You try to use a fraudulent number on a Visa Card and it will instantly deny use you of credit. Instantly!!
And enforce the law of employers not be able to hire illegals.
Bump to that comment!
This is a rather simple thing to fix...if you guys think about it.
You go to your local state revenue guys and legislature. Since the Feds won't make a national ID card...fine...make a state ID card. Want to get hired in Texas? Show your state ID (limited to only people who can show birth certificates, social security cards, VISA, etc). And you will run the number through social security to confirm its not a dead guy in front of you. Then you attach a "FEE" to every employer who hires someone without the state ID...of $10k per individual per violation. The FEE goes straight into your highway fund...we make this real simple so state infrastructure gets the plus-up here.
Sit and watch the state revenue guys smile....you could be talking about 10,000 violations a year...multiplied by $10k each. The first year...you'd make a vast fortune...and probably bankrupt a couple of companies in the process. Did they deserve bankruptcy? Yep...if you can't obey the law...then you are in violation and deserve every tax or fee they dish out. Its rather simple. Forget about the Feds....they aren't going to fix anything. Isn't that obvious by now? Every hour...every day...every week...that you wait for the federal government to fix the situation...is just wasted time. They have no reason. But your state could find some very good financial reasons to get involved...and if there is revenue involved...all the more reason to step in.
Visa and Mastercard numbers are 16 digits. The chances of coming up with a random valid number are very small and that is by design. There is also a checksum built into the card number, which is the first test used to determine whether or not it's valid. (Of course anyone who knows how the checksum works can create a number that will pass the checksum test, so it's mostly useful for preventing data entry errors).
SSNs are only 9 digits. The chances of coming up with a valid SSN are much higher..I believe about 1 in 4, assuming 250 million valid SSNs. There is also no checksum.