It's always been easy to commit crime, it's just harder to get away with them, and luckily most people don't want to commit crimes (and then another percentage don't think the risk is worth the reward -- hence deterrence) . In this case, anything related to stealing someone else's mail is an insta-felony.

Last time I got social security cards, they were printed on cardstock with absolutely no security features. They would be trivial to counterfeit, if you had the number to begin with. It's amazing that they are accepted as a form of ID to get e.g. a passport.

They may be one form of ID required. (And I'm not sure that's even the case.) They are certainly not sufficient. You need proof of citizenship. You need some form of government-issued ID.

I haven't personally had a social security card in many decades. For the first time in I don't know how long, I do need to provide some form of proof of SSN to get a RealID drivers license renewal but last year's W2 is sufficient for that.

Yeah not required, but accepted. And not sufficient by itself. Birth certificate is good to prove citizenship and those appear to be easily forgeable also, at least the ones I've seen.

It's all a tradeoff. As a passport holder, a homeowner, and an employed person who gets a W-2, it only took me a few minutes to round up suitable documents to get a RealID-compliant drivers license renewal. But I'm sure it's more difficult for many. Some level of fraud is probably an acceptable cost for not making identity hard to prove for a significant slice of the population.

not in CA? the dmv lady told me i had to have my physical SSN card (which incidentally wasnt listed as a requirement on their website :| )

Apply for a replacement card and wait seven months for it to arrive is more like it...

That's my experience after hand delivering the form to the SS office so it would be quick.

Took me less than 2 weeks this spring, everything submitted online.