Incomplete and Discrepancy results for US SSN Verification Scans

Occasionally, the SSN (Social Security Number) Verification Scan portion of a US criminal record check can return as “Incomplete” or “Discrepancy.” In this article, you’ll learn what this result means and what you can do next.

The SSN (Social Security Number) Verification Scan is performed as part of our US criminal record checks. This scan primarily serves as an investigative tool for Certn that generates a name and address history associated with a candidate’s provided SSN. Certn uses the name and address history as a pointer to know where to search for potential criminal history and also to match discovered criminal history. At times, this tool can also validate the state and year of issuance of an SSN, but only if the SSN was issued prior to June 2011, when SSN randomization began.

What does an Incomplete or Discrepancy status mean?

When you receive a US criminal record check report, the SSN Verification Scan results appear in the Search Results section. Here, the result can show Incomplete, as in the following image:

Additionally, in the Criminal Record Check portion of the report, the status Discrepancy can appear under the label SSN Result, as in the following image:

A Social Security Number Trace, or SSN Verification Scan, can return the results Incomplete/Discrepancy for a couple of reasons:

• An incorrect SSN was provided to Certn (for example, the candidate entered their SSN incorrectly, or an incorrect SSN was provided in an API request).
• The SSN provided was issued after 2011 when SSN randomization began, and the tool cannot validate the state and year of issuance.

  Note: Being unable to validate the state and year of issuance does not impact the accuracy of criminal history.

What to do if the SSN scan status is Incomplete or Discrepancy

If your report’s SSN Scan Verification status shows Incomplete or Discrepancy, reach out to our Support team or your account manager at Certn, and let them know the candidate's SSN came back as discrepant.

After you contact us, our team will investigate whether the Incomplete/Discrepancy status is due to SSN randomization or an incorrect SSN.

Discrepancy due to randomization: If the discrepancy was the result of randomization, meaning that the SSN is correct but randomized, then the report will be updated to reflect that. In this case, the text “SSN is randomized. Unable to validate state and year of issue” appears on the report:

In cases where the discrepancy is the result of randomization, the name and address history that Certn reviews is still connected to your candidate for purposes of the criminal record check. The SSN scan only cannot validate the year and state of issue, and you should use another way to validate the candidate’s SSN, if needed.

Discrepancy due to incorrect SSN: If the discrepancy appears to be the result of an incorrectly entered SSN, you will be advised to run a new background check on the candidate to ensure the appropriate name and address history is used in the criminal history search(es).