Shopping and Shops

Why would a pawn shop ask for your social security number?

A couple friends of mine recently brought a television to a Pawn Xchange and they asked for a social security number... Which they gave without thinking about it. Why would a pawn shop need your social security number? Something to do with theft or somesuch?

Public Comments

1. Most likely to make sure your not an illegal alien or maybe they think your trying to sell something illegal or stolen.
2. Understandable if they are doing a background check for a gun purchase but for a game system ... weird.
3. That would be my guess that they are using it for identification purposes and hopefully nothing else
4. It's to cover themselves in case the merchandise comes up as stolen.
5. To make sure the goods you are handing in are not stolen.
   
   
   
   Police regularly check local pawn shops and dealers for illegal dealings.
6. I used to work at a Pawn Xchange in Bremerton, WA. We asked for a SSN because it was required by the local police department. We had to have a SSN or we could not process the pawn, our system wouldn't let us go through with it. We forwarded all of our new pawns every week to the police department, where designated detectives would keep an eye out for suspicious pawns and stolen items. The SSN helps them track suspects and distinguish between different people with the same name. Hope this helps!