Blocking access or “locking” your SSN will make it extremely difficult for an identity thief to use your SSN for malicious actions. This, coupled with a credit freeze, can help thwart identity thieves and keep your identity safe.
Read more: Social Security November 2024: Here’s When to Expect Your Check
How to lock your Social Security number
There are two ways to block access to your Social Security number.
Call the Social Security Administration.
You can contact the SSA at 1-800-772-1213 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. local time, Monday through Friday. Wait times are usually shorter in the morning and later in the week.
Once you confirm your identity, the SSA will wave their magic wand and block electronic access to your SSN number.
Create an E-Verify account
You can also create a MyE-Verify online account to lock your SSN and use the service’s self-lock feature. The lock will last one year. But you’ll be alerted 30 days before it expires, and you can extend the lock if you choose.
This resource comes in handy because many employers use E-Verify, a service administered by SSA and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, to check your employment eligibility. When you lock your Social Security number, a company looking to verify your SSN won’t be able to verify your identity.
This option is also handy if you don’t want to pick up the phone every time you want to unlock your SSN.
The downside of locking your SSN
The main drawback to locking your SSN will sound very familiar to anyone who has a credit freeze in place. When you block access to your SSN records, you also restrict access to it from yourself.
This means you’ll have to go through the hassle of unlocking it whenever you need a new employer to verify your eligibility to work in the US or you want to receive government benefits.
This back and forth may be worth it to individuals who have suffered from employment identity theft and tax fraud. For added protection against tax identity theft, you can create an identity protection pin with the IRS to prevent someone else from filing a tax return with your SSN or individual taxpayer identification number.
What’s the difference between locking your SSN and a credit freeze?
A credit freeze is different from a Social Security number lock — though both are free. One blocks access to your Social Security record online while a credit freeze negates access to your credit reports.
To conduct a credit freeze, you’ll need to contact all three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) to stop anyone from creating new credit accounts in your name.
Will locking my SSN protect me from identity theft?
The answer here is pretty unsatisfying: it might. Locking your Social Security number can prevent employment identity theft or stop a criminal from collecting government benefits in your name. But it won’t prevent all forms of ID theft.
As an added precaution, you should share your Social Security number only when it is absolutely necessary and never on an unprompted call or text message.
It’s also a good idea to monitor your financial accounts and your credit reports for any unusual activity. If you’d prefer to have a service to do this for you, you can sign up for a credit monitoring service or an ID theft protection service. You can often enroll in credit monitoring to keep an eye on your credit reports. ID theft protection often includes credit monitoring as well as dark web monitoring and alerts if your information is compromised in a data breach. If your identity is compromised, identity theft protection can help you recover it through white glove restoration services.
For extra security, you can freeze your credit with Experian, TransUnion and Equifax to prevent identity thieves from opening new lines of credit in your name. I did this recently and found the process surprisingly easy.
