CONSTRUCTION OF THE SSN

Some books on the subject of identity changing do explain the significance of the first three digits of the SSN. Unfortu - nate ly, the explanation stops there and is very limited even at that. Here is a detailed explanation of the entire SSN.

The SSN is a nine-digit number separated by two dashes into three segments. The first segment is comprised of three digits and, with the exception of the 700 series, indicates the area of the country in which the number was issued. (The 700

composed of two digits and is used to break the numbers from each area into groups. This segment is known as the “group” or “block” segment. The last segment is composed of four digits and is used to serialize about 10,000 numbers (0001 through 9999) within each group. This is called the “serial” or “serial number” segment. Thus we have:

AREA—BLOCK—SERIAL NUMBER arranged as:

aaa-bb-ssss

where a = area, b = block, and s = serial number When dealing with bureaucrats, it is important for the identity changer to understand the significance of each seg- ment of the SSN.

The area segment of the SSN indicates to the bureaucrat where the number was issued. If an uninformed identity changer invents a SSN beginning with 035, a savvy bureaucrat may know that this number should have been issued in the state of Rhode Island. The particularly cunning bureaucrat may make light conversation with the identity changer, inquir- ing as to where he grew up and places he may have lived. If the uninformed identity changer gets caught up in this phony conversation and unwittingly admits that he’s never been in Rhode Island, the bureaucrat will become very suspicious. By the same token, if the identity changer invents a SSN that should have been issued in Alabama, yet he speaks with a strong Long Island accent, this may also raise suspicions in the savvy bureaucrat. When inventing a Social Security Number, you will want to use the area listings found in Appendix A while keeping the above caveats in mind.

With a little planning, it is a relatively simple task to obtain or invent a SSN that contains the proper first three dig- its needed for your intended purposes (i.e., where your new

In many of the books I’ve read on this subject, the middle two digits of the SSN are often said to be unimportant. This is simply not the case. These digits give bureaucrats an idea of when the number was issued. In fact, look at a copy of your credit report sometime. You will find a line that states, “The Social Security Number you gave us was issued between 1956 and 1958” (the actual years may vary). What would be the point of inventing a credit profile that has your birth year as 1964 and your SSN as being issued in 1952? Such a contradic- tion would flag your report for potential fraud.

That line of your credit report is generated by computer software that compares the middle two digits of your SSN with an in-house database. This type of software and databas- ing is becoming more and more common. Variations of this software have been implemented as “Project Clean Data” by many state and federal agencies and is used to identify incor- rect, unissued, and fraudulently used SSNs.

I have yet to come across a complete, up-to-date listing that details the year of issue for each block segment by state (or area). I have been compiling my own list over the years, albeit somewhat incomplete.

I have learned, and verified through experience, that with- in each area, odd groupings from 01 through 09 are the first issued. In highly populated states, these groupings were proba- bly issued before 1940. After the 09 block has been used, even numbers from 10 through 98 are issued. Then, as more num- bers are needed, even groupings from 02 through 08, then odd groupings from 11 through 99 are issued.

The main thing that the identity changer needs to be con- cerned with is this: In which year was a particular block of numbers issued in your target area? The book Social Security Number Fraud published by Eden Press has a 25-page listing that you may wish to use as a reference. This listing is of poor quality, being photocopies of photocopies of govern-

edition of The Modern Identity Changer, I have taken the time to redraft this listing into a much more readable Excel spreadsheet. (See Appendix C.)

As long as the block, or middle two digits, of “your” SSN was issued after the year in which you claim to have been born, you have solid ground to stand on when presenting the SSN to bureaucrats.

The Eden SSN listing is only valid from 1951–1978. Some of you may want more information. Knowing this, I have included some guidelines for compiling a SSN database of your own.

Making Your Own Database

The best way to gain a solid understanding of how your state assigns SSNs is to create your own database. To accom- plish this, take a notebook and pen with you to the vital sta- tistics office in your state and begin looking through a book of death certificates. To find a recent book, get hold of the most recent index and write down some book numbers from it. Then, find the appropriate book or books.

You will notice that the death certificates indicate the decedent’s SSN and age at time of death. These are the two bits of information in which you are primarily interested. Enter the SSN in one column of your notebook and the age the person would be if he or she were still alive, not the age at time of death. This is the reason for using a recent book of death certificates. With a recent book, you will have no need to compensate for the time that has elapsed since the death record was recorded. Many states have a backlog, however, so the most recent book may not yet be available. If this is the case, grab a book that is exactly one year old and simply add one year to all of the given ages on the death certificates.

After you compile a sufficient amount of information, take your notebook home and enter the two columns into a data-

would be interesting to break the SSN into its three compo- nent parts and insert these into three separate fields. Then, you can sort the fields by the first three digits, middle two dig- its, or last four digits to see what kinds of patterns emerge. You are mainly interested in seeing which ages are associated with which middle two digits. The actual year of issue is not all that important for our purposes. We only need a general idea of what SSNs will be valid for the identity we are plan- ning to create.

By the way, if you happen to own a laptop PC, you could create your database right at the vital statistics office and save yourself a step. This is public information, and as long as you don’t scan documents into your PC, the bureaucrats should not have a problem with your using a laptop in the research room.