In March, Holly Ramer received a letter from a debt collector demanding that she pay $ 7,306 in two days . But it was not the money. Instead, the debt belonged to a Micronesian man who defaulted on a loan disaster of the US Small Business Administration. Because Micronesian man had the same social security number as Holly Ramer, debt associated with finished his credit.
The Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau everyone has a social security administration independently operated. In exchange for the rights of defense, the United States provides these nations with assistance, including grants and loans after disasters. When grant and loan applicants provide their social security numbers local to federal agencies, the numbers are sometimes reported to the credit bureaus. Two of the three Pacific Island nations use Social Security numbers with eight digits, rather than new, and in some cases, the computer automatically enter a zero to fill the void. This can create new numbers beginning with two zeros, which makes them identical to the numbers in New Hampshire and Maine. If your Social Security number starts with 002-6, 003-9, 005-7 or 007-8, it could match a number in Micronesia. Numbers that start 006-4 could match numbers in Palau. Those that start with 004 could match numbers in the Marshall Islands. Nobody knows exactly how many Social Security numbers overlap, but estimates show that there are about 135,000 potential matches. The Ministry of Agriculture of the United States is aware of the problem and claims to be working on a fix, but so far nothing has been done.
Your Social Security number and your credit report can impact so many aspects of your life. Monitoring your credit or subscribe to an identity service protection against theft are two ways to maintain some level of control and awareness on credit and name.