where you can check a SSN against things like DOB and gender. I get a job, say, and give them my driver's license and SS card, # 456.43.5674. The employer logs onto the web, or calls an 800 number, and for, say, a $10 fee (tax deductible) enters in my SSN and get a report that it was issued to cherokeeprogressive, DOB 1.1.1980. it also notes who made the request and when.

the employer now knows, immediately, that the number I gave him is bogus.

it takes the responsibility of verifying documentation away from the employer, who might now know a fake birth certificate when he sees one. if you were a seller of fake identification (which I am sure you are not, of course ) this makes your job harder, as well, because you can't give me a fake number, you need to give me a number that matches an actual name in the system, and one that is roughly the right age, AND one that is not currently in use, because if you sell the same ID and number over and over, the system will notice that there is continual fraud on the name of cherokeeprogressive in Minneapolis, and raise a red flag.

Could you work two jobs and be verified for both? sure, but it would notice if you were applying for jobs simultaneously in Miami and Seattle. of course, the system would be voluntary for companies, but running a check would give them protection from liability for hiring undocumented workers, if the system passed the employee. Every quarter, companies participating would report the SSN of their employees to the database (piece of cake online, not a burden, once you have the file set up, you wouldn't even need to submit names, just the numbers. if, say, three companies submit the same number, a red flag goes up. it's amazing we expect every local employer to be an ID inspector.