Hi 2b2rich about a yr ago I to discoved i been a victom of Identity theft, since then I was on the net trying to find answers and what proceedures to follow,is how i found Myfico/forum and got very good advice,
Here is the scenerio that has me asking this question:
I became disabled almost 10 years ago and did the unthinkable, I closed any accounts in my already thin credit files after I had to quit working. A year or so ago, after my finances were in a much better position, I started up the road of rebuilding my credit.
On one of my reports, I saw an address being reported for me that I have never lived at, and do not know anyone who lives there. (This was when I lived in a VERY small county, and there was only about 2000 population in this community. This other address was only a few miles from the address I did live at that time, so I don't think it's a coincidence, and
I believe someone that I was at least familiar with may have tried to use my SSN for credit. Fortunately for me, at that time I had no credit. This is only on one report that I can see, and it shows the address as being reported in 2010.
1.if you feel your a victom of identity theft and someone did use your Idendity SSN,name ect, you open an account,used your SS# identity, bank accounts real estate, ect, and you did not, then its Identity theft, I am not saying that in your case or anyones case an address even though your didnt not live there, but its only a few miles away,sometimes indicate, and error,with the credit report Agency (CRA).If that was me i would first request a copy from all 3 credit report(free anualCreditreport )check if there is any errors and file a dispute,
(mail request so there is a paper trail).dispute on line my experience is a waste of time,your waiver your rights,by sending your dispute to request an investigation, and if found an error, the CRA, must remove from your report, send certified mail,with,your ID,photo, current,address/bill,proof for verification purpose,if it comes back verified, your are tilted to request a report what verication they used to verify that this address belongs to you..
Q#1: Is there any way I can request the CRA to tell me WHO reported that address?
.
() Usually WHO would be a creditor,consumer,or even a collection agency that has access to your reportand usaully,the CRA only reports,information giving to them,
if the address ison your report that should also show when, and who reported, when ypou file a dispute,
Q#2: Which option would I choose to place on all of my credit files with the 3 CRAs that would prevent anyone from either pulling my credit reports or providing credit to someone whose applied and my credit is pulled?
Your untiled to place a 90 day Freeze on your report if you feel your a victom of identity theft,by doing so you must file out the Affidavit FTC,file a police report, and send to anyone of the CRA's usaully just by sending to one Agency, all will recieve to freeze your report .(only if your a victom of Indentity theft.!
or research credit monitoring service, that offers like Equifax,Experian,other that offers,lock your credit file, with a monthly membership fees.that offers included to freeze and unfreeze your credit report, giving only access to whom you want to apply for credit, this is the best i can answer this type of question to the best of my knowledge.
maybe some other fico members can weight in more advise to help
(I hope that makes sense. It wasn't a big deal before, but now that my scores are getting higher and good payments history is establishing, etc, I want to protect my hard work)
() The most probable way to protect your hard work is to always monitor your credit and if anything changes or you dont reconize, you could fallen a victom of Indentity Theft.you catch it early.before it really makes your life Havoc..I hope this hopes somewhat ...
goodluck.. monitor your credit ofen but dont be abcessed it will drive you crazy..
I did for over a year, not good 
@NY2014 wrote:
1.if you feel your a victom of identity theft and someone did use your Idendity SSN,name ect, you open an account,used your SS# identity, bank accounts real estate, ect, and you did not, then its Identity theft, I am not saying that in your case or anyones case an address even though your didnt not live there, but its only a few miles away,sometimes indicate, and error,with the credit report Agency (CRA).If that was me i would first request a copy from all 3 credit report(free anualCreditreport )check if there is any errors and file a dispute,
1-Nope, my credit wasn't very good at the time, they wouldn't have been approved.
2- I don't believe that it was an error like that. Over the weekend I have been in google and found public records for this house. The owner's name, and other information is nothing similar to mine. Also, she was about 15 years older than I am so I don't believe even our SSN would be similar. Incidentally, she passed away about a year after this inquiry.
To be truthful, I don't know that who ever had my credit pulled, was even her. It could be that the person just gave a false address (this lady's), instead of their own? Still, the fact that someone out there has/had my SSN and tried to use it makes me aware and it's possible it could happen again.
3-haha, I do this on a regular basis anyway!
There was nothing found relating to the pull. Thanks for your info and advice (especially the link below)!
@takeshi74 wrote:
You're looking for a security freeze. Each CRA has info on their site as well as instructions on how to place or lift a freeze. Keep in mind that there are bureaus aside from the big 3 as well such as: LexisNexis, Innovis, SageStream and ARS.
That's what I need to know. I kept reading about the 90 day fraud alerts on EQ and that didn't sound like what I wanted to do. Thank you for the help