Years ago I fought a 6 month battle because of Identity Theft. All worked out ok. I now have a Permanent Credit Freeze. It should be illegal for any business to require your SSN for anything. Computers are hacked on a daily basis. Once crooks have you SSN, they have your life. Ones SSN should only be used for, well, Social Security purposes. Or in my case, SSDI and Medicare. Nothing else.
I just found out I cannot set up a PayPal account without an SSN. Total BS😜
You can't set up any sort of a bank account of any sort, anywhere in the US, without providing your Social Security number.
@mcfate
True that. It does not affect my current Checking/Savings account though. I just cannot get any new credit for anything. PayPal you add funds from your current Debit/Credit account, so why is a SSN needed? Does not make sense.
unless you're applying for PayPal credit, or want to receive money via PayPal, I don't think you have to provide SSN...I never have...but I only ever used PayPal to buy stuff... 🤔
I can't get a credit card from Amazon (or Apple) because as far as the credit-reporting system goes, I don't exist at all.
Which is the way I want things to be.
I have a similar problem/feature... 😁
I dunno...as far as I know PayPal is not actually a bank...and if you're just trying to pay for stuff, you shouldn't be required to provide SSN...I have two PayPal accounts and neither have my SSN...
perhaps...I don't "put funds into PayPal account" tho...it's just tied to a debit card...maybe that's the difference?
"PayPal verifies the information..." By contacting your bank or a credit bureau.
If they're handling money coming from the public, they're subject to "Know Your Customer" regulations, or every money-launderer in the entire world would be having PayPal do their work for them.
@mcfate @opie
That I understand. Like Amazon, they want to confirm the Credit/Debit card is valid. The bank can confirm this. If one is using a stolen or invalid or expired card, that can be confirmed. No problem with that. I just do not understand needihg a SSN🤔 It is for safety we are told. Yet, then the system that stores this private personal info is hacked and.......Bad 💩 happens. Like ID Theft.
I've explained this: money-laundering. If your company's "product" is moving money from one place to another one, you have to be able to convince the government that you're not assisting in cash-washing, and that means "Know Your Customer" regulations, and that means "collect an SSN or equivalent taxation ID".
Your debit card number isn't a means of identification for the government. Your SSN/taxation ID is, however.
For the record, I can't recall the last time I was asked to provide my Social Security number, but it's likely that there was a W-99 involved.
@MallyDaKatt @opie
You need to be thoughtful about whom you give it to. When it involves moving money around, you're going to need to provide it.
If you don't want to provide it, that's a choice you can make. But you can't get a bank account, debit card, or any other "financial instrument" without having done so, the end.