For your protection, Social Security is urging you not to carry your Social Security card unless it is needed.
Jack Myers with Social Security says the best way to guard your card is to keep it in a safe place and share it only when required, which is rare. Many people call our offices and say they lost their wallet and their Social Security card was inside. This leaves them more vulnerable to ID theft because somebody who finds (or steals) their wallet will then have ID and SS card.
In most cases, just knowing your SSN is enough, but even then, be careful about sharing your number. Myers encourages if this happens, you can visit www.identitytheft.gov to learn more about how to spot and recover from ID theft.
Myers says while knowing your Social Security number is often enough, be careful about who you repeat that number to.
Social Security cards are free, so if you are on a website trying to charge you, you are in the wrong place. In addition to the importance of safeguarding your SSN, you should also know that you are limited to three replacement cards in a year and 10 in a lifetime. Legal name changes and other exceptions don’t count toward these limits.
