Can you get new credit privacy numbers?
What if your number is being used by someone else? People sell lists of credit privacy numbers that match up with birthdates and other information.
Credit privacy numbers are a euphemism for Social Security Numbers or other numbers used to identify people for credit purposes. In some recent articles on credit fraud, it was revealed that people are taking the credit privacy numbers of children and prisoners and recycling them for the purpose of either improving someone else’s credit score or getting credit on the actual numbers themselves. Generally speaking, this would be considered a form of criminal wrongdoing, but there is a market in social security numbers used for such things as identity theft and the acquisition of credit that the person taking out the loan does not necessarily intend to pay back. Even if a parent uses a child’s credit rating and fully intends to pay back the incurred debts, this is not legal. In some cases children are turning 18, applying for credit, and finding out that they have a long negative credit history. They may also be pursued by debt collectors for money they don’t really owe, and can’t get a student loan (or other financial help, or even a job) because they are saddled with poor credit. Therefore, it is best to safeguard your child’s credit privacy number to keep such things from happening.
Notes and Special Information
Special note: If you believe your credit privacy numbers have been compromised, then you may want to sign up for a credit monitoring service or monitor your own credit report. In credit card processing, stricter PCI-DSS compliance standards are also helping companies protect information when they may have parts of social security numbers stored along with credit privacy numbers