How do I get a credit report without a SS#?

[Anonymous]

My cousin is still waiting for her green card and so she cannot apply for a SS# yet. The problem is..her boyfriend applied for a credit card (Capital One) in her name and succeeded in doing so. I think he just fill in a random SS# and got lucky with it. My questions are....

1. Why didn't the credit card banks check the SS# given?

2. Without a SS#, how can my cousin get a credit report from any credit report agencies?

[Anonymous]

To my knowledge theirs no way to get a capital one card without a Social, unless it was a promotional card. I’ve seen promotional letters that had a name and address on it and a simple activation number. Credit Card companies will pull your credit report, which is only viewed by you and check your credit. Depending on the scores, they will send out promotional letters. This is one way they may have gotten away with it. Theirs also the pre-approved cards. Most of them still require a credit check.

1. There are three ways to get your CR. Online, US mail, and phone. Online system will ask for your social and then some on them may even ask personnel questions about information in your credit file. If you get the questions wrong, your block for a while. So the chance of them getting it online without a social is slim to none. You can also request your report online to be sent US mail. I don’t see how you could do this either without a social. Even the phone system requires you to enter a social.

2. One way it is possible is to dispute items by sending a letter using your name and address to the CRA's. Most checkers will usually not accept it and ask for further identification such as a copy of your social, drivers lic# or utility bill ( or all) if you don't include your social. It’s actually nice that they do that sometimes. But there is that chance that a checker will simply start the investigate and send an updated report when it is complete.