Someone called a talk show today. Naturally I can't verify that what he said is true, but he claimed that he is an undocumented worker who uses a fake SS# on his tax form, that he was audited one year, but that the IRS didn't say anything about his fake SS#. I wouldn't be surprised if that is true. The government probably doesn't care as long as they get money out of it.
Wife filed income tax last year and was told someone other than her had been working in San Antonio using her ssn.What a hassle she had from the IRS.She had to prove it wasnt her.Im sure she probably has been 'tagged' by the IRS.Ill bet nothing was done to the perp.
I believe it. They get fake numbers, they get numbers from people who died, they get numbers from people who had real numbers but retired, or returned to their home countries, or just use the same number as someone else... All they do is tell their employer they are the name of the person with that number. Their real name could be Esteban but they will happily allow you call them Carlos for a job.
Since the numbers are all in the format 555-55-5555, using fakes there are probably lots of duplicates. But how does the IRS/SS office know which one is real? They don't fingerprint you or take a photo. Some people have 2 jobs, so the IRS doesn't know.
And if you do get caught, so what? You say "Oh, I must've been confused. I lost my card years ago and forgot the number" or "Oh, sorry I gave you my brothers card by mistake, let me go see if I can find mine".
Because the SS card is not meant to be used as a form of ID, it doesn't matter and is likely not-enforceable.