So what I am about to tell you is in regards to my own personal CREDIT CRISIS and how I resolved it and what you can do to ensure it does not happen to you.
First you need to know some things about me. I have excellent credit - my score being north of 800. This does not happen by accident. It takes years of faithfully paying on time and NOT taking out too much debt.
One of the things this helped me to receive is a no limit credit card from a very reputable international supplier. So there I was on Monday, minding my own business when i get a letter from this esteemed organization which essentially said the following.
"Your no limit account now has a limit. We reached this decision after careful review of your account including an assessment of information obtained from consumer reporting agencies."
I was mad at first. I called them and asked for an explanation, but they would not give me one. I went through that really terrible escalation process to reach someone with at least three brain cells who then told me "Experian are telling us really bad stuff about you."
They could not tell me what the bad stuff was, merely that it was bad. I thought my ID had been stolen. I immediately called a mortgage broker buddy of mine and asked him to pull my credit. Very quickly I received an e-mail with the subject line "Something is DEFINITELY wrong..." he too thought my ID had been stolen.
I called the FBI - they weren't working because it was a national holiday (I swear that really scary answer is what I was given!) and so I called the non emergency line of my local Sheriff's office. And a deputy arrived within ten minutes. I was impressed! He himself had been the victim of ID theft and having spent ten minutes looking at my newly acquired credit report while my pet Lab was licking his bare knees (this is Florida people - our Deputies wear shorts!), he then told me that he did NOT think my ID had been stolen, but that Experian had made a huge data input error.
Now the FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO when you find yourself in this or a similar situation is to call ALL THREE of the credit reporting companies (names and phone numbers at the bottom of this blog). There you will find an automated system where you can put a fraud alert on your credit. This means no one can pull your credit or open a new account in your name without you knowing about it. Each one will tell you (automatically) that they will tell the other two, but I did not trust that and so took the time to report to all three.
The next thing to do is to try and find a human being to talk to at Experian. NOT EASY!! First you have to BUY (really, I'm not joking) your credit report from them. The fact that you have one in your hand is not relevant - you have to purchase their version. Once you have that, you are given another phone number which is not available any other way, and you can call that. Again it is automated but by dialing ZERO repeatedly, you will eventually be put through to someone.
Once you tell that person your story, you will be transferred to the "special agent" section - and there I spent 45 minutes with this delightful woman who asked me a whole bunch of questions and then wen t about putting everything right.
FIFTY TWO Simon L Conways had been aded to my account. SEVEN social security numbers (I have no idea how that is even possible) and then a judgment and around 75 accounts in collections - all now deleted.
ONE TIP that I found very useful. When filling out forms you should use your whole name - not just middle initial, but your middle name whenever possible. This reduces the risk of you going through what I just had to.
And then finally, don't forget the final piece of the jigsaw. I am now working with my credit card company to remove the red flag. You see even though I have a perfect "never late" record with them, there is now a red flag. They will report that red flag back to the credit agencies and that will bring my credit score down.
YOU MUST STAY ON TOP OF THIS. I don't have much credit. Last time I asked for any was this April. It could be years before I will need more which means I would never have known. More on how to protect yourself in future blogs, in the meantime here are the contact numbers for the credit reporting agencies if you wish to place fraud alerts on your credit.
Image courtesy of blogging.com
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(Copyright © 2008 By Simon L Conway All Rights Reserved.)
Please give me a call if you have questions about the Central Florida real estate market. You can reach me on 407 876 8200. Also visit my web site at www.simonconway.net or www.move2orlando.net
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Simon ~ That is a nightmare. But thank God for your quick wit, and presence of mind to take matters in your own hand and solve this before it would take attorneys and lots of money.
Simon, when I read the line "Something is DEFINITELY wrong..." it gave me a cold chill - I'm glad that you got this corrected.
It is amazingly horrible how difficult it is to navigate through the credit system bureaucracy in this country. Was the system any better or more efficient in the UK?
Nick - I am still genuinely in shock over the whole thing, but really - check your credit regularly and place fraud alerts on your account.
Jay - it gave me that cold chill too. And my buddy is NOT the kind of guy to use that kind of subject line so I knew I had a serious problem. Frankly the system didn't exist when I lived in England. i have no idea if it does now either.
