Social Security number already linked to FAFSA account my niece never created - help!

This happened to my son last year! It turns out his high school had created FSA IDs for all the seniors during a college prep workshop, but they never told the students. Try the 'Forgot Username' option on the login page using her email address - there's a good chance an account already exists that she doesn't know about.

Really?? I'll ask her if her school did anything like that. She did attend some college workshop a few months ago. I'll have her try the Forgot Username option right away. Thank you!

could be identity theft tbh. my cousin had same thing happen and someone had taken out loans in her name! she had to file police report and everything

Oh no, that's terrifying! I hope that's not what's happening here. She just turned 18 and hasn't applied for any credit cards or loans. But I guess we should check her credit report just to be safe.

This is actually a relatively common issue with FAFSA accounts. There are several possible explanations:\n\n1. Someone (school counselor, parent, college advisor) may have created an account on her behalf\n2. She might have created one and forgotten (possibly years ago)\n3. There could be a data entry error where someone else's SSN was entered incorrectly\n4. In rare cases, it could be identity theft\n\nThe first step is to try all password recovery options using ALL email addresses and phone numbers she has access to. \n\nIf that doesn't work, your niece will need to contact Federal Student Aid directly at 1-800-433-3243. Be prepared for a long wait time - they're extremely busy during application season. She should have her SSN, date of birth, and other identifying information ready.

Thank you for the detailed explanation! We'll try the recovery options with all her email addresses first. She's definitely never created an account before, so it must be one of the other options. I'm dreading that phone call though - we tried calling once already and gave up after 40 minutes on hold.

I work with college-bound students and see this quite frequently. Another possibility is that her FAFSA account might have been started through her high school's FAFSA completion initiative. Many schools now help students begin their FAFSA applications during school hours.\n\nAnother common issue occurs when there's confusion between the FSA ID (for parents and students) and the actual FAFSA application. Your niece might need to recover her FSA ID first, then use that to access her FAFSA application.\n\nIf you've already tried all recovery options and nothing works, request a manual investigation. She'll need to prove her identity with documents like her Social Security card, driver's license, birth certificate, etc.

This makes so much sense! Her counselor did mention something about helping with FAFSA during a senior workshop, but my niece was absent that day. Maybe they went ahead and created her account anyway. We'll definitely look into the FSA ID recovery options. Thank you!

just curious why ur doing ur nieces fafsa? parents are supposed to do it bc they need to put their tax info. did she ask u to help or are u just being nosy lol

I'm helping because her parents don't speak English well and aren't familiar with the college application process. She asked me to help. And I'm not

It's actually quite common for aunts, uncles, older siblings or other trusted adults to help with the FAFSA process, especially for first-generation college students. The student's parents will still need to provide their financial information and sign the form, but having someone familiar with the process to guide them can be incredibly valuable.

Try checking if someone created an account with a minor error in the SSN. Maybe someone transposed digits when entering it. Had this happen to my daughter - turns out her counselor had created an account but swapped two numbers in her SSN. We had to go through this whole verification process to fix it. Total nightmare.

This is actually a good point. While the system checks for valid SSNs, it doesn't cross-reference with the Social Security Administration to verify the SSN matches the name. Transposed digits are a common error that can cause this exact issue.

I had the EXACT same problem when helping my younger brother with his FAFSA last month. Spent hours trying to figure it out and got nowhere with the regular FSA phone line - always busy or disconnected after waiting forever.\n\nFinally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got us connected to an actual FSA agent in under 10 minutes. The agent confirmed someone had created an account with his SSN but wrong name (turned out to be a counselor's mistake). They helped us resolve it right away.\n\nCheck out their video demo here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ - way easier than trying to get through on your own.

Oh wow, thank you for this tip! We'll definitely try this service if we can't resolve it through the recovery options. The hold times have been absolutely ridiculous - my niece's deadline is coming up soon and we're starting to panic a bit.

Just a heads up - make sure your niece doesn't create ANOTHER account trying to fix this. That will just compound the problem. The FSA system gets extremely confused with duplicate accounts and it can take months to untangle. Trust me on this one... learned the hard way with my kid!

Thank you for the warning! She was actually considering trying with a slightly different name format (including her middle initial) to see if that would work. I'll make sure she doesn't do that now. Definitely don't want to make things worse!

Any updates on this? Were you able to recover the account using the suggestions here? This is such a common issue that I'm sure others would benefit from hearing how you resolved it.

Yes! Thanks for checking back. Turns out her school counselor HAD created FSA IDs for all the seniors. We were able to recover the username through the email recovery option using her school email (which she rarely checks). Then had to go through identity verification to reset the password. She's now working on her actual FAFSA application. Thank you all for the help!

That's great news! Just as an FYI for your niece - make sure she completes the 2025-2026 FAFSA (not the 2024-2025 version). I've seen students accidentally fill out the wrong year's form, especially during this transition period with the new FAFSA rollout.

Congratulations on getting it resolved! This is such a helpful thread - I'm bookmarking it for future reference. As someone who volunteers with college-bound students, I see this issue come up ALL the time. The school counselor creating FSA IDs without telling students is becoming more common as schools try to increase FAFSA completion rates. It's well-intentioned but definitely causes confusion! For anyone else facing this issue, definitely check with your school counselor first before assuming the worst. And yes, double-check you're on the right year's FAFSA - the new simplified version can be confusing to navigate at first.