[lelio]

I have a Ford Credit account (and a Washington Mutual bank account too, which is listed as one of the things the thieves were looking for) and you HAVE to give them your SSN in order to get a loan from them. Yes, I should of just cancelled my account with them when that came up.
I'm going to see if I can have my SSN removed as my account number. Having that as an identifier is just asking for trouble.

[exit82]

It is against the law for an SS# to be used as a secondary identifier. Just tell them that.

Had an account changed for my college daughter's telco account a few years back. When I got the bill, I noticed her SS# was the account number. I got on the phone--the account number was changed in a hurry.