What is a CPN, and is it Legal? What You Need to Know
If you have less-than-ideal credit and have researched ways to improve your credit score, you may have come across the term CPN. We'll explain what CPN means, what a CPN is used for, if they're legal, and how you can improve your credit score without a CPN.
What CPN means
CPN stands for credit privacy number. A CPN is a nine-digit number formatted like a Social Security number, XXX-XX-XXXX, and sometimes marketed as a substitute for an SSN. These numbers are sold by companies that market them as a way to repair credit by hiding bad credit information and past bankruptcies.
CPNs are also sometimes called:
Credit profile numbers
Credit protection numbers
Secondary credit numbers
How a CPN works
A CPN can be used to apply for credit; credit cards, personal loans, business loans, student, auto, and home loans. Because the CPN is not tied to your Social Security number or ITIN, when a potential lender pulls the credit report associated with that CPN, none of your previous credit history will appear.
Where do these CPNs come from? There are typically two sources. Criminals steal the Social Security numbers of minors or deceased people with no credit history. The CPNs are a clean financial slate.
The other source is known as synthetic identity fraud. Criminals use a computer algorithm to randomly create nine-digit numbers formatted as SSNs are. The criminals then use an online validator to make sure the CPN will pass as an SSN before selling it. Typically, these are potential SSNs that have yet to be issued to a person.
Are CPNs legal?
If the above sounds sketchy to you, you're correct. Selling CPNs as a way to repair bad credit is illegal, and most companies selling CPNs got them from one or both of the methods above, both of which are considered forms of identity theft.
Companies sell CPNs for sometimes thousands of dollars while legitimate Social Security numbers and ITINs issued by the government are free. Instead of "hiding" your credit history, you may be creating a false identity when you use a CPN and therefore committing identity fraud yourself.
Can you simply apply for a new, legitimate SSN yourself? There are very few circumstances under which the Social Security Administration will issue a new number:
Sequential SSNs assigned to members in the same family are causing difficulties
More than one person has been assigned the same SSN
A victim of identity theft is having long-term issues using their SSN due to the crime
Someone needs to change their identity because their life is in danger
Someone objects to numbers in their original SSN because of religious or cultural reasons
If you fall into one of these categories, getting a new SSN is still challenging. You'll have to provide a lot of documentation to the Social Security Administration supporting your reason for requesting a new number. If the request is granted, you still won't be totally free of your previous SSN as the Social Security Administration will cross-reference the new number with the old to ensure you get full credit for your earnings and receive the correct amount of Social Security payments when you start receiving that benefit.
Build your credit legitimately with Upwardli
There are plenty of companies that claim to build or rebuild your credit. At best, you'll be paying someone to do something you can do yourself for free. At worst, you'll be committing fraud.
But you can build your credit legally with Upwardli! Upwardli was created to help people build credit the right way. Get pre-approved instantly with no credit check or deposit required. Each account includes an unsecured line of credit designed to build your credit fast as we report your progress to the credit bureaus. Get your risk-free 30-day trial now and watch your credit grow!