Can anyone pull a credit report if they have someone's social security number?

The correct response is based on the principles established by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which governs who can access an individual's credit report. Under the FCRA, access to credit reports is restricted to certain legitimate purposes, such as for credit transactions, employment purposes, insurance underwriting, or by law enforcement agencies.

Simply possessing someone's Social Security number does not grant permission to access their credit report. The individual or entity seeking to pull a credit report must have a permissible purpose as defined by the FCRA, which includes customer consent or a specific business need. Without this legal justification, accessing someone's credit report would violate privacy regulations set forth in the FCRA.

In summary, while someone may have access to another person's Social Security number, this alone is insufficient to authorize pulling their credit report, affirming that the right answer is indeed that it is false that anyone can pull a credit report merely based on having the Social Security number.