FAQ 2210: Employee Data SSN: Invalid Social Security Number (Area) Data Check Warning

Problem: We are starting to get a lot of data checks come up that are saying we have an invalid social security number. Do you know what triggers this type of warning? We get our information from our clients and we have never had a problem before.

Solution: The SSN Data Check was updated to flag invalid SSNs per the social security requirements for 8955-SSA purposes: The SSN is invalid if it contains the following: • The first three digits (area number) as “000”, “666” or in the 900 series. • The second group of two digits (group number) as “00”. • The third group of four digits (serial number) as “0000”. Additionally, SSNs having the following characteristics are invalid or impossible: • AREA, GROUP, or SERIAL are composed of all zeroes (e.g, 000-45-6789, 123-00-6789, 123-45-0000) • AREA number 666 (never have and never will be issued) • AREA numbers 700 to 728 (Railroad workers through July 1, 1963, then discontinued) • AREA numbers 900-999 (not valid SSNs, but were used for program purposes when state aid to the aged, blind and disabled was converted to a federal program administered by SSA) Please check to see if any of the SSNs that are getting flagged contain any of these characteristics.