My old friend may have his ss number taken...?

Question

a young woman approached him for directions and after he gave them she wanted to buy him coffee, he asked for beer. Later she came to his home with her grown son and wanted to give Eddie (67 & disabled) $100 to help her buy a pickup truck. Later they went out and instead tried to buy with his credit a VCR but his credit was too bad. (He didn't get the $100 nor the VCR but she saw his ss# in the process). The next day, she called and had to take care of her dead sister's 4 year old and found out her mom died in a car accident in Tenn. We are in NM and she's a licensed lawyer in Colorado. Something about she couldn't get money on Labor day... duh! She is going to Tenn. but staying with friends in N.J. Maybe we won't hear from her again.... but 911 (police) said a crime was not committed and I'm old too... the www.ftc.com was pretty scary. What can they do with his ss#? He has no credit cards but ... well, you know... He's sure she (43) cares for him in two days.... ugh.

Answer 1

Very confusing question. From what I gathered, you think someone took a friends ssn?

If so, they can have I.D's made, and other things. What they can do is call the governments fraud department (would have to look in the phone book or google it) and call them to report the incident. They should be able to put what's called a 'Red Flag' on the ssn that would prevent someone from using it for credit purposes without an actual live phone verification. (meaning if someone tried to open a line of credit with that ssn, they wouldn't be able to do it. The company opening the credit would be required to call a department, who would then ask to speak to the customer and ask some questions that only they would know to prove their identity)

It's basically identity theft,

Answer 2

One of the other answerers recommended that he put a 'fraud alert' on his credit by notifying each of the three credit bureaus. This is the best thing he can do at the present time, because he doesn't really know if he will be the victim of an identity theft crime or not....but the above process may prevent harm to his credit.

The above process basically 'freezes' his credit so that no one can initiate loan, etc, not even him, until more verification of authenticity is made.

As to what can someone do with the SSN, there are possibilities. The woman you spoke of is definitely worrisome and I believe she targeted him because of his age and likely vulnerability to fraud. She probably noticed more than just his SSN, but also his full name and date of birth. She can take that information and apply for a loan or a line of credit. She can use the approved loan to buy a car or anything else. And by the time the lender or your friend finds out about it, she's gone.

He may not be able to 'prevent' the false loan if that's what she has in mind. But he can at least take steps to limit damage to his own account by putting the fraud alert out there.

And if she comes back....I personally think the police should take an interest in her, because I sincerely doubt you friend is the only one she's pulled this on. It's the prescursor to elder financial fraud.

Answer 3

This is a big deal, your social security number means everything. Act now, go to your social security office or visit http://www.ssa.gov and report the stolen number. Time is of the essence when a valuable part of information is took and your SS number is the number 1 thing you should never give out or let it get in the wrong hand. Contact your ss office immediately.
Once the number gets in the hands of someone who wants to do wrong. It will ruin your life. People can steal your identity, get credit cards in your name, ruin your credit, take it and do illegal things with it that may come back and really haunt the owner of the number and they could end up in jail or prison just because another person is up to NO good. They can use your social security number means everything and if someone is good enough they can totally capture your identity and live their life as the cards owner. You may also want to call your local state police and report it. Anything you can do means a lot, like I said time is of the essance and you should do it as soon as possible. Good luck. I wish your friend the best and hope that it turns out to be nothing.

Answer 4

You can post a fraud report through the credit bureas. This can be done on-line or in writing. It will make it slightly more difficult for anyone to attempt to obtain credit in his name. But the police are right, if she didn't steal from him and there was not crime committed there really isn't anything they can do.

Answer 5

Not too much with just the ssn, but i would imagine they have his name and dob also. Its a good thing his credit isn't that good or they could probably do a lot. But he should write the credit bureaus and ask for a free copy of his credit report for review, he is entitled to one from each of the bureaus each year.
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Answer 6

They could use it to work somewhere. Many people use SS#'s to work when they're not residents of the united states.

If they're really evil they can do a lot of damage. In my opinion the chances of anything bad happening because of the SS# being seen is minimal at best.

Answer 7

All I can say is contact the feds and good luck! Two of my friends had their identification's stolen and it was hard to get back. But if you call the SS office and report this right away it may help.

Answer 8

He should have his name and ssn flagged with transunion----experian- and equifax----just to be on the safe side-----

Answer 9

You can't really do a whole lot. I wouldn't worry at all.