ITIN (Individual Tax payer Identification Number)

ITINs were created to allow persons who do not qualify for a social security number to be able to file federal income tax returns. For example, a foreign investor who is an inactive partner in a U.S. company who must file a return in order to pay federal tax must use an ITIN.

But the IRS and banks accepts ITINs in place of SS numbers as if they were official identification.

ITIN numbers look like social security numbers, but are easily identified because all ITINs start with the number "9."

To cover their bases, the IRS in 2003 itself issued letters to all governors and state motor vehicle departments advising that ITINs were not designed to serve as personal identification and would not be suitable for determining identification of applicants for driver’s licenses. see IRS web page (5th paragraph). But the IRS (de facto) accepts ITINs as identification from (illegal alien) tax filers that they know are filing fraudulent returns.