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Dave Miller – Tech Enthusiast & Security Expert – July 8th, 2022
As a US citizen, you likely have much to worry about having a nine-digit Social Security number due to multiple services asking for this number, particularly will PayPal ask for your SSN? SSNs are highly vital, and if yours is compromised, someone may create financial accounts in your name and steal your data for various purposes.
However, financial institutions also require SSNs for sales or credit information, which is essential to their operations. Since PayPal is one of the largest financial technology businesses in the United States. It appears they will also demand it, but do they?
Continue reading the post to get a full answer of this concern and advice on safeguarding your Social Security number.
Every person born in the United States receives a Social Security number at birth, along with any other eligible residents who later apply for one. Since its creation in 1936, the Social Security number (SSN) got widely used. Social Security numbers weren’t always like the randomized digits they are today. It used to represent several aspects, but since there was fear that this might get manipulated, it converted to random numbers. To yet, no Social Security numbers have indeed got repeated.
Fact: There are around 453.7 million issued SSNs at the time of writing this article, and the government assigns roughly 5.5 million new ones yearly. There are currently more SSNs left than people in the United States, which is well over 400 million.
The government uses this number to maintain records on every US resident and business to monitor financial data and length of employment. Although the SSN’s only function remains the same, its use has significantly increased over time in other services. In the United States today, people are required to present their SSNs to open bank accounts. As well as other financial services, apply for government benefits and various other various reasons. Unless an issue and identity theft is involved, it usually remains permanent for the rest of one’s life.
Note: With an estimated 147 million consumers, Equifax lost control of millions of Social Security numbers in 2017. You need to submit proof of being affected to be eligible to change your SSN.
As a platform for online payments, PayPal makes it easier for people to send money online. Since 1998, PayPal has provided customers more options for sending and receiving money online. It gets regarded as a reasonably safe way to transmit payments.
Fact: Currently, 173 million individuals use PayPal to purchase on millions of websites worldwide, in 202 countries, and using 21 different currencies.
PayPal may get used to transmitting money in a variety of ways. Your choice of approach will depend on the recipient, the intended usage, and the preferred medium. Typically, PayPal allows you to make payments using credit or debit cards connected to your account while providing 24/7 data encryption, flexibility, and anti-fraud technologies.
But with all of this said, will PayPal ask for your SSN? Here’s the full answer, but in short, the answer is yes.
PayPal offers two different account types: personal and business, with the option to create either. After the user accepts the terms and conditions, PayPal automatically collects personal data, which includes your payment details, device information, and location. In addition, your personal information, including your complete name, address, mobile number, and email, must be provided. Nevertheless, will PayPal ask for your SSN is a question we are more interested in?
Will PayPal ask for your SSN query has already received an official response from PayPal. As for other significant financial services, the authorities may ask for your social security number. So likely, PayPal requests SSNs for various reasons, as discussed below.
PayPal Credit is a different method of payment through PayPal that lets you buy now and pay later. Anywhere may be a store, and PayPal is accepted, and special financing of 6 months is available on orders. Since Social Security Numbers are unique for identity verification, PayPal initially requires them to validate your account.
You must first submit the last four digits of your SSN when signing up and then the complete number If you apply for a PayPal debit Mastercard. Your SSN’s previous four digits get mainly used to identify you with a unique number that you can recall and that got allocated to you. It is not useful for anything else.
Note: If you are only a buyer, it is not usual to submit an SSN unless you want PayPal credit.
You need a US tax ID, with the SSN serving as the residents’ standard US tax ID. Additionally, it gets required by US law for citizens or permanent who live and work abroad to file taxes and record their income. Similarly, will PayPal ask for your SSN to disclose your income? A resounding yes, it gets legally compelled by law to register your revenue, as it offers business accounts.
Using a business account, PayPal will notify IRS if you received more than $600 in a year. This restriction had previously had a barrier of $20,000 and 200 transactions; however, it has now got lowered. Only payments received for transactions involving goods and services are subject to this threshold change.
However, to record the transaction, PayPal will provide you with a 1099-K form and require your SSN or federal tax ID number.
Dodd-Frank and Consumer Protection Act is a set of federal rules to enhance the financial system’s directness and accountability. In 2016, it got created to stop crimes involving financial transactions. As a result, PayPal evaluates the risk associated with its users’ transactions and customers’ accounts while also taking measures to identify each account’s owner. Therefore, Paypal may request a standard check asking for your SSN.
PayPal requesting your SSN doesn’t always indicate that you did something wrong. Additionally, you are not required to give your social security number while making purchases. However, if PayPal asks for your SSN, you must provide it or stop using PayPal. You cannot refuse to go beyond PayPal’s security and legal standards by refusing the SSN request and still wanting to use it.
Note: Even though no legislation requires it, a company may ask for your SSN and refuse to offer service if you don’t supply it.
PayPal requests your Social Security Number’s last four digits on signup since they already got that information and need to compare it to their databases. So, your SSN is just as safe to enter on PayPal as at any other significant financial institution.
I understand why you may be hesitant to provide PayPal with your SSN, but PayPal will keep it secure. Because PayPal has several security procedures in place to safeguard user information. Being one of the top online financial companies, PayPal gets closely scrutinized regarding data protection despite having a solid track record concerning its security practices throughout the years.
So, You should not be concerned even if you are only required to disclose your SSN, but you only need to do it if you are a seller on PayPal under business accounts.
As has already been said, there is no issue with providing PayPal with your SSN. The problem arises if you fall prey to phishing scams and provide your SSN to any online criminal instead of PayPal. PayPal’s security experts have discovered phishing email schemes that attempt to steal a victim’s Social Security Number and other private information. As a result, you should always be wary of any questionable communications you receive from PayPal.
Bonus Tip: Avoid clicking anything in a suspicious email. Don’t give out personal information over the phone, email, or text.
Some fake emails claim that PayPal wants to validate your login and password because of any problem. So, when unsure whether the email from PayPal is legitimate, delete the entire email from your inbox and send it to phishing@paypal.com. PayPal will handle it and let you know when it gets done.
Note: Never believe any information about your account. To double-check the email you got, you will also receive a notification in the message center of your PayPal account.
With real PayPal, the recipient won’t obtain private financial information when you use their service to transfer payment. PayPal Purchase Protection and Paypal Buyer Protection will protect you in case of a problem.
As a citizen of the USA, your SSN is crucial to your identification; thus, you must protect it. Yes, PayPal will ask for your social security number to follow security procedures. I’ve described why you must provide that information. Still, you might not even need to provide your SSN if you don’t use PayPal for commercial purposes.
Remember only to give PayPal your SSN information directly to prevent falling for any cyber phishing scams.
You may always contact PayPal support at their website if you have any concerns.
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Dave Miller is an IT Consultant for Online Cloud Security and has over 7 years of experience in the Information Technology space. He also specializes in repairing laptops & computers. In his spare time, he loves to talk about new technologies and hosts monthly IT and Cyber Security meetings in the Houston area.
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Online Cloud Security is here to recommend you the most secure devices, from laptops to smartphones, we only want to provide you with products that we have tested and used ourselves for online security. Every product that we recommend is heavily inspected and tested for security against hackers, viruses, malware, and any other intruders that may want to steal your information.
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