Disputes and Fraud

Disputes and fraud pages explain what readers can do when credit information is wrong, unfamiliar, or exposed to identity-theft risk. This section focuses on practical protective steps and the vocabulary used when working with bureaus and furnishers.

Start here when you need to understand the difference between monitoring a file and actively locking down or disputing activity.

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• Credit Freeze
• Fraud Alert
• Identity Theft
• Synthetic Identity Theft
• Mixed Credit File
• Unauthorized Inquiry
• Unauthorized Account
• Account Takeover

In this section

• Credit Freeze
  Credit freeze means a restriction that limits access to a consumer's credit report for most new credit checks.
• Identity Theft
  Misuse of personal information to open accounts, make charges, or impersonate a consumer in credit activity.
• Fraud Alert
  Fraud alert means a notice on a credit file telling lenders to use extra caution when reviewing new credit requests.
• Credit Lock
  Credit lock means a bureau-controlled tool used to restrict or manage new-credit access to a consumer's file.
• Synthetic Identity Theft
  Fraud that combines real and fake identity details to create a false borrower profile that can later be used to open credit.
• Mixed Credit File
  Mixed credit file means a credit file that contains information belonging partly to another person.
• Unauthorized Charge
  Unauthorized charge means a transaction the consumer did not approve or initiate.
• Unauthorized Inquiry
  Unauthorized inquiry means a credit-report inquiry the consumer does not recognize or did not permit.
• Unauthorized Account
  Unauthorized account means a credit account appearing on the report that the consumer did not open or approve.
• Account Takeover
  Account takeover means a situation where someone gains control of an existing credit account without the consumer's permission.