How Do Credit Bureaus Determine an Account Is Yours?

Reporting

Credit bureaus receive account information from a variety of sources. Creditors report your payment history and other details about your account. Courts report judgments and other information that may be related to specific accounts. These records are linked to your name, address, phone number, Social Security number, and other identifying information. This gives the credit bureau some assurance that the information actually relates to your accounts.

Providing Reports

By law, the three major credit bureaus are required to provide every consumer with a free copy of her credit report every year. This allows you to check their information for accuracy. You can look through all of the listed accounts and cross-check them with your actual accounts. If you find one that does not belong to you, you can file a dispute with the credit bureau.

Investigating

If you file a dispute on an account that is not yours, the credit bureaus are required to perform an investigation. All three of the major bureaus have dispute forms on their webites. Once you file a dispute, the bureaus have to contact the creditor and request proof that the account is yours and that the information is correct. If they cannot vertify the information, they must remove the account from your credit report. Disputes help them determine whether accounts are really yours or whether there could have been an error or a case of fraud or identity theft.