Identify alias names, past addresses, and additional jurisdictions to ensure your criminal search covers a candidate's full history.
A Social Security Trace is often the first step in a comprehensive background screening program. By cross-referencing a candidate's Social Security Number against credit header data and public records, we can identify additional names, past addresses, and counties where they've lived — ensuring your criminal searches cover every jurisdiction where relevant records may exist.
Without a Social Security Trace, a criminal search may miss records filed under a maiden name, alias, or in a county the candidate didn't disclose on their application.
Social Security Trace uses credit header data to identify names and addresses associated with a SSN. This is not an SSA-authorized verification — it is an investigative tool.
Social Security Validation uses the SSA-89 form (signed by the applicant) to confirm with the Social Security Administration that the number was issued to that individual. This is the only legally recognized form of SSN verification.
Both tools serve important but distinct purposes in background screening.
Criminal records are filed at the county level under the name used at the time of the offense. If a candidate has a prior conviction under a different name — or in a county they didn't list on their application — a criminal search based only on the applicant-provided information will miss it entirely.
The Social Security Trace surfaces these gaps so that your criminal searches can be scoped properly, giving you confidence that you've covered the candidate's full background — not just what they chose to share.
Add a Social Security Trace to every background screening order for more thorough, reliable results.
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