FamilySearch account linked to another person's account on Ancestry
Hello,
I am helping my elderly mother regain access to her Ancestry account as an LDS member.
With my help, my mother again has access to her Ancestry DNA results. (But the 125 people or so that she had put in with lots of documentation are no longer linked to her account-and this pedigree line hasn't been connected since a problem occurred several years ago.) Now Ancestry wants her to pay for a subscription to see almost anything on her account.
(She had connected FamilySearch and Ancestry accounts years ago during one of their missions; she added their ancestry account while at their mission to the family history center in SLC.)
I showed her the FamilySearch page where one can get the Ancestry account and then she logged in. Then she followed the instructions to connect Ancestry
When she did, it says:
"We're sorry, your FamilySearch account has already been linked to an account on Ancestry. You can sign into Ancestry with the linked account or return to FamilySearch"
It then gives a name (which is the same as hers). It gives a different user id (which I won't share here) and an email address we have never seen before. (I will also not share it here.)
We were on the phone with Ancestry for over an hour today and managed to get a few tiny things worked out, but they said she has to pay for a subscription. They have no solution or way to make the link to FamilySearch.
I have no idea how someone else connected HER FamilySearch account to their Ancestry account?
How can she again connect her FamilySearch Account to Ancestry when someone else has taken it?
A bit of backstory: she said a few years ago someone called her and told her that their email was linked to her Ancestry account (not true, as 2 people who don't know each other can't have one email account) and he said that they were taking her Ancestry account, as they were setting up an account with Ancestry. My parents were in the middle of a move and too stressed to deal with it. This is when she lost access to her account and the ancestry line she put in a few years ago. She has been discouraged since then, especially with loss of all the info she had uploaded to Ancestry; I realize it isn't a loss, but it does take effort to add hints and put it back together. (The situation also leads to an unanswerable question--how did they get my parents' phone number etc.)
I had hoped to help my mother regain access during my short trip to visit them (from the other side of the U.S.) as she isn't able to do this without help. At least she still has her FamilySearch account, which she uses.
If anyone can help us, please contact me.
Answers
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@SarahBJohnson - Hi Sarah - Welcome to FamilySearch Community and asking your question about family search and ancestry. We would be happy to help but it needs to be done by phone. I will send a private message for you to share your phone number and a Family Search representative will call you. Look for a red dot at the upper right on a community page indicating you have a message. If you would rather not do this, please call Family Search at 866-406-1830 between the hours of 8am to 8pm Monday thru Saturday or Sunday 1pm to 8pm. All times are mountain times. Look forward to helping you.
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