confused about denials from Capital One

[mt2va]

I'm helping a family friend get started on the right foot with credit, etc.  He applied for a Cap 1 credit card.  I figured it was his best shot and not quite as predatory as some of the other lenders.  He was denied.  When the denial letter came in the mail it listed too many credit inquiries (this is the only one he's ever made), delinquent accounts (he's never had credit), & something else (can't find the letter right off).  I'm puzzled about the whole thing because he's 18 and has never had any kind of credit before.

I had him try to pull his free annual credit reports.  Unable to pull Equifax or TransUnion due to being unable (apparently) to answer the identity questions correctly but none of them applied to him because they were asking about mortgage and other things and he's never had any of those.  Got the Experian to pull & it's showing 4 collection accounts going back to 2007 when he was like 12.  I've never had anything like this come up in my credit repair journey so I'm not sure how to handle other than to dispute.  2 are with AFNI, 1 with Household Bank, & 1 with Portfolio Recovery Associates.  Is it possible a family member may have used his social security number to obtain credit??  Although, I don't see how because of when the accounts were opened he wasn't legally old enough to have had any credit in his name. 

[coldnmn]

This sounds like identify theft! I would contact authorities and find out the best route to go. Hopefully someone that has experienced the same thing will respond. They must take this very seriously, this is something not to be ignored! This isn't necessarily a family member.