<prompt> Human: Throwaway AccountHey Reddit, you have always helped me when i had questions or a problem came up so im hoping that you guys could help me with this.My girlfriend just got a call regarding her student loans, they were a collection agency and wanted her to pay off the remaining balance. They had her social and said that she owed about 1300.00. It had been in past due for about 3 years. She thinks she paid it off.What can we do?Being that the debt is so old, is it best to figure out if this is her debt and pay it? or is it just better to default on it as its already supposedly hit her credit score?She is scared and doesnt know what to do, but i told her not to worry about it because i belong to the best group on the internet.Thank you all in advance  <response>: First: Student Loan Registry to get a handle on all of her outstanding debts and what status its in.Figure out if its her debt. Next: Run a credit report from all three credit bureausIf its really three years old and gone into collections, it will show up in her credit history report. All outstanding loans will be shown in your annual credit report.If it all looks clear, and the person on the phone has her social security number, its also possible shes a victim of identity theft, in which case the credit report is also important. Being that the debt is so old, is it best to figure out if this is her debt and pay it? or is it just better to default on it as its already supposedly hit her credit score?Student loans are one of the few things that you cannot default on, even if you declare bankruptcy. If you dont pay, the government has a number of options at hand to get the money back, ranging from wage garnishment to tax refund offsets to a lawsuit.If its already gone into delinquency and has the appropriate penalty rates applied, AND this is truly her debt and not say, a scammer that happens to have her social, you can work with the collections agency to work out an appropriate payment plan. BUT dont even talk to them until youve gotten it all straightened out as to what the current status is. 