Zombie Social Security Numbers
According to a recent CNN article, the Social Security Office still has active (that is, not official deceased) numbers and records for 6.5 million Americans age 112 or older. There are only 35 total people living worldwide who are that age. The problem? These, so called, zombie social security numbers could be used, along with a fake birth certificate (or a lot of makeup) to create fraudulent IDs, credit cards, bank accounts, you name it. And, since the numbers are active, but not being used, no one will even be around to complain that accounts are being opened in their name. The truly funny part about this is that the fix is so difficult, brought to you by the people who do bureaucracy best. If you aren’t a government employee, the (partial) fix is as easy as writing a small computer program. There are apparently 12 people that age still actively drawing Social Security benefits. If the total number of 112-year olds is even remotely accurate, than less than 20 people world-wide could still be alive, and counting on having that valid Social Security number. In other words, expiring every one of the 6.5 million numbers (except the 12 still …