My father has been working for over 10 years with a fake social, and he has recently obtained a social security card that is good to work

[Crocodile12 0]

My father has been working for over 10 years with a fake social, and now he has obtained a good real social that's for work only. He is thinking about telling his employer, but we don't know if that's the best way to go. He obtained his good social through myself, who I am currently serving in the U.S military and applied for a program called PIP, which helped my parents get a social to work and the permission to stay in the U.S. Any suggestions, advice, or tips? 

[portorusa 431]

And how is he going to reveal the ugly truth... "hey, boss by the way, this is my REAL social, and disregard the old one"?

 

Off topic: I always wonder, how people are able to use FAKE SSNs? Do they steal them? Aren't they realize this is a criminal activity? and how much harm they inflict on the victims of this crime? And most of all, how are they able to get away with it for years?😠

[Sarge2155 4,587]

On 5/18/2020 at 3:57 PM, Crocodile12 said:

My father has been working for over 10 years with a fake social, and now he has obtained a good real social that's for work only. He is thinking about telling his employer, but we don't know if that's the best way to go. He obtained his good social through myself, who I am currently serving in the U.S military and applied for a program called PIP, which helped my parents get a social to work and the permission to stay in the U.S. Any suggestions, advice, or tips? 

I think answers  to your questions are going to be limited to none. I think people are saying if they have nothing nice to say they'll  refrain from even addressing this topic!

[Boiler 45,516]

On 5/19/2020 at 11:15 AM, portorusa said:

And how is he going to reveal the ugly truth... "hey, boss by the way, this is my REAL social, and disregard the old one"?

 

Off topic: I always wonder, how people are able to use FAKE SSNs? Do they steal them? Aren't they realize this is a criminal activity? and how much harm they inflict on the victims of this crime? And most of all, how are they able to get away with it for years?😠

You really think his boss does not know the real deal 😂

 

They make them up, they borrow them all sorts of ways.

 

Quite easy to transfer credits to the correct number, not a problem. Quite a common situation.

[geowrian 22,337]

Only HR would need to know about the new SSN, unless the boss handles HR too. A "reason" isn't needed if he doesn't want to disclose one. It's uncommon, but one can get a new SSN, such as in the case of identity theft or abuse.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0248-do-you-need-new-social-security-number#new

 

I can only speculate on how one obtains somebody's SSN. Although one would also assume the employer verified the SSN and name match the individual, and they would have had them complete an I-9 (at least post 1986). Hopefully he did not claim to be a US citizen in the process (https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-k-chapter-2).

If the employer never verified their work authorization,  I really doubt they're going to question anything now as they dropped the ball too (or knew/suspected it but didn't care).

[Unlockable 7,314]

Agreeing with @geowrian and want to add. If the SSN is stolen from a US citizen and not just faked, it will be a HUGE mess. Even sometimes when undocumented use fake SSN, they unknowingly are using a real person's that was somebody elses. This would put the father in criminal offenses that @Crocodile12 may not even be able to save him from. 

 

So best to make 1000% sure the SSN is fake and not stolen.

[Just Paul 4,595]

4 minutes ago, Unlockable said:

Agreeing with @geowrian and want to add. If the SSN is stolen from a US citizen and not just faked, it will be a HUGE mess. Even sometimes when undocumented use fake SSN, they unknowingly are using a real person's that was somebody elses. This would put the father in criminal offenses that @Crocodile12 may not even be able to save him from. 

 

So best to make 1000% sure the SSN is fake and not stolen.

When I was younger, around 18 or 19, I had a wallet stolen.  I lost a couple of bucks, my id, a debit card and my social security card.  I didn't know better about carrying around the social security card  (everyone did it at the time) and never filed a police report.  Mine was used at the end of the 90's with my real name, multiple times and with a "real" card.  I got a lot of credit for work I never did and it took about 3 years to really get it fixed.  Not to mention state tax issues.  My lawyer sued two of the employers and we got a settlement from one and a judgement against the other for costs.  It still screws up some of my work background checks. And it couldn't have some a worse time as I was going thru a rather contentious divorce.  The recovery costs weren't even close as the issues still come up.

