Did you read the website I provided? The SSA gives employers several options for verifying social security numbers by phone or in writing. I don't care if it is optional or mandatory. If an employer fails to take advantage of these free tools provided to them by taxpayers then I think they should be subject to prosecution and it should not matter what bogus documents they have on file. On the other hand, if they take advantage of those tools I believe they should be given a safe harbor from prosecution.
Legal Policy - Don't Discriminate or Misuse EVS - SSA will advise you if a name/SSN you submitted does not match our records. This does not imply that you or your employee intentionally provided incorrect information about the employee's name or SSN. It is not a basis, in and of itself, for you to take any adverse action against the employee, such as laying off, suspending, firing, or discriminating against an individual who appears on the list. EVS should only be used to verify currently or previously employed workers. Company policy concerning the use of EVS should be applied consistently to all workers, e.g. if used for newly hired employees, verify all newly hired employees; if used to verify your data base, verify the entire data base. Any employer that uses the information SSA provides regarding name/SSN verification to justify taking adverse action against an employee may violate state or federal law and be subject to legal consequences. Moreover, this makes no statement about your employee's immigration status.
Wow...this sets my mind at ease.