GED High School Equivalency Certificates and

“Social Security Number”

Pleased be advised that the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth’s Adult Education Office will no longer be printing social security numbers on the GED High School Equivalency Certificates they issue.

Text Box: The High School Equivalency Certificates will have the words “Social Security Number” removed from the Certificate. Our office will completely revamp the certificate without the words “Social Security Number.”

Each official GED Testing Center in Michigan will also be notified about this change via the GED Chief Examiners.

This new policy is being implemented as a result of the explosion of social security theft throughout the nation. According to Bill Thomas, the Chairman of the U. S. Committee on Ways and Means, identity theft is the number one consumer complaint – amounting to 43 percent of complaints received in 2002 by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Complaint calls from possible victims grew from 31,117 in 2000 to 161,819 in 2002 – and increase of 420 percent in just two years.¹

Additional facts about social security identity theft cited by Chairman Thomas:

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing financial crimes – affecting an estimated 700,000 people in 2002, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. Calls about ID theft from victims and those concerned about potential crime received by one credit-reporting agency increased from 35,000 in 1992 to over one million in 2001.
ID Theft can be devastating. Victim of ID theft often have trouble obtaining new credit cards, mortgage and loans. Victims can be harassed by debt collectors and be subject to criminal investigations and even arrest, as a result of the crimes that the thief committed when using the victim’s stolen identity.
It often takes years to “clear your name.” Survey results show 45 percent of victims of ID theft had resolved their cases in an average of nearly two years. For the other 55 percent of victims, their cases had been open for an average of 44 months and were still unresolved. Victims spent an average of 175 hours and $800 in out-of-pocket cost, not including lawyers’ fees.

¹_{Chairman Bill Thomas, Committee on Ways and Means, 7/29/2003
4:25 PM}