I recall sometime back that I learned that Social Security numbers are
re-used.
Since nine digits would give you 999 million+ people, I was surprised.
However
three of the numbers indicate where (state/place) the number was issued
so it
is not a unique number.    I think there have been some "weird news"
over the
years of people with the same number (one dead, one living) long before
the
identity theft craze.     I agree with Paul's comment completely, that
the financial
organizations issuing credit cards right and left are the main causes in
that they
do not place enough checks to insure that someone is exactly whom they
are.

Dean

Dean DeBolt
University Librarian, Special Collections
John C. Pace Library, University of West Florida
11000 University Parkway
Pensacola, FL  32514-5750
850-474-2213
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