Stealing Your Life by Frank W. Abagnale

Author:Frank W. Abagnale
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780767927345
Publisher: Crown/Archetype
Published: 2007-04-23T16:00:00+00:00

7

Understanding Trade Lines and the Meaning of R2

Not long ago one of my sons, in preparation for a job, got hold of his credit report. He was a little mystified. An American Express card was listed on the report that, according to the information, would have been obtained when he was eight years old. I’ve always considered him precocious, but not that precocious.

He contacted the credit bureau that compiled the report to point out the error. They told him that since the account was listed in his name, it must be his account. Common sense went out the window. Eight-year-olds, he pointed out, tend not to have American Express cards. He had to write a letter reinforcing that rather obvious point and await an inquiry. Finally the card vanished from his report. We never did determine its origin. It had been used regularly for more than a decade, and the bills were always paid on time, which is why it never came to my son’s attention. It could have been a mistake. Or it could have been something more nefarious.

There was also a Discover card of more recent vintage listed that didn’t belong to him. In this case, despite his best efforts, he couldn’t get the credit bureau to strike it from his report. They kept saying, “It shows that you have a Discover card, you must have a Discover card.” Because Discover is a client of mine, I was able to go to them and say, “Hey, you’ve got a mix-up here. You’re listing my son as having a card, and he doesn’t.” They sent a note to the credit bureau confirming that fact. Had I not known someone at Discover, my son would still be living with that card. And that might have restricted how much credit he would be granted, because creditors could have concluded that he already had more than enough.

Nothing about these stories is at all unusual. In fact, if your credit reports are entirely accurate, you’re a very lucky person, and a member of a distinct minority. I’m a stickler about requesting credit reports on a regular basis, then actually sitting down and reading them. As you recall, this is my number-one step to avoid identity theft, and due to its significance I want to discuss the subject in some more detail.

One of the primary reasons identity thieves are so successful is that most people don’t bother to read their credit report or even know how to read one. And even those who do often fail to appreciate how important it is and how a single line buried somewhere in the dense body of their report can radically affect their future.

An Industry of Errors

Twenty years ago credit reports weren’t that big a deal. But today just about everything is based on credit. This is true whether you earn $7.75 an hour or $750,000 a year. Credit reports are a financial impression of you. They determine whether you can afford big things (a house, a

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