identity security questions

[an978]

Hello,

I have been reading these boards for awhile and the advice given has helped me a lot. I've run into a problem, and I'm not sure where to go to resolve it. I applied for 3 different credit cards this month and have been denied for each one because I fail the security questions. I thought that these questions were random, but they keep including the same two problem questions. They are both about people they think that I am associated with- one person is someone that I don't know, and the other is about someone that I have not had contact with for 10 years. I am really frustrated because I had waited for a long time to apply for these cards because I didn't want the inquiries to hit my credit report. Now I have 3 inquiries and no new accounts. If I contact the CRA's, are they able to eliminate these questions from going out? Any help or advice would be appreciated. 

[guiness56]

How would the CRAs or creditors for that matter, know who you knew, past or present?

[an978]

I spoke to a customer rep from one of the cc companies, and he said that it's because it shows thatwe were part of the same household. The name of the person that I don't know has the first name of my current roommate and my last name, so I'm assuming that they are getting their info mixed up. The other person is my dad's ex-wife and we did share the same address for a little while.

[QAMngrGirl]

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@guiness56 wrote:

How would the CRAs or creditors for that matter, know who you knew, past or present?

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When I got the 1-10 message for my Macy's Card & called in, this was one of their questions (Out of the following 4 people, who have you been associated with?), same with Chase when I had to verify my identity to prove I did NOT apply for a card with them... I was wondering the same thing but in both cases, I really didn't know any of the names they asked about =/

[guiness56]

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@QAMngrGirl wrote:

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@guiness56 wrote:

How would the CRAs or creditors for that matter, know who you knew, past or present?

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When I got the 1-10 message for my Macy's Card & called in, this was one of their questions (Out of the following 4 people, who have you been associated with?), same with Chase when I had to verify my identity to prove I did NOT apply for a card with them... I was wondering the same thing but in both cases, I really didn't know any of the names they asked about =/

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I have been asked questions before but only about accounts on my CR.  Never about people I know or knew or might know.  Weird.

[Gunnar419]

@guiness56 wrote:

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I have been asked questions before but only about accounts on my CR.  Never about people I know or knew or might know.  Weird.

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Yeah. Same here. Every security question I've ever been asked has been about either accounts on my CR or addresses where I used to live, etc. Sometimes (e.g. when pulling CRs at annualcreditreport.com) the questions can be tricky. They like to try to trip you up by asking about places you've never lived and mortgages you've never had. But people you know? Unless you've had joint accounts with those people, I can't figure how that could even come up. Even then, I think the question would be something like, "Who was the joint holder on _____"

Weird.

[guiness56]

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@Gunnar419 wrote:

@guiness56 wrote:

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I have been asked questions before but only about accounts on my CR.  Never about people I know or knew or might know.  Weird.

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Yeah. Same here. Every security question I've ever been asked has been about either accounts on my CR or addresses where I used to live, etc. Sometimes (e.g. when pulling CRs at annualcreditreport.com) the questions can be tricky. They like to try to trip you up by asking about places you've never lived and mortgages you've never had. But people you know? Unless you've had joint accounts with those people, I can't figure how that could even come up. Even then, I think the question would be something like, "Who was the joint holder on _____"

Weird.

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Well, it is acutally creepy lol.

[QAMngrGirl]

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@guiness56 wrote:

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@Gunnar419 wrote:

@guiness56 wrote:

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I have been asked questions before but only about accounts on my CR.  Never about people I know or knew or might know.  Weird.

---

Yeah. Same here. Every security question I've ever been asked has been about either accounts on my CR or addresses where I used to live, etc. Sometimes (e.g. when pulling CRs at annualcreditreport.com) the questions can be tricky. They like to try to trip you up by asking about places you've never lived and mortgages you've never had. But people you know? Unless you've had joint accounts with those people, I can't figure how that could even come up. Even then, I think the question would be something like, "Who was the joint holder on _____"

Weird.

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Well, it is acutally creepy lol.

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I actually posted a thread about the odd questions Macy's asked, like about a car I was co-signer on 15 years ago. I didn't realize exactly how far back/detailed info they have

[guiness56]

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@QAMngrGirl wrote:

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@guiness56 wrote:

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@Gunnar419 wrote:

@guiness56 wrote:

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I have been asked questions before but only about accounts on my CR.  Never about people I know or knew or might know.  Weird.

---

Yeah. Same here. Every security question I've ever been asked has been about either accounts on my CR or addresses where I used to live, etc. Sometimes (e.g. when pulling CRs at annualcreditreport.com) the questions can be tricky. They like to try to trip you up by asking about places you've never lived and mortgages you've never had. But people you know? Unless you've had joint accounts with those people, I can't figure how that could even come up. Even then, I think the question would be something like, "Who was the joint holder on _____"

Weird.

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Well, it is acutally creepy lol.

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I actually posted a thread about the odd questions Macy's asked, like about a car I was co-signer on 15 years ago. I didn't realize exactly how far back/detailed info they have

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That confirms that the creditor can get much more information than what is currently on your CR.   Either way, I can't remember what I did last week much less 15 years ago.

[QAMngrGirl]

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@guiness56 wrote:

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@QAMngrGirl wrote:

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@guiness56 wrote:

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@Gunnar419 wrote:

@guiness56 wrote:

---

I have been asked questions before but only about accounts on my CR.  Never about people I know or knew or might know.  Weird.

---

Yeah. Same here. Every security question I've ever been asked has been about either accounts on my CR or addresses where I used to live, etc. Sometimes (e.g. when pulling CRs at annualcreditreport.com) the questions can be tricky. They like to try to trip you up by asking about places you've never lived and mortgages you've never had. But people you know? Unless you've had joint accounts with those people, I can't figure how that could even come up. Even then, I think the question would be something like, "Who was the joint holder on _____"

Weird.

---

Well, it is acutally creepy lol.

---

I actually posted a thread about the odd questions Macy's asked, like about a car I was co-signer on 15 years ago. I didn't realize exactly how far back/detailed info they have

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That confirms that the creditor can get much more information than what is currently on your CR.   Either way, I can't remember what I did last week much less 15 years ago.

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Lol yep, she asked me "What COLOR was the Suzuki you cosigned on in (whatever year)?"