SS#

I am new to this. Do I always have to give my SS# to these companies???

shopperbc

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For most companies, the answer is yes. This is because they have to provide info to the IRS if you earn over a certain amount of money mystery shopping, and many are verifying SSN' with the IRS, in part to avoid people signing up under multiple accounts.

One thing-I would change my ID here, Jessica, if I were you. I would not want to give the whole world my real name in this day and age.

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton

Ok. I didnt know it would display this wasy. Thanks

shopperbc

Also, when first applying you can always use 000-00-0000 as the number. Once you actually do a shop or apply for an actual shop you can enter your profile and enter your correct ss#, because many of the shops that you sign up for may not have shops in your area. Also, you may never shop for some companies if there are no shops in your area, but there are plenty of companies out there. Good luck.

Amusingly enough, some companies will not let you sign up as 000-00-0000 because they indicate that "you have signed up before", i.e. someone got there and used 000-00-0000 first

To add to this, yes, OOO sometimes works, and sometimes does not. Sometimes 999-99-9999 will work as well, but only till you start earning money. And sometimes the system will kick either of these out as "invalid" SS numbers.

Indeed usually it is better to just go on and provide your SS# if you want to be approved and eligible for jobs. I have noted a few sites indicating you can sign up without a SS# and provide it after approval. In the greater scheme of things, as long as a website shows "https" or the little secure logo for the website, I go on and enter my SS#. After all, I cannot control the theft of data bases, even from my bank or a credit reporting outfit. Our primary concern is identity theft. But I will not respond to an email signup requesting my personal information including SS# be transmitted to someone via email unless I really know who I am truly dealing with. (This is not to be confused with the legitimate requests for a W-9 to be emailed in from a legitimate company I have been dealing with being sent to a legitimate corporate email.)

I figure if anyone ever steals my identity, it wont be long before they call me and are begging me to take it back.

:-) Certainly one approach to the issue

Unfortunately, I am in the same boat as you, JT.

It is a catch twenty-two: my "identity" doesn't have enough cred. to be worth stealing (unless it's my teaching creds, then that is a different story...) And once you have enough cred to be worth having your identity stolen, then you have to do everything you can to protect it. You are damned if you do, and damned if you don't. Either way, you can't win in this economy and global world.

No one has mentioned getting an Employer's Identity Number (EIN), so I will. I finally did that and am much less protective of it. MSCs do not need your SSN; an EIN is all they need. It has the same number of digits, and you likely won't be asked about it.

Just go to the site -- I don't know it offhand but will look for it -- and sign up for one. It's a government site, and you will get a number assigned to you immediately. It would be your self-employed number. As a shopper, you are your own business.

Jamie
Editor and shopper

Yes, it is easy. We did it when we settled my mother's estate. At the same time, when we were doing it for a small business we were running it raised all kinds of issues locally like a sales tax #, occupancy licenses, state inspections etc. Certainly a path I would not trod for shopping.

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