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Just made an account to ask this.

I applied to an IT staffing company on Handshake and got a call the next day. They say that they offer an 8-week training program working on a project in front-end, back-end, or full-stack development targeted at new graduates. They claim to train and place you into companies like Facebook or Apple.

They sent me a training agreement form and the terms are that I consistently attend their online class and complete their project assignments during the eight week program to stay in the course.

One thing I noticed is that along with my name, phone, and email; there was a part for filling out my social security number.

This made me wary and I tried looking up the company and aside from a website, the usual glassdoor reviews, and linkedin profile(which can be faked), I couldn’t find much information about them.

I tried asking if I could hold off on providing my social security number and they said that I could for now, but that they will still need it to add me to their job search program after the eight week training.

I was wondering if this sounds legit because I wouldn’t want to potentially waste eight weeks on this only to find that it’s not.

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    "They claim to train and place you into companies like Facebook or Apple." I would be very, very suspicious of this claim. Ask them to provide evidence.
    – Philip Kendall
    Commented Apr 6, 2022 at 18:33
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    Did they explain why they need to have your social security number ? I would never give a training company my SSN. If I were you, I would just study all the materials and practice lots Leetcode coding problems on my own, which sounds make better than going with this IT staffing company.
    – Job_September_2020
    Commented Apr 6, 2022 at 20:32
  • No, they haven’t. I had to ask about it when it came up and they just said they need it when I sign on to their job search program after training.
    – landsoft26
    Commented Apr 6, 2022 at 20:51
  • Does this answer your question? This Recruiter wants my Social Security Number?
    – Dave Gremlin
    Commented Apr 7, 2022 at 13:42
  • Thanks for the link. I’ve looked around and seen some varying statements between “they should never need any part of your social security number” and some saying “they might need it for background checks” and I wanted to make sure. To clarify, I haven’t given them a response since then.
    – landsoft26
    Commented Apr 7, 2022 at 19:26

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No they do not need it, but that doesn't stop them from asking. I routinely simply ignore such requests.

If they need it for some purpose, then they should justify it to your satisfaction. If not, then move on to someone else.

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You know this whole thing is a scam, right? They're looking to get people to sign up and pay for this "training". None of the big tech companies have programs like this. If they were looking to train people, they'd just hire them and run the training themselves. In fact several do this to train to new specialties (FB has a training for Android development in fact, I gave a few classes there).

They either want your SSN for an outright scam, or they want it to run your credit and see how much they can soak from you with addons. If you take this course, watch that at the end you aren't quite ready but will be with their "advanced section". Get out now.

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  • This is the correct answer. It’s not only a scam but potentially a way to sell personal information of their victims.
    – Donald
    Commented Apr 8, 2022 at 4:56
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Do not give them your social security number!!!

This made me wary and I tried looking up the company and aside from a website, the usual glassdoor reviews, and linkedin profile(which can be faked), I couldn’t find much information about them.

Your social security number is highly sensitive data. Only give it out if they meet ALL of the following criteria.

A) They are a well known recruiter or company.

B) You can verify they are who they say they are.

C) They have a legitimate reason for asking for your SSN.

**************** edit in response to comments ************************

Yeah, I'd say being offered a job or a background check to fall under category C.

Today some things have changed, you can't even fill out an online application at Walmart without proving a SSN. Personally, I don't waste my time with applications that take more than 5 minutes to fill out (for some reason those also seem to be the applications that ask for you SSN too).

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    I would not even give a recruiter my SSN during the initial interview process. The only time I would provide my SSN is after a company hires me and begins to do the background check, or begins to pay me via direct deposit. :-)
    – Job_September_2020
    Commented Apr 6, 2022 at 20:29
  • In 20+ years the industry I've never been asked for an SSN before receiving an offer letter, accepting, and filling out onboarding paperwork. They don't need it.
    – Gabe Sechan
    Commented Apr 7, 2022 at 18:14

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