Simon,
This is an excellent 'bookmark worthy' post!!! Especially with the contact numbers being included!!! Thanks, Fran
What about that guy, who offers a service to protect your credit... you know the one who prints his social security number on the billboards?
Fran - thanks for the kind words.
Alan - you are talking about lifelock. In fact that would not have protected me from this, but it will protect you from fraud for the cheap price of $10 a month.
Simon, this is a post that certainly got my attention! And I certainly hope that they refunded the money you had to pay to purchase their erroneous report. That is so totally outrageous! Yikes!
Patricia - not ony would they not refund the $11 I had to pay to get my report, they tried to SELL ME my newly updated credit score - which by the way is available from THEIR OWN WEBSITE FOR FREE!!!!!
Simon, pretty scary huh?? At least you jumped all over it.
Thanks
Rich
Charlotte NC
Thanks for the heads up, I have subscribed to www.myfico.com over the years and pull my report quarterly and have avoided some sticky situations. Everyone must at least once a year check their own credit
Simon.. Holy Crap.. excuse me for that. I know what it is like to have EXCELLENT credit, and you are right it takes YEARS. But it is amazing that in hours (perhaps minutes) it can go down the toilet. I'm glad you have been able to take care of this... I hope the RED flags go away just as quick.
Thanks for the 3 credit reporting companies phone numbers.. I'll keep these on file.
You have just been warned of how really bad theft identifycan be. Praise your parents for not naming you John Smith, and having the in site to follow thru with your investigation. You saved yourself years of grief.
Rich - that's the thing - if you don't jump all over it, then it snowballs.
James - good advice.
Simon right on. I pay for credit monitoring yearly. It is only a small amount and well worth the price.
Wow what a ride. I can't imagine going through all that and mosst would have probably just given up. Thanks for the info. I am going to start using my middle name as you suggested.
Would lifelock have helped you recover?
Simon
Ironic that you posted this. I am preparing an edited version of this issue that I posted on my outside blog on wordpress that I may post on AR.
Really want a Horror Story............Review mine !
http://ocmortgagefinder.wordpress.com/
Best Regards
Yowee! That's certainly a story worth sharing. I have learned from your experiences. Thanks.
Simon,
Thanks for the post. I'm impressed with the idea of using your full middle name but I am wondering how to make that most effective? Do you call the three credit companies and tell them that they need to use your middle name or how does that work?
Bob
Having been through this myself I always recommend people check their FICO & credit at least once a year. You are entitled to a FREE copy of your credit report once a year but it will cost you to get the FICO, Nobody but you cares about your credit and these places don't make it easy to resolve even when the error is blatant. Good heads-up Simon.
I'm monitor my credit pretty carefully, and now I know why. Thankfully you jumped right on it to get it resolved -- it can be tough dealing with the credit bureaus.
Just an FYI, but http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com is the "official" site for getting free copies of your credit reports. Most states allow you to receive 1 - 2 copies of EACH credit report annually and you can use this website to retrieve them. ** They do charge you for your credit scores.
Hi Simon. Wow!! Scary huh? I have been the victim of identity theft and it still poses a problem sometimes and I have to tell the story and get it sorted out. So glad that isn't what happened to you, but yours was equally frightening! This is why I now check my credit frequently just to make sure.
Simon,
It is funny I came across your blog this evening. Earlier this afternoon I had a call from my father who was very upset. He received a letter in the mail from Chase stating they would need additional information to process his application. He does not have a card with Chase, nor has he applied for one. After calling the company he learned that someone submitted an application for credit under his name with his social security number but a different address. They did not have his date of birth either, hence the letter for more information. He is very lucky he caught this so quickly and that the card company is stringent in their guidelines before issuing a card. He has contacted the credit reporting agencies and also filed a police report regarding the incident. I wonder if there is any chance of the person being caught. How aggressively do they search for these people? What a stressful ordeal for the people who do not catch it early!
Simon - it sucks, had my bank account drained last summer via a proxied/hijacked debit card. It only took a week to fix, thankfully, and they nailed the guy that did the proxying.
