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Say you want to (illegaly) obtain someone's ssn. You call their employer and impersonate them and ask for the ssn or ask for a 1099 to be mailed which has the ssn.

Is this a major loophole to get anyone's ssn? Is there a specific law against it besides mail tampering which is hard to prove?

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  • Why would an employer give that out? 1099's are for contractors to provide to companies, and nobody would just give out employee SSN's to random callers.
    – Ron Beyer
    Mar 7, 2020 at 4:30
  • Aren't employers required to mail tax forms
    – user30113
    Mar 7, 2020 at 5:11
  • "Aren't employers required to mail tax forms": of course they are. If you call my employer and impersonate me and ask them to mail a tax form, they'll mail it to my home, not to yours.
    – phoog
    Mar 7, 2020 at 5:56
  • But then how do I change my address with the employer... the same way right? Unless they happen to use an automated system.
    – user30113
    Mar 7, 2020 at 5:58
  • 1
    Typically you would submit a form via company email, or hand it in, in person.
    – Ron Beyer
    Mar 7, 2020 at 13:58

1 Answer 1

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You call their employer and impersonate them

The onus is on the employer to keep your personal data secure. If they do not take reasonable steps to verify that the caller is indeed you, they fail that duty and can be held to account. So, not a loophole.

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  • 2
    Also potential for a crime to have been committed by the caller, so again not a loop hole.
    – user28517
    Mar 7, 2020 at 3:48

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