So I applied for a loan a couple months ago and got denied based on my credit. I thought this was odd so I looked up my free once a year credit report and it turns out i had a bunch of accounts on there that weren’t mine. My father has the same name as me and there were two items on there that belonged to him and one was a 35k credit card judgement from someone i have never even heard of. I was pissed.
This was a huge pain in the ass to straighten out and took a long time to get everything cleared off. It ruined my credit score and now i find out that my score doesn’t go back to what it should be, it has to gradually go back up over time. This whole credit system is a joke.
I feel using one of these credit monitoring services would help me from having something like this happen to me again. The person i talked to at equifax told me it was probably going to happen to me again because of my father and I having the same name and working for the same company. People are too lazy to actually check the SSN before they put something on your report it turns out. So if you use one of these services, which one? Do you like it? Think its worth the 15 a month or whatever it is? Any input is appreciated. Thanks
i have freecredit report, pay 6 bux a month totally worth it
also have lifelock, 11 bux a month, caught some asshole who opened up a card in my name, spent 10 grand, long story short was immediately reimbursed and said asshole was arrested
I use the Quarterly Monitoring service from myFICO.com. I think it’s $50/year and they email you whenever there is activity such as new accounts opened, credit score inquiries, etc. Also every quarter they send you a credit report and score from TransUnion.
No matter which one you choose your making a good decision to monitor your credit. :tup:
My parents keep their credit reports completely locked. Nobody can even pull the scores. Seems pretty secure, but it’s a pain in the ass. Even utility companies are pulling credit reports/scores these days, so there is the potential that you would need to call and unlock/lock your credit report every time. Still, it keeps your shit safe.
for the OP, it seems like the best way to protect yourself. With credit monitoring, you’ll only be alerted AFTER it happens. This prevents anything from happening in the first place.
^ I doubt a lock would help him. You can’t lock someone out of putting something negative on your credit report. If you could every deadbeat would just lock their credit, kick back on pre-fuck up 700+ score and watch the default letters roll in.
Ya you can only lock someone checking it. It would need to be unlocked to apply for a loan or anything. Its good so you don’t get random pre-qualified mailers for credit cards and stuff but over all, a pain in the ass.
Definitely need something to just view your report. I feel that the ones with monthly charges are a waste since most people don’t pull their report multiple times. Just use like creditkarma or something and check it every few months for any strange activity. Clear up any past negative issues by calling the company and you will improve your score.
They weren’t opened under his name. They were opened under the father’s name and someone was careless entering the information when it got uploaded to the credit bureau. When you have the same name and employer it’s bound to happen and locking your account isn’t going to do shit but add hassles for you.
Locking really isn’t an option for me. I guess what im looking for is a way I can check my score quarterly and get notifications whenever something changes on my report so if it doesn’t belong to me I can catch it and fix it before it spirals out if control like this past time.