Credit Cards

[firstinlastout]

I wanted to boost my score so I asked my father if was willing to add me on as an authorized user to his discover card and his suntrust bank credit card. He called both companies and neither company asked for my SS #. I read somewhere here that some people have reported that even without your SS#, it still shows up on your credit report. Sorry, but to me, that is completely absurd. The only way they can report you to the CRA is with a social security number. No if's and's or but's about it. The days of being added on as an AU to boost your score are long gone IMO.

[Creditaddict]

usually any relative with the name added or living in same household, it will end up on your credit even without giving up your social!!!

[_andClimbing]

A good friend added me as an AU in June 2008 to three of his cards - BofA, Discover, and Wamu.

The BofA and Discover reported to EX almost immediately, despite the fact that BofA adamantly denies that they report AUs.

Wamu has not reported to any CR as yet. The statement date is the 10th, so I suspect I might see it reported after that.

None of the three have reported to TU or EQ.

He did not give them any information other than my name. I followed-up with them and asked if they needed my SSN - they said no.

His address, which is different from mine, now shows up on my CR as a previous address.

That's all I know at this point, but will report back if anything changes.

[firstinlastout]

that is sooooo strange. It makes no sense. It is against the law. Anyone can add someone else to their credit report then out of malice to ding their score if they really wanted. This just does not make sense to me. I'm puzzled.

[voidman]

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firstinlastout wrote:
that is sooooo strange. It makes no sense. It is against the law. Anyone can add someone else to their credit report then out of malice to ding their score if they really wanted. This just does not make sense to me. I'm puzzled.

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Whats wrong with that, AU can be anyone not necessarily a family member.

[firstinlastout]

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voidman wrote:

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firstinlastout wrote:
that is sooooo strange. It makes no sense. It is against the law. Anyone can add someone else to their credit report then out of malice to ding their score if they really wanted. This just does not make sense to me. I'm puzzled.

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Whats wrong with that, AU can be anyone not necessarily a family member.

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That's what I mean....if I were a bad person and I had a credit card that was only 6 months old, had a limit of 20,000 with a balance of 19,000.....I could call the credit card company and give them some scam story that I want to add my son who lives at such and such address. They would automatically say yes, NOT VERIFY THE SS#, and DING...they get a drop in their score and have no clue who put that account on their credit report. I'm telling you, it makes no sense that you can be added on as an AU without obtaining a social security number.

[_andClimbing]

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firstinlastout wrote:
that is sooooo strange. It makes no sense. It is against the law. Anyone can add someone else to their credit report then out of malice to ding their score if they really wanted. This just does not make sense to me. I'm puzzled.

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I know what you mean...I could, for example, add an ex as an AU to my accounts if I knew I was about to default on them. Just to torch his credit.

I do not recommend nor condone this, I just see the potential risk.

I've never received any communication from the three CCs about being added as an AU at my address listed on the CRs. My friend has received cards with my name on them since adding me, but I won't let him give them to me.

Also, I did receive about a 30 pt bump to EX after the two cards reported. I was more hoping that the high CLs would help me get higher CLs when I app in the future (realizing that manual underwriting would exclude this in consideration since I'm only an AU). Turns out I was able to get generous CLs from NFCU without the help. I plan to have those AU TLs deleted within the next 60 days or so.

[aftermath]

How would the CCC know WHOS credit file to report to?  If I told them "I want to add John Doe as an AU" how would they know which John Doe's credit report to add the AU account to?

This really confuses me.

[firstinlastout]

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aftermath wrote:

How would the CCC know WHOS credit file to report to? If I told them "I want to add John Doe as an AU" how would they know which John Doe's credit report to add the AU account to?

This really confuses me.

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exactly.

[cheddar]

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firstinlastout wrote:

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aftermath wrote:

How would the CCC know WHOS credit file to report to? If I told them "I want to add John Doe as an AU" how would they know which John Doe's credit report to add the AU account to?

This really confuses me.

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exactly.

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They know more about you than you think they do.

How they do it is a mystery, but they have their ways.

Case in point:  I was added to my DF's WaMu card when she applied for it last August.  The only information she put on the application was my name.

DF and I share the same address, but the address on my CRs at the time was not correct.  Once the card reported, they actually updated my reports with the correct address.

I have no idea how they found the correct person's reports, but they did.