I think I made a mistake Please Help

It's hard to tell, it depends on the collection agency and if it stays within the law. They can certainly use it to better track you, if you are afraid that they may use it illegally then you should contact the three major consumer reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and Transunion) to place a ID theft alert on their respective profiles. It is something you can do if you believe your personal identifying information is compromised.

Good advice JCEMT....

Just curious, for what purpose did you give it to them?

Did they ask your to confirm your #? Chances are they already have it our could have easily gotten it with a quick search on one of their skiptrace data base.

Sometimes collection agencies use the SSN to confirm that they are speaking with the correct person because 3rd party disclosure is against the law.

Should this happen in the future I would ask them to give you the last 4 to see if it matches. It's not often that your last 4 will match someone else's with your same name.

FYI, is it required for the person to disclose their entire SSN, or will the last four suffice with some additional verification?

I guess it depends on the companies policy. Mine require mininum of the last 4. After I do confirm that depending on the situation I will go for the full thing.

Is there anything else that can be used for verification, I don't like giving out my SSN unless I have to. What policies does your company use in regards to this?

Well each company has it's own policy. It's hard to say. I can verify ID by a few different things but the SSN is unchangable on a person and it will always verify 100%.

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