Someone Opened an Account in Your Name: How to Dispute Fraud

Check whether the account is truly unfamiliar

Some account names on a credit report look different from the brand you remember using, so an unfamiliar name does not always mean fraud. A store card can report under the bank that issued the card, and auto financing can report under a lender rather than the dealership you visited. Before you file a dispute based on identity theft (someone using your personal information to open credit without permission), compare the account name and the opened date against your old statements, email records, loan documents, and card approvals.

If the account still does not match anything in your records after you have checked it against those documents, treat it as a possible identity theft account and begin documenting it.

Save the report page before sending anything

Before you send anything, save a copy of the full credit report along with the page that shows the account. Mark the account so it stands out, but do not cover the bureau name, the creditor name, the account number shown, the opened date, the balance, or the status, because you will need all of those details later.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the federal agency that oversees credit reporting, directs identity theft victims to IdentityTheft.gov, a government website that helps you create an Identity Theft Report and a recovery plan. That report can support the letters you send to the credit bureaus and to the companies tied to the fraudulent accounts. When an account resulted from identity theft, credit reporting companies may be required to block the fraudulent information once they receive the proper Identity Theft Report, proof of your identity, and a letter identifying the information that is fraudulent. The CFPB explains that a reporting company generally must block the information within four business days after it receives a valid request.

You can also add protections while the dispute is being handled. A fraud alert is a notice on your file that tells creditors to take extra steps to confirm your identity before opening new credit in your name, and the CFPB says that placing a fraud alert with one nationwide bureau requires that bureau to notify the others. A credit freeze, also called a security freeze, blocks new creditors from accessing your credit file until you lift the freeze, and the CFPB says a freeze must be placed with each bureau separately. A freeze does not fix an existing fraudulent account, but it helps reduce the chance of new accounts being opened while you work through the dispute.

Your dispute packet needs to identify the fraudulent account clearly and include copies of your proof. Keep the wording direct, name the bureau, the account, the company, the account number shown, the opened date, and the reason for the dispute, and gather the following:

• The credit report page showing the account, with the account marked
• The account opening date
• The current balance and past-due amount
• The payment status and the date last updated
• Any hard inquiry tied to the same company
• Any addresses, names, or phone numbers on the report that do not belong to you
• The Identity Theft Report from IdentityTheft.gov, if you have created one
• Proof of your identity, if the bureau requests it
• A clear statement that you did not open the account
• A request that the bureau block or remove the fraudulent account

Contact the company tied to the account

The company that opened the account may hold application records, billing records, addresses, phone numbers, or electronic signatures connected to it, and those records can show how the account was created. Ask the company in writing for the account details, report the account as fraudulent, and save every response you receive.

Track each bureau separately

One credit bureau may remove the account while another keeps reporting it, so handle each one on its own. For every bureau, record the date it received your dispute, the proof you sent, and the result you got back. The CFPB states that credit reporting companies generally must investigate disputes within 30 days after receiving them, and that some situations allow up to 45 days.