A hacking group called USDoD claims to have stolen 2.7 billion records of personal information from Americans, including their Social Security numbers and physical addresses.
USDoD offered to sell the stolen records, which included personal data for everyone in the US, UK, and Canada, to a forum of hackers.
The data was stolen from National Public Data, a platform that offers personal information to employers, private investigators, staffing agencies and others doing background checks.
So Americans have a number that was never intended to be used for identification, but they give it to everyone to prove who they are… And if the wrong person gets it they are fucked? Is that right? Because it feels wrong, but that is my understanding of it.
Your understanding is accurate.
Keep your credit locked at the top 3 credit reporting companies and you’re magnitudes more safe. Only inconvenience is needing to temporarily unlock your credit when applying for a new card or loan, but it’s a minor downside for a massive upside of making it nearly impossible for someone to take out a new line of credit in your name.
Some of the credit companies try to trick you into paying a subscription to lock/freeze your credit. It is free at every single one, don’t give them a single cent.