Tag Archives: credit report

That Time I Fell for a Scam…

Leave a reply

I made a really stupid mistake just before Christmas.  I pride myself on knowing enough not to fall into financial traps.  And I did exactly that.

I was doom scrolling through social media and came across an ad offering me a too good to be true deal on an electric fireplace/entertainment center.  I wanted it to be real.  It looked real.  So I clicked.  It took me to a web site that looked just like Big Lots.  But it was BigLotsSale.com.  Not Big Lots.  I was convinced it was real.  I really wanted that fireplace. So I jumped.  I put in my info and my credit card and I was off.  I received a confirmation email, so I was sure this was for real.  A day or two later I received an email confirming the shipping.  It was real!  It had to be real!

After a few more days. I went back to the shipping email to click the tracking number and find out when my amazing fireplace would arrive.  And that’s when I figured it out.  The tracking number didn’t lead to anywhere.  I started searching the shipping company and discovered it was fake.  Crap!  I had been duped.  A subsequent search on BigLotsSale led me to discover that this is a very common, yet very well done, scam.  Reddit helped me find all of the painful information.

My first action after discovering my mistake was to lock my credit card.  Then I looked at the charges on my card and found one that I had not made.  I called my credit union and they removed the charge I didn’t make right away.  They canceled my card for me and walked me through the process to dispute the charge that I did make on the fake web site.  Then came the fun of moving all of my automatically billed things to a different card.  Automation is great….until it isn’t.  Then I went out to the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) and put freezes on my account, so the scammers would not be able to open new credit in my name.

I’m actually very lucky.  There is no significant damage caused by my error.  My only potential loss is the $50 charge I made trying to buy the fireplace.  And I may eventually get that back as well.  And I learned a very valuable lesson about buying things through an ad on social media.  I don’t recommend doing it without first researching the “merchant.”  But I also learned how easy it is for people to fall victim to a scam.  I’m very educated in this area and still fell for it.  How easy would it be for someone who doesn’t  focus their life around financial education to make this mistake and have it turn out so much worse?

I’m trying not to beat myself up over this.  It’s done.  I learned something. Everything turned out ok.  This was a very impressive, sophisticated scam.  I’m not a financial idiot…just someone who really wanted an amazing deal on something I really desired.  Technology is scary.  The scammers knew from my online history what would make me jump.  And I definitely won’t be making that mistake again.  A mistake is only a problem if you don’t learn something from it.  And I definitely learned a valuable lesson about shopping from social media ads.

If you have ever fallen for a scam, don’t take it as a personal failure.  It’s not.  It’s an opportunity to move forward with better knowledge than you had before.

Be careful out there.  The internet is a scary place!

 

A Quick Look at Credit Reports

Leave a reply

Did you know that your financial history has a report card?  Your credit report is a detailed snapshot of your financial history, painting a picture of your creditworthiness to potential lenders, landlords, and employers. What your credit report says can significantly impact your financial opportunities and overall well-being.

There are three major credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – that maintain credit reports for individuals in the United States. These bureaus collect information from various sources, including lenders, credit card companies, and public records, to compile a comprehensive overview of your credit history.

Your credit report contains tons of information, including:

  • Personal Information: Your name, Social Security number, birth date, and current and past addresses
  • Credit Accounts: Details about your credit card accounts, installment loans, and other credit-related accounts, including balances, payment history, and credit limits
  • Public Records: Information on bankruptcies, tax liens, and judgments
  • Credit Inquiries: Records of when someone has checked your credit report for lending, employment, or other purposes

By law, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus once a year.  Thanks to a pandemic change that was made permanent, however, you can now get a free copy of your credit report once a week (though that may be overkill for most people).  You can access your free reports through AnnualCreditReport.com, the official website authorized by the federal government.

Regularly reviewing your credit reports is important to check for accuracy and identify potential errors or fraudulent activity. If you find any discrepancies, you should contact the respective credit bureau to initiate a dispute.  Credit report errors happen more often than anyone would like.

Your credit score is a numerical representation of your credit history.  It is derived from the information in your credit report. It typically ranges from 300 to 850, with a higher score indicating better creditworthiness. Lenders and other entities use your credit score to assess your risk as a borrower or tenant.  Your credit score itself will not appear on your credit report.

