Reminders
- The questions will be based on date(s) / ownership/ underwriters/ mixed files.
- It’s recommended that you ask yourself these questions before deeming the activity fraudulent.
- You can also review your credit report to verify the information being reported is correct.
Process Steps
- Ownership:
- Questions to ask yourself about possible account ownership:
- Have you opened up any accounts recently?
- Could the possible fraud activity in question be in relation to these types of accounts ( Authorized User(s) / Co-signer/ Joint)?
- Could the activity be associated with a family, friend, or spouse’s account? Have you cosigned or listed as an authorized user for anyone else?
- Have you requested or made changes to any of your existing accounts? Such as lower interest rate, credit limit increase, special credit card program (rewards program) or balance transfer?
- Date
- Questions to ask yourself about the established date(s):
- What date did you receive notice of the activity?
- Have you applied for credit or do you recall opening an account within this timeframe?
- Have you recently applied for credit such as (mortgage loan, auto loan, insurance) these can generate multiple inquiries?\
- Underwriter
- Often most alerts can display the 3rd party / underwriter’s name instead of the company name you initially started business with.
- Questions to ask yourself about the established date(s):
- Have you made changes such as refinancing, applying for a new mortgage, or requesting a credit line increase?
- Are there any transitions/ changes happening within your current mortgage company? (ex. Change in lenders)
- Multiple / Mixed File
- Questions to ask yourself about the established date(s):
- Is there anyone in your household that has the same name or a similar name to yours?
- Clerical errors can occur which happens when paper records are entered into a computer
- Data is sometimes entered manually and is also aggregated in mass quantities.
- E.g. Items could appear on your public record that belong to an individual with a Social Security number that is 1 digit different than yours. (usually a typo while being uploaded into the system)