[portorusa 431]

4 hours ago, geowrian said:

I can only speculate on how one obtains somebody's SSN. Although one would also assume the employer verified the SSN and name match the individual, and they would have had them complete an I-9 (at least post 1986).

Right. And even if the employer didn't care to verify,  what about the payroll and the deductions to Federal, SS, and Medicare? Aren't they supposed be directly connected to the SSN? What about filing taxes using SOMEONE ELSE's SSN (unless this someone is fully aware and is ok with it)?? That's what puzzles me. How do those crooks actually manage to do it undetectedly, and for so long?

[Boiler 45,516]

Normally a made up one is used, there is a SS process for questioning odd records but it can take forever.

 

Now sometimes an Employer will not report deductions where they know it is a fake.

[Just Paul 4,595]

4 minutes ago, portorusa said:

What about filing taxes using SOMEONE ELSE's SSN

My case was found by the IRS sorta.  I got audited because I wasn't reporting all of my W2 based income my tax return.  I got assessed a penalty and interest because they said I got a refund in error.  The government was absolutely NO HELP and I was fortunate that I was able to get a good tax attorney and unravel it all.

 

In the late 90s it took (IRS) 3 plus years to figure it out and 3 years to "fix" it.  The people using the number were long gone and the only recourse to recover any of my costs was to the employers that failed to follow the law.

[portorusa 431]

Here we go, @Paul & Mary And while I can understand why OP's father had to choose the route, it's hard not to feel indignation and resentment...Using a fake SSN is a crime, and there might be victims. The law is for everyone regardless of how unfair life might seem. I am a US citizen, and my foreign husband is here in the US with me , with no SSN, no work, no stimulus check considering that his immigration process started 18 months ago, and he is still technically undocumented.

I apologize to OP for going off topic, but the casual tone of the original post just struck me in its boldness...or naivete? In any case, good luck to OP's father and hopefully he did not harm anyone during the last 10 years by using a fake SSN.

[Just Paul 4,595]

30 minutes ago, portorusa said:

Here we go, @Paul & Mary And while I can understand why OP's father had to choose the route, it's hard not to feel indignation and resentment...Using a fake SSN is a crime, and there might be victims. The law is for everyone regardless of how unfair life might seem. I am a US citizen, and my foreign husband is here in the US with me , with no SSN, no work, no stimulus check considering that his immigration process started 18 months ago, and he is still technically undocumented.

I apologize to OP for going off topic, but the casual tone of the original post just struck me in its boldness...or naivete? In any case, good luck to OP's father and hopefully he did not harm anyone during the last 10 years by using a fake SSN.

To wrap this up, it is now supposed to be harder to us an invalid SSN and it probably is.  When my case occurred, I was one of the owners the the company I worked at.  I'm not sure how long you have lived in Tucson @portorusa, but we in Arizona were one of the first states that had to use e-verify.  Probably over the life the the businesses that we had we employed a bit over 500 people at all skill levels.  Using e-verify we never had one employee fail verification.  In one of those ITIN / CARES act check discussions there was that article where a spouse was working with an ITIN.  Cleary there wasn't any verification and if the number was reported to the IRS it never hit. There still isn't much news about businesses getting into trouble.  I am 99% sure the two employers I sued only got a hand slap from any authorities if anything.  I'm glad I don't get paid by employment anymore.

 

I definitely feel for you in your situation where you and your husband did things right and had an ITIN and got dinged by the CARES act.

 

The OP's father got real real lucky and didn't accidentally by using a real number and hurt someone else other than the general public.  And the father is real lucky that his son is in a place to help him. 

[Boiler 45,516]

Well not everybody can use PIP, but there are others options if they were inspected Or of course have someone who can file a waiver.

[Sarge21555 206]

Your father is a good man and I respect his worth ethic.

 

step 1: hopefully his taxes were paid with a tax if and not fake S.S. Or he may need to get an accountant to fix those prior filings.  
 

step 2: contact employer and indicate a mixup with the number occurred and he needs the employer to update the records. No big deal, happened to me. My father and I had each other’s number mixed up.

 

step 3: this part sucks.  Contact credit bearu and did the credit history.

 

goodluck and welcome to the good life!