Business Services Industry
The Orange County Register, Calif., Consumer Column.(Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, March, 2000 by Mulkern, Anne C.
Mar. 20--QUESTION: In one of your columns you listed the telephone numbers to get credit reports. They all ask for my Social Security number. By law this is not required, and therefore is simply a means for them to secure a person's Social Security number. I refuse to provide it and, as a result, never get a credit report. Do you know any way to bypass this problem?
ANSWER: Kudos for trying to guard your Social Security number. But your protective instincts are misplaced in this case.
Credit-reporting agencies Experian, Equifax and Trans Union already have your Social Security number. That's the identifier they use to gather information about you. Any time you apply for a credit card or loan, you supply your Social Security number. That information is...
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