Decephering Your Credit Report

Okay, you got your credit reports, but oh dear…they don’t seem to be written in English. Don’t panic—you don’t have to understand every detail to look for signs of identity theft.

Here’s what you need to check out:

• The “Applicant” and “File Variations” sections at the beginning of the report list your personal information. Look here for details that just don’t click. If the date of birth is totally off or there’s an address where you’ve never lived, that’s a clue that someone who isn’t you has been opening credit accounts in your name.
• Your report will also list “Aliases” and “Former Names”—make sure all of these are names you’ve actually used. (To simplify things and prevent errors, it’s best to always use the exact same name when applying for credit. Make a choice now about your middle initial and stick to it.)
• Look closely at the “Credit History”section and check for accounts you don’t recognize. For the accounts that are legitimately yours, make sure the number under the “Balance Owing”column jibes with what you’ve really spent.
• The “Inquiries” section tells you who has requested your credit report— something which is typically done before opening a credit account for you. If an identity thief got a credit card in your name, the credit card company will be listed here, on at least one of the reports. So look carefully for any inquiries you don’t remember authorizing.
• Some quirks in your report may be the result of a clerical error rather than identity theft. Even so, you should get the mistakes cleared up so that your report is 100% accurate.