How to sell your social security number back to the government

No, the Social Security Administration (SSA) does not reuse numbers. It does not reassign a Social Security number (SSN) when the person holding that nine-digit combination dies.

About 454 million SSNs have been used to date. The SSA says it issues about 5.5 million new ones a year but has enough unused numbers to last for “several generations into the future.” That’s in large part because of an overhaul of the numbering system put in place in 2011.

Until then, Social Security assigned numbers according to a geographic system put in place at the program’s inception in the mid-1930s:

• The first three digits represented where a person was living when their SSN was issued (the numbers varied by state and got higher moving east to west).
• The next two represented blocks of numbers within that geographic area.
• The last four were a “serial number” to identify each individual within that block.

This method helped with the paper filing system in use at the time, but it limited the range of numbers that could be assigned in a given area. By the mid-2000s, the SSA was starting to run low on available numbers in some states.

That led to the switch in June 2011 to the current system in which new SSNs are randomly generated from first digit to last. Removing the geographic marker considerably expanded the pool of numbers available in each state and enhanced identity protection by making it harder for crooks to reconstruct SSNs using publicly available data like someone’s address.

In addition to randomizing number assignment, the SSA began using some number combos that previously had been excluded, such as allowing SSNs beginning with 7 or 8. You still won’t find an SSN starting with 000, 666 or any number in the 900s; with 00 in the middle; or with 0000 at the end.) With these changes, the SSA says it has more than 400 million numbers still available.

The Social Security Act was passed in 1935 long before computers. So that the civil servants tasked with maintaining the files could do so in an orderly way, a system was devised to more easily catalogue Social Security Numbers and allocate numbers around the nation.

However, just like with the symbols on a dollar bill the ether world is rife with theories about what the numbers on a Social Security card signify. Some think they are for nefarious purposes, while others could get you into legal trouble.

Also see:

• How to request a new Social Security card
• Social Security Administration urges beneficiaries to sign up for direct deposit
• What do I do if I lose my vaccine passport? Can I get a new one?
• What are the 2022 Medicare premiums?

Myths surrounding Social Security Numbers

As the saying goes “A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on.” This is true for inventions about Social Security Numbers and the numbers on the back of Social Security cards. Despite the best of efforts to inform the public of the benign and humdrum nature of both, rumors and myths continue to circulate about what they are really for.

Your Social Security Number is a secret bank account

This myth could get you into hot water and even though the Federal Reserve put out a warning years ago, it reemerged with the covid-19 pandemic. The story goes that people have a private “secret” account at the Federal Reserve and that they can pay bills or get money out of the account using the routing number of the Fed and their Social Security Number.

First off, a private individual cannot have an account at the Federal Reserve. The Fed is the central bank for the United States and handles transactions between institutions not individuals. The routing numbers the institution uses are for sorting payments and are not like the ones a retail bank uses. Trying to pay your bills this way could result in late fee penalties and potential criminal charges according to the Fed.

Social Security Numbers used for racial discrimination

The claim that businesses, universities and banks can tell an applicant’s race based on their Social Security Number goes back to at least to 1999. Snopes.com looked into this at the time but the myth, like the former, made a comeback during the pandemic on one of the favorite platforms for spreading false information, Facebook. The Social Security Administration, aware of the myth, published why they think the idea came about.

Posts on Facebook claimed, as over 20 years ago, that the fifth digit of your Social Security number indicated your racial identity. According to the myth, if the fifth digit of your Social Security Number is an odd number then you’re white and if it is even you’re non-white. The Social Security Administration ventures that this is because the fifth digit is in the series of numbers referred to as the “group number”. The agency points out that when applying for a Social Security Number it is voluntary to mark on the form what ethnicity you relate to.

How are Social Security Numbers assigned?

The Social Security Administration as of 2008 had issued over 450 million Social Security Numbers. Since then, the US population has grown by nearly ten percent. In 2011 the agency changed the way it issued new numbers using a “randomization” process. This was to “help protect the integrity” of the numbers and “extend the longevity of the nine-digit SSN nationwide.”

Prior to the change, the nine number scheme was divided into three number categories; area, group and serial.

The first three digits represent a geographical region of where the application for the card was made.

The second set of two digits “has no special geographic or data significance” according to the agency. The “group numbers” were not assigned in consecutive order and are “used to break the numbers into blocks of convenient size” for processing and control the quantity of numbers assigned to states and regions. The administration began with odd numbers and then used even numbers.

The last four digits run consecutively from 0001 to 9999 within each group assigned, so those who enter a new group first have a lower number.

What are the numbers on the back of a Social Security card?

The numbers on the reverse of a Social Security card also have their own conspiracy theories attached to them. Kevin Drum at Mother Jones did some digging after reading an article by his colleague David Corn who was told the numbers indicate the bank that owns you. According to the story, when you are born you are put up as “collateral for the banks.”

Drum provides some blogposts from those searching for similar information and led down the conspiracy path. However, his research uncovered that once again, the numbers have no sinister use but are simply a tool for managing Social Security numbers. A federal worker told him the numbers are for inventory control so that every blank card printed can be accounted for.

Social Security cards are printed much like dollar bills, even on banknote paper when possible, and have a serial number along with other security features to prevent them from being counterfeited. The number on the back can help the agency verify if a particular card is legitimate or false when checked against the Social Security Administration’s database then correlated with the social security number and name on the card.

What if your SSN is on the dark web?

How do you break down a Social Security number?

What can someone do with the last 4 digits of your SSN?

Why does my Social Security number start with a 1?