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Looks like after 100 guesses, we'd have the 2 middle numbers. After the first 50 guesses, we'd have a 50% chance of guessing correctly. Now we just need a bank that lets you fill out 100 loan apps no questions asked as to why 99 answers are incorrect.

Most of the banks on the West Coast contribute to a database of fraudulent loan applications that they receive. Your first attempt will start sending red flags up quickly. Also, the credit report they retrieve will cross-match the social sec # with an algorithm that shows where and when it was issued.

Chances are 95% of would-be identity thieves lack the requisite skills to be a good forger and get away with it. True, a bank won't expend much energy if they get taken for a few grand. If you really want to take a bank for that little and have it hang over your head for the next 15 years, you're an idiot. The best forgers have inside accomplices, take banks for hundreds of thousands, and are well-trained. I used to be a fraud investigator for a bank--I once perp-walked a teller and her accomplice for kiting general ledger entries to the tune of $750,000.