Let’s say you’re looking at your credit reports and spot a credit inquiry you don’t recognize. An unfamiliar inquiry doesn’t necessarily mean it’s unauthorized, but it’s worth looking into. Here’s what you can do.
Determine the type of inquiry
An inquiry is a record of someone checking your credit information. If you see an inquiry you don’t recognize, first check what kind of inquiry it is—hard or soft.
Soft inquiries are made when there’s no credit decision being considered. Soft inquiries are common, and typically made by companies promoting offers of credit, creditors reviewing existing accounts, consumers accessing their own credit reports, and insurers. It can be good to know who is making soft inquiries about your credit history, but it has no impact on your credit.Hard inquiries are the result of you applying for credit or other financial services, like a new credit card, a refinanced mortgage, or applying for a loan, and they tend to have a slight negative impact on your credit score. Because they can damage your credit score, you’ll want to keep an eye on hard inquiries. If you haven’t applied for credit or services recently, a hard inquiry in your report from an unknown company is a red flag—someone could be using your identity to apply for credit.G/O Media may get a commission
Contact the lender directly
If you want to know more about an inquiry, contact the lender that’s making the request directly (the contact information will be in your report). Simply talking about the suspicious item in the report may help you realize that you actually did authorize the inquiry. Also, many lenders use a third party to execute credit checks, so you may not recognize the names for what is an otherwise legitimate inquiry.
Take notes during this call, including the name and contact information of the customer service representative you speak with. If the lender can’t confirm the account or if the inquiry was made in error, ask them to send a letter directly to each credit reporting agency requesting that they remove the inquiry from your credit report.
If an inquiry was made fraudulently, report it to the FTC
If, after talking to the lender, you suspect identity theft, report the identity theft to the FTC, which will help you recover and secure your identity using a personal recovery plan.
Contact the credit bureaus
Lastly, in the case of fraud you’ll also want to contact each of the three major credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
Ask for a fraud alert, which alerts creditors into taking extra care confirming your identity before issuing new credit in your name. Fraud alerts will last for a year and are renewable, and they will not prevent you from applying for new credit. When you place a fraud alert with any one of the major credit bureaus, that bureau is required to notify the other two.
Or, for the best protection, freeze your credit with all three bureaus to stop anyone from opening new credit in your name. This is a good option whenever you’re not actively shopping for a credit card or loan. A credit freeze does not affect your credit score. Unlike fraud alerts, you will have to contact each credit bureau separately to enable a credit freeze.
You don’t have to be an identity theft victim to request a fraud alert or credit freeze—you can do so anytime. To request your free credit reports from each of the three major credit bureaus visit AnnualCreditReport.com
