STRICTLY BUSINESS: IS YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER SAFE FROM FRAUD?

You've written a check at the nearest supermarket or service station or any one of a dozen other retail establishments, and chances are, you gave out your Social Security number.

It's difficult to do business without that number, but be conservative about passing it out, say consumer and family economic specialists at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

How so?

All a person needs is your name and social security number to apply for a credit card in your name. It's as simple as it is fraudulent, said Carole Prather of the extension service.

"Every time you give out your Social Security number, you're putting yourself at risk for credit card fraud," said Prather.

Can you refuse to give your Social Security number to a business?

Sure, you don't have to give your Social Security number to a business in order to write a check. But that business doesn't have to accept a check without the number.

Businesses request Social Security numbers as an insurance policy against bounced checks. With that number, they can report a bad check to a credit bureau.

So, what do you do?

One solution, says Prather, is to issue a state or federal identification number that is different from your Social Security number. The identification number would not be used to access your credit history file, or to apply for credit.

In Missouri and some other states, motor vehicles departments use Social Security numbers for identification. Consumers may request a different number at no charge, said Prather.

When Missouri motorists receive their driver's license renewal slips, there is an option for a different number other than the Social Security number. There is no cost for the option.

However, if a person wants the number changed before renewal time, it will cost the price of a new license.

"Few people take advantage of the option," said Prather, one of those who has.

There is one glitch. Some business computer systems can't accept the random numbers, which have fewer digits than the Social Security number.

Consumer economists, said Prather, recommend that consumers order a copy of their credit history annually. Consumers who are proactive in monitoring their credit reports won't have to clean up errors in their credit history when they're negotiating a purchase.

Copies of your credit report are free if you've been denied credit during the past 30 days because of something in your report. Otherwise, there is a nominal fee.

Just say the word

Less than a year ago "Caller ID," a service that permits people to know who is calling before they answer the telephone, was introduced.

Now, it's "Voice Dial," which permits callers to make telephone calls without dialing.

Want a pizza? Just say the word.

Want to call home? Say the word.

Want to call the office? Say the word.

Now you can place telephone calls easily, with no dialing.

Using a new voice-activated technology, residential, business and cellular customers throughout Eastern Missouri can place calls by simply saying the name of the person or business they want to contact.

With Southwestern Bell's "Voice Dial" service, placing a telephone call is as simple as saying "Home," "Mom," "Office" or "Pizza," or any other name which has been programmed into the voice-activated technology.

The service uses computer technology to store a voice print of each word and associate it with a telephone number. Because voice prints are so unique, people who use the telephone will have to record their personal directories.

There's also a "shared voice dial" directory, which permits customers to access their voice dial directory in the car, home or at the office.

That's not all.

Customers may use voice dial to place local or long-distance calls from Touchtone, rotary or cellular telephones. Consumers can also place international calls via voice dial.

Cellular customers may enter up to 30 numbers in their directory. Residential customers can log up to 50 numbers and business customers may enter up to 75 numbers.

Each directory listing may include up to 32 digits, which allows for the long-distance calling.

The best part: it's free until Dec. 31. After that, the service will cost $4 a month for 30 entries, $6 for 50 entries and $8 for businesses that want to enter up to 75 entries.

The service, says Michelle Leight of Southwestern Bell Telephone, is available in about half of the 314 area code. By Nov. 1, it will be available throughout the area code, and by next summer it will be available throughout the state, into Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Interested?

Call 1-800-234 BELL for residential information; 1-800-773-SWBT for businesses and 1-800-407-BELL for cellular.

The Caller ID service was introduced in this area a year ago this month and works through the use of a display unit that lets subscribers see and record the telephone numbers of people who call from local and some long distance locations.

The unit displays the phone number, date and time of the incoming call after the first ring.

The display unit may be obtained and installed by the owner-subscriber of the service. Almost any place that sells telephones and telephone equipment should stock some type of display equipment that will work.

Callers, however, can prevent their number from being recorded. In instances where the caller wants to prevent the number from being transmitted. Callers simply have to press 67, or dial 1167 on a rotary phone before dialing.

This blocking operation is available free of charge. Blocking, however, is not available on calls placed from pay phones.