Blog Post: Conducting a Social Security Trace – The First Step In a Comprehensive Background Check…part 1 of 2

The following article will help demystify this sometimes mysterious report and dispel some commonly held misconceptions about a social security trace.

Social Trace At-A-Glance

A social security trace is an excellent tool used to set a roadmap when conducting criminal record searches. Using the social security number as the search criteria, the report provides a list of addresses at which the applicant has reportedly lived over a specified period of time as well as every name they have reportedly used during that same time.

A common misconception is that a social security trace is conducted through the Social Security Administration (SSA). The SSA is not used to conduct traces because the organization does not maintain address history information for commercial purposes, and the information it does provide is simply a “match” or “no match” response regarding the applicant’s name and SSN which can only be requested by the employer and only after the applicant has been hired.

Social security traces are obtained through two basic sources. The first of which is a credit bureau such as Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. These companies collect information including names, addresses and social security numbers reported by lending institutions such as banks, credit card companies, utility companies and cable providers. If an applicant has applied for any type of credit, it is likely that it has been recorded by the credit bureaus.

The other source for trace reports is through commercially compiled databases. As with all databases, some are better than others. The more comprehensive databases, such as the one utilized by Clarifacts, combine information from credit bureaus as well as additional sources which may include, but are not limited to, customer loyalty programs, magazine subscriptions, health club memberships and online retail accounts.

Once specific addresses are obtained from the social security trace, this information is used to identify jurisdictions in which the applicant has reportedly lived. A criminal record search is then conducted in these specific counties, states and/or districts.  Moreover, if the applicant used additional names, such as maiden names, searches for criminal records with this information should be conducted as well.

In part 2 we will discuss the precautions when using a social security trace and summarize this background screening component.

Kevin Klimas is the president and founder of Clarifacts Inc, a privately held corporation focused exclusively on employment background screening services.  Clarifacts provides nationwide service across a variety of industries including staffing, healthcare, financial, call center, manufacturing and non-profit just to name a few, with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to sole proprietorships.