How to Verify an Application for Credit in Your Name
Identity theft and credit fraud are existing trends that, if not detected at an initial stage, can lead to financial disasters. There is one type of identity theft in particular, namely when the criminal applies for credit in your name. They can make them sign for credit cards, loans, or anything that suits them, all under your name and credit. The good news is that there are actions that one can take to check whether someone has applied for credit with a false identity and minimize the consequences.
Check Your Credit Report
The simplest way to see if there is someone out there who has applied for credit in the individual’s name is to request a credit report from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Each bureau gives the consumer one free copy of his or her credit report once a year, and this must be requested through www.annualcreditreport.com. If you want to check your credit report for fraud, you should go through your credit reports in full detail and search for credit accounts, loans, or credit inquiries that you never opened or authorized. This is often a warning that there has been some fraud or an application for a credit facility in your name.
Monitor Your Credit
Besides reviewing your full credit reports once a year, there is always the need to track your credit frequently. Currently, various credit monitoring companies offer you alerts every time there is any activity like a credit application or even a new credit account is opened. Credit monitoring services and alerts are also provided by most banks and credit card companies for accounts that they offer. Ideally, you will detect any such activity way earlier than the outsider if you frequently check your credit reports.
Check Your Credit Card and Bank Statement
For one to be safe, it is always advisable to go through credit card statements, bank statements, or any statement of account each month. First, check for any bills you never made or charges you do not understand. Often, the fraudulent charges might be small or an amount that could easily resemble your normal charges. If you have found something in your checklist to be suspicious, then you should immediately report it to your bank and credit card company. There can also be those inquiries that you did not recognize, or new accounts that are sometimes listed in your monthly credit card statements even though they have not yet been reported to the credit bureaus.
Check Public Records
Sometimes, a personal loan or mortgage shall be applied using identity, where records are filed with specific government departments. Search in public records such as property cards in the county where you reside, tax records of the state you reside in, or even federal records search by name. If somebody has unlawfully acquired property or applied for a loan in your name, there may be records that can be accessed. This is not as frequently available or as fast to report results as some other methods, but it can sometimes reveal fraud.
This is what you should do if you encounter something that seems to be a potential threat.
If you find accounts that you do not recognize or inquiries listed in your credit report or account statements, then it is important to contact the credit bureaus or the creditors as soon as possible. File the fraud against them, challenge the accounts, and inform the relevant authorities. If you know that any of those accounts were opened, then close them. Act fast, so if the fraud is still ongoing, the quicker it is discovered and reported, the less money will be lost and the less harm that the theft will cause to the person’s credit.
It would also be advisable to include a fraud alert on your account which makes creditors verify you before they grant you a new credit, as well as apply for a credit freeze to control access to your credit report. Pay special attention to all of your accounts during the period between now and a few months and ensure that you keep proper records in case of further actions. However, many of the instances of identity theft require time and effort to be fully dealt with.
Protect Yourself Going Forward
Along with routinely monitoring your credit reports, statements, and public records, there are other steps you can take to minimize the risk of someone applying for credit in your name:
- Financial experts advise that you should check your credit report before you go for any large purchase that you will need credit or financing since this is the best way to identify a problem early enough.
- Use the social security number only where it is necessary, for instance when filing tax returns, applying for a job, or opening a bank/credit account.
- Tear up receipts, bills, pay stubs, and any other documents with your financial information before disposing of them.
- Security measures: do not use open WiFi networks; delete online accounts and be careful with letters, messages, calls, or links from strangers, fraudsters want to steal your personal information.
- That is, choose passwords that are familiar to you and not easily guessed, and change them from time to time.
- Oversee all the invoices from medical facilities to make sure none of them is billing in bad faith.
- By regularly requesting credit reports from the three reporting agencies, constantly scrutinizing your financial accounts, and being cautious with your sensitive data, you minimize the chances of someone applying for credit in your stead. But if it does happen, you’ll be notified and will be in a position to address it early enough to correct the situation.
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