eli5 Why do scammers always ask for the last 4 digits of your ssn instead of the the whole number, what can they do with the last 4 digits?

Question

eli5 Why do scammers always ask for the last 4 digits of your ssn instead of the the whole number, what can they do with the last 4 digits?

In: Economics

Answer 1

SSN numbers issued after 2011 are random: https://www.ssa.gov/employer/randomization.html

The older ones are formed as described in other comments.