A lot of factors go into the calculation of a credit score.  Those with good credit make their payments on time.  It’s a good idea to keep your credit utilization to a maximum of 30% of your available credit.  Applying for credit multiple times in a short period can lower your credit score.  And a longer credit history helps to build a higher credit score, so building strong credit is a bigger challenge for younger people.

Your credit report is basically the report card of your financial habits. You should take a look at it and see how you are doing.  If your credit needs work, you should do that sooner rather than later.  The worst time to find out there is a problem on your credit report is when you actually need credit.  Take a look.  It’s worth it.

Taking a Look at your Credit

Leave a reply

I celebrated my birthday recently.  I’m one year closer to the life of leisure and adventure that I have planned for my retirement!  And aside from a lovely day of doing my favorite things, I like to use my birthday as a reminder for things that should be done once a year.

One of the things people should do once a year is look at their credit report.  Your credit report is basically a history of all the things (both good and bad) that have been happening in your financial life.  It will show you all of your loans and where you stand in repayment.  It will show you all of your open lines of credit.  It will show you a history of closed lines of credit.  It will even show you who has been looking at your credit.  And just like with everything, it’s not always going to be correct.  That’s why it is important to look at it once in a while.

The federal government has set it up so you have access to a free copy of your credit report once a year, from each of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion).  And while the pandemic continues you actually have access to a free report once per week.  But there is a lot of confusion about how to access this information for free.  There are a lot of places where they are happy to charge you a fee for this information…or even worse, set you up on a recurring subscription.  All to get information you have the right to see for free.

To request your free reports, you should visit http://annualcreditreport.com.  This is the site set up by the government to allow you this free access.   The site will ask for your Social Security number and ask you questions about your credit accounts to verify your identity (so no one else should be able to access your information).  And then, you’ll have all of the information you want about your credit history.  All of your accounts.  Whether you have a history of late payments.  How much you owe.  It’s all laid out for you.

Once I looked at my credit report and found an error.  A big error.  A mortgage that had been paid off in a refinance was showing as open.  It looked like I had about $80,000 in debt more than I actually did.  And I had to jump through some hoops and fax a bunch of documents to get it corrected.  And that’s why it’s important to look at this stuff from time to time.  It’s absolutely better to find credit report errors on your own rather than be surprised when a loan request is denied.

Whether or not you are celebrating your birthday, you should probably take a few minutes and review your credit report.  The best gift of all is peace of mind.

My Credit Score on My Credit Card Statement? Wahoo!

2 Replies

credit score

Lately I’ve been seeing TV commercials for the Discover card, boasting that they now provide the card-holder’s credit score right on the monthly statement.  What a great idea!!!  And apparently Richard Cordray, Director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, agrees.

Most people don’t seem to worry about their credit report/credit score until they are trying to borrow money…when it may be too late to do anything about it.  But it’s something that can affect you all the time.  Did you know that car insurance companies may factor in your credit history when determining the rate you pay?  Seems they’ve made the connection that risky behavior in your finances may be indicative of risky behavior on the roads.  Not to mention all the bad things you could be missing on your credit in the case of identity theft.  You just really need to keep an eye on things.

Several years ago it became a lot easier for Americans to check in on their credit.  A free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) is available to you each year through the website http://www.annualcreditreport.com.  But these reports do not include the elusive credit score.  That will cost you a fee of about $8 per bureau.

The credit score is a method of translating a whole credit report, which includes listings of every credit account you have and what your payment history is like on those accounts, into one easy number that is indicative of your financial behavior.  It’s kind of like translating your whole college transcript into a simple grade point average number.  It gives a quick and dirty picture of what is typical financial behavior for you.

So if it’s the best quick measure of your financial performance, why can’t you get the credit score for free?  I wish I knew.  But Discover has taken a step toward rectifying that situation, and I’m hopeful that other credit card providers will follow suit in the near future.  In the meantime, you can get a reasonable credit score estimate (as well as a lot of really good information) through http://www.creditkarma.com.  It’s worth checking out.