The most misused SSN of all time was (078-05-1120). In 1938, wallet
manufacturer the E. H. Ferree company in Lockport, New York decided
to promote its product by showing how a Social Security card would
fit into its wallets. A sample card, used for display purposes,
was inserted in each wallet. Company Vice President and Treasurer
Douglas Patterson thought it would be a clever idea to use the actual
SSN of his secretary, Mrs. Hilda Schrader Whitcher.
The wallet was sold by Woolworth stores and other department stores
all over the country. Even though the card was only half the size
of a real card, was printed all in red, and had the word "specimen"
written across the face, many purchasers of the wallet adopted the
SSN as their own. In the peak year of 1943, 5,755 people were using
Hilda's number. SSA acted to eliminate the problem by voiding the
number and publicizing that it was incorrect to use it. (Mrs. Whitcher
was given a new number.) However, the number continued to be used
for many years. In all, over 40,000 people reported this as their
SSN. As late as 1977, 12 people were found to still be using the
SSN "issued by Woolworth."
Mrs. Whitcher recalled coming back from lunch one day to find her
fellow workers teasing her about her new-found fame. They were singing
the refrain from a popular song of the day: "Here comes the
million-dollar baby from the five and ten cent store."
Although the snafu gave her a measure of fame, it was mostly a
nuisance. The FBI even showed up at her door to ask her about the
widespread use of her number. In later years she observed: "They
started using the number. They thought it was their own. I can't
understand how people can be so stupid. I can't understand that."
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Mrs. Whitcher compares the Social Security card
"issued by Woolworth" with her own real
card of the same number. |
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The card that started all the
fuss!
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Not
The Only One
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The New
York wallet manufacturer was not the only one to cause confusion
about Social Security numbers. More than a dozen similar cases
have occurred over the years--usually when someone publishes
a facsimile of an SSN using a made-up number. (The Whitcher
case is far and away the worst involving a real SSN and an
actual person.)
One embarrassing episode was the fault of the Social Security
Board itself. In 1940 the Board published a pamphlet explaining
the new program and showing a facsimile of a card on the cover.
The card in the illustration used a made-up number of 219-09-9999.
Sure enough, in 1962 a woman presented herself to the Provo,
Utah Social Security office complaining that her new employer
was refusing to accept her old Social Security number--219-09-9999.
When it was explained that this could not possibly be her
number, she whipped out her copy of the 1940 pamphlet to prove
that yes indeed it was her number! |
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