SSN, office visit, report fraud? Need answer by Friday moring

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hi all.

Here is the short story. Helping a young distant relative who has not been 18 yo for very long. The mother has done her best to “raise” a socially stunted kid for lack of a better description (thats a whole nother thread). And thats putting it kindly.

Anyhow, the kid has just graduated high school, finally escaped the mother’s grasp and the other members of the family are now able to start getting this poor kid back on track. So, one of the first things we need to do is get the kid’s SSN (mom has kept that paperwork and info secret apparently (yet another thread)).

Friday morning, the kid is going to be taken into the local social security office to get new paperwork and find out number. Once we have that number we can start taking care of another dozen things that need work.

Here is the icing on the cake on this one.

There is IMO a small, but not very small, chance ole mom has used that SSN to pull various forms of financial/credit card/whatever fraud. I have no proof and neither do others, but on the other hand mom pulling such a stunt would NOT surprise me in the least (yet another thread on this woman’s stunts). If I had to throw a number out there I’d say 10 percent chance.

So, the question finally becomes, do we mention this to the social security office when we go in? Common sense tell’s me hell yeah you do, but then again we are dealing with the law AND the gubment so that stuff goes right out the window.

Thanks for any input in advance!

2

No.
My suggestion Is go in file for a lost card.
Keep mum about possible fraud, you have no proof.
Once you have the card # request an earnings report and get a credit report. Then you will know if any hinky panky has been going on.

3

And in 18 years the various security depts. couldn’t trace the social? I don’t think so.

If the kid is on SSD is another question.

4

Legal advice is best suited to IMHO.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

5

Does Kiddo have whatever other papers in order, that he might need?

Drivers License? Birth Certificate? Any bank accounts / cards / whatever in his own name? School records?

I don’t think the nice Social Security people would be likely to give ANY of you ANY cooperation at all unless Kiddo can prove he is who he is.

6

Assuming the kid has moved out by now, can you ask a police officer to escort him and you (or whatever family member) back to her house for a quick trip before Friday? He has a right to get any remaining belongings out of the home, including paperwork like his birth certificate and ss card. If you go with a cop, mom can’t start any shit. It’d be a good final step to closing the door on his relationship with her for good.

Thank you for doing this, by the way.

If she’s used his SSN to take out credit cards or anything like that, it’ll show up on his credit report. You might want to pull all 3 free ones ASAP to find out. Don’t confront her about it, just file a police report for identity theft and contact the bureaus to get it sorted out.

7

I just realized I don’t know the kid is a he (I just assumed; I was best friends with a guy in high school whose mom pulled this shit on him). So, he or she! :slight_smile:

Anyway, the SS office can’t help you with this. Mentioning it there would be pointless, they’d just tell you to report it to the police. But don’t report fraud without evidence, meaning pull his credit report (and keep pulling it in the coming years, because she probably has copies of all his information and could do it in the future).

8

This.

You can’t report something that you don’t know has even happened. Right now all you know is that he doesn’t have the actual card. Get that and go from there.

9

Valid point.

I believe that affidavits from people who have known her / him for years may substitute if official documents can’t be found. I imagine the SSA person will know what documents or other proof of identity she might need.

10

(Bold added.)

If necessary, better hope that some such sort of affidavit might suffice. The implication was that Evil Momster might be controlling and obstructing access to ANY AND ALL documents that Kiddo might need, and has also been keeping him down all his life. She won’t even tell him what his SSN is. What else might she be keeping from him? Does he even have a driver license? And if so, does he actually have possession of that little wallet card? Or is even that kept under lock and key?

11

SS isn’t gonna care.

Pull his credit report after you get his (or her, I guess) number and see what shows up. That said IIRC the only way he’s going to have stuff like that removed from his credit report is if he presses charges against Mom.

12

I like this suggestion

13

I do have a problem with that the default (and accepted) position here is that the mother is a bona fide fuck up.

The best thing, I guess, is to call local social services or get the kid his own legal aid lawyer.

Actually, that would be the most above-board thing to do.

I have spoken. :dubious:

14

If he/she is the victim of fraud, they can request a new SSN in the future.

15

And yet you have the nerve to call yourself a cynyc! :wink:

But yes, echoing others: say nothing at the SS office. Order the free credit reports. If anything hinky shows up there, file a police report and dispute the credit data.

16

See this isn’t clear. Are you a well-meaning helpful distant relative? Who asked you for help? Did our now 18yo ask you for help?

A mother raised a “socially stunted kid” who managed to graduate high school!:confused:

Where were all these well-meaning relatives that have now popped us since he turned 18?

And why would you need to help this poor child get his SSN when in fact he’s an adult?

There’s an expression: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

The kid needs and is entitled to his own attorney.

*Hi all.

Here is the short story. Helping a young distant relative who has not been 18 yo for very long. The mother has done her best to “raise” a socially stunted kid for lack of a better description (thats a whole nother thread). And thats putting it kindly.

Anyhow, the kid has just graduated high school, finally escaped the mother’s grasp and the other members of the family are now able to start getting this poor kid back on track. So, one of the first things we need to do is get the kid’s SSN (mom has kept that paperwork and info secret apparently (yet another thread)).

Friday morning, the kid is going to be taken into the local social security office to get new paperwork and find out number. Once we have that number we can start taking care of another dozen things that need work.

Here is the icing on the cake on this one.

There is IMO a small, but not very small, chance ole mom has used that SSN to pull various forms of financial/credit card/whatever fraud. I have no proof and neither do others, but on the other hand mom pulling such a stunt would NOT surprise me in the least (yet another thread on this woman’s stunts). If I had to throw a number out there I’d say 10 percent chance.

So, the question finally becomes, do we mention this to the social security office when we go in? Common sense tell’s me hell yeah you do, but then again we are dealing with the law AND the gubment so that stuff goes right out the window.*

17

In fairness, the OP has suggested that the mom doing a little Identity Theft For Fun And Profit is quite believable… which in my book definitely pushes her toward the “bona fide” end of the “fuckup” scale.

18

Well maybe 1,000 people know things I don’t. WHen a question is posted on a board–as this one is, one should ask what the OP’s agenda is.

Essentially what was asked is how do we get get this kids SS# and we think his mother is a criminal.

Somebody looking to pick up the kid’s benefits?

An ex-boyfriend or husband seeking revenge?

A pedophile trying to control an allegedly limited kid?

Now I’m not accusing the OP of anything!!! And maybe he/she has a good story and is doing the swell thing.

But what if he/she isn’t?

And if he/she doesn’t allow the kid to get a lawyer it’s a BIG RED FLAG.:smack:

19

The mom’s spent 18 years fucking up the kid for fun and profit (thanks all you taxpayers out there! (times 3 none the less!) ).

Thanks everyone for the advice. Mostly it was what I expected but it never hurts to ask because every once in awhile around here you’ll certainly get a suggestion that makes you go :smack: in hindsight.

As for Cynyc’s post I think I’ll just let the insight, brilliance, and helpfulness of its post speak for themselves (I wonder if it has read Dionetics?)

Thanks again.

20

Right. Because lawyers are affordable to 18 year olds.