Summary: Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO: (1) explored ways to reduce the potential for fraud in obtaining and using social security number (SSN) cards; and (2) identified technological alternatives for making the card more resistant to counterfeiting.
GAO found that: (1) the SSN application process was vulnerable to fraud, since there were thousands of different documents applicants could use to support their applications; (2) support documents, such as birth certificates, were easy to obtain, counterfeit, or alter, with no practical way for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to verify them; and (3) employers were untrained in document verification. GAO also found that: (1) designating the SSN card as the only acceptable document aliens could use for employment eligibility verification under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) would simplify employment eligibility; (2) Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) certification of alien employment eligibility could improve SSA procedures; (3) although magnetic strips, integrated circuitry, and lasers would make SSN cards more resistant to counterfeiting, they would not preclude persons from using fraudulent documents to obtain valid cards; (4) the introduction of color copiers has posed a significant threat to SSN card integrity; and (5) although IRCA provided that general revenues finance changes to the SSN card, the Social Security Trust Funds paid for the replacement of 1.6 million cards at a cost of $11.6 million.
