Hi all, trying to help my niece with her personal finance journey. She's trying to register with Equifax. They couldn't verify her social security number (but could find her by name, address, birthdate), so she was told she has to mail in copies of ID. This set off alarm bells in my head, because when she tried to register with Vanguard last year, they said her social security number didn't match her name. So she went with Fidelity (I'm not sure how their process was different than Vanguard's, but she was able to make an account). I vaguely remember that 3-4 years ago, her mom told her that someone had tried to file taxes with her (my niece's) name and SSN (I don't remember details, and her mom doesn't either).
She hasn't applied for credit cards yet, so hasn't run into this before.
How does one check if their SSN has been used by someone else? I supposed identity theft companies? Recommendations? Next steps?
Also, an added wrinkle: she just got married and wants to change her last name. Would it be best to hold off on that until the SSN is resolved?
Another wrinkle: she and her husband are house shopping. Any potential related issues while mortgage and house shopping, besides needing to verify credit?
She hasn't applied for credit cards yet, so hasn't run into this before.
How does one check if their SSN has been used by someone else? I supposed identity theft companies? Recommendations? Next steps?
Also, an added wrinkle: she just got married and wants to change her last name. Would it be best to hold off on that until the SSN is resolved?
Another wrinkle: she and her husband are house shopping. Any potential related issues while mortgage and house shopping, besides needing to verify credit?
Statistics: Posted by Ladeedaw — Tue Aug 27, 2024 12:31 pm — Replies 2 — Views 169