You can also freeze your credit, even better than a fraud alert. On the other hand, awhile back Experian had all my entries listed twice and I was refused credit because of the their error. It took almost 3 months to get it corrected.
By law there should be a way to contact, in person, the company without having to purchase a credit report. Yes, they do make it next to impossible, often, you just need to hit 0 at the right time when on the phone going through their no-service system.
Wow what a great story. I guess we should be more careful now days. I don't have that great of credit but manage to buy what ever I want when ever I want. My needs are small but things can happen than can change all of this. I heard to not carry your social security card in your wallet anymore because if it is stolen you are basically screwed. There are good people out there willing to help when mistakes are made and your story proved that point also. Good luck to you and your family for getting this potential nighmare solve.
Wow, did you every find out how the information was put on your credit in the first place? Clerical error? How did they connect you with all these other names and social security numbers? Sounds like the credit bureaus have a problem with data...I have a huge problem with these three companies pretty much having complete control over our financial lives...one wrong entry and a persons life could be ruined.
This is indeed a very scary situation. It seems overwhelming to straighten out.
Simon, Thisis uite a story and quite a fight you endured straightening this out. You thought that life is only honey now?
Simon, Thisis uite a story and quite a fight you endured straightening this out. You thought that life is only honey now?
Thanks for sharing your story. Everybody needs to realize how tough it is to correct a problem with the credit bureaus
Here's my version. Not all stories have a happy ending as yours does: http://activerain.com/blogsview/789182/Personal-Credit-FIASCO Susan
Simon,
It can be pretty amazing the things that show up on your credit report. I had a round with Experian myself about 2 years ago when I was buying my car. Glad you got it all sorted out.
NJ
Holy crap, Poor Simon. So sorry this happened to you, but what a way to turn in into a great consumer beware blog. Congrats on the feature, and glad you found out so early, and that it's all dealt with.
Eptos7nian
Simon-good thing you were able to catch this quickly. It goes to show how a person who is so diligent in keeping an excellent credit score can just see it go down the drain. A few years back, I had my credit checked and noticed a fraudulent transaction and was able to have it cleared from my name. Thanks for the post.
Eeek, that IS a crazy story!! Glad you caught it so quickly. BTW, Kerry is correct....the site I refer everyone to is www.AnnualCreditReport.com where everyone is entitled to one free report per year.
Simon,
This is a crazy story. But you demonstrated that you knew how to handle this the right way. I wonder how many other people wouldn't have demanded to get someone on the phone and just went thru the traditional dispute process and got nowhere with it?
Anyway, how in the world could they explain that happening?
Michelle
Simon ... good to hear you cought this fast and got things taken care of.. Great information !
Great post! thanks for sharing!
Wow. That is scarey. I go to www.annualcreditreport.com every 4 months and get my report for free. I get one from one agency then come back in 4 months for the next one. You can only get one free one a year from each agency which is why I check it every 4 months. After what you said though, a lot of damage could be done in those 4 months between me checking it.
I worked my butt off to get my credit score up and I'll be darned if I'm going to let someone ruin it.
Just imagine the average Joe who doesn't know how to take the steps you took.
Cheri - That's a smart idea! Granted the bureaus don't always show the exact same info, it's still outside the box thinking.
You can get free reports from all 3 agencies if you are denied credit, among other reasons.
You should sign up for a site where you can check your reports anytime you want. True Credit has this.
Also, creditkarma lets you check you fako score for free each day.
Simon That was a crazy scary story and glad things got straighten out some what...
Side note, Curious I use to subscribe to get my homes value and I believe your name was common on the weekly call ins...do you still subscribe?
Simon, thanks for sharing this story, it's simply crazy and the fact that the red flag is on your account even after it is resolved is just nuts. Glad you were able to find out before even more damage was done to your great credit score.
I bookmarked this Simon in case I ever need this. My cc is very good too. Sometimes it has been frustrating as they stop my cc when trying to buy something. It can be embarrasing as I know I am not at my limit but they have seen unusual activity and want to warn me or check with me first my last few transactions.
Simon, like so many others here, I just want to say thanks for this fantastic post. I use the Life-Lock product myself which, at $10.00 / month, is a good deal. However nothing replaces the prudent action we must all take on our own behalf to make sure things like this don't happen!