Even if not for the identity theft issue, remember that SS benefits are not proportional to earnings and they stop growing entirely above $94K/yr. So having a bunch of earnings above that cutoff reported doesn't do you any good on the SS benefits formula.
On the other hand, you COULD get a tax refund for overpayment of FICA taxes paid during the year. No need to wait until retirement.
If there were ten illegals using your SS# and employers were withholding a couple thousand bucks from each one, you could get a twenty thousand dollar tax refund that year !
I wonder if you could put a stop on Experian and the other credit agencies to prevent anyone from getting new credit in your name and under your SS#. So you have all the credit cards, mortgage and everything you need, and you prevent any new credit from being issued. That eliminates the identity theft problem but you still get the big tax refund for overpayment of FICA.
Oops !
I forgot the illegal worker probably didn't have any income tax withheld because his wages were too low to owe anything. But when the IRS adds their wages onto yours, you'll owe income taxes at YOUR HIGHEST MARGINAL RATE. Doubtful the refunded overpayment of FICA taxes will offset the additional income taxes the IRS wants you to cough up.
Darn. Another great illegal scheme bites the dust.
If they put down 10 dependents on their W-4 you get nothing because nothing gets withheld. Then the IRS comes after you for back taxes when they see you only have a couple of dependents.