Is Equifax "Score Watch" a FAKO score or FICO score?

[Anonymous]

I bought this product directly from Equifax and it gives you your 3 scores but are they accurate?

Just wondering if they are the so called FAKO scores?

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I bought this product directly from Equifax and it gives you your 3 scores but are they accurate?

Just wondering if they are the so called FAKO scores?

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You have to be VERY careful at the Equifax site to make sure you buy the right product.

1. "Equifax Complete Advantage". This will NOT give you FICO scores. This is part of a proprietary Equifax product rolled out a few months ago. It gives you what is called the "Equifax Credit Score" but this is not an Equifax FICO score. It sounds like this is what you are talking about. And these would be "FAKO" scores.

2. Equifax Score Watch. For $12.95 per month you get a full FICO® score and Equifax Credit Report™ twice per year. This is a true and accurate FICO score.

3. 3 in 1 Report. For $14.95 a month you get all three reports monitored but only the FICO Equifax score is available 4 times a year. At this link you can also buy an Equifax "Score Power" report and score for $19.95.

As I said there is no product at this time from the Equifax website that will give you all three FICO scores.

I hope this helps a little bit and I didn't make it even more confusing.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[Anonymous]

I got the Score Watch, so the Eq score is accurate and a FICO, but what about the other 2 scores from TU, and EX..those are FAKO's?

My EX and EQ are only off by 1, whereas the TU score is about 20 points lower than the other 2.

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I got the Score Watch, so the Eq score is accurate and a FICO, but what about the other 2 scores from TU, and EX..those are FAKO's?

My EX and EQ are only off by 1, whereas the TU score is about 20 points lower than the other 2.

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Here is a picture of what you see when you go the the Score Watch page at EQ. Is this where you went to buy Score Watch? As you can see the Score Watch product does not offer all three scores; only an EQ FICO score and report. So I'm just not sure what you are looking at. In any case you can't get TU and/or EX FICO scores from the Equifax website. Period.

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[GregB]

MVV,

That is quite true, however when you go to the "other FICO products" it does get quite confusing. They are NOT being clear at all. It does say you are gettting three scores and you are getting a FICO score. The only thing that makes it seem clear to me is that we are pretty sure EQ will not give you a TU FICO or a EX FICO so I have to assume you can buy a product that gives you three scores, ONE of which is your EQ FICO - presumably Beacon 5.0.

Clear as MUD.

[Anonymous]

Your 100% correct. I dont have the Score Watch I have their Premier plan which doesnt give Fico but gives FAKO's I guess.

Oh well. Thats kinda what I was worried about. Hopefully these scores are pretty close to what my actual scores are when I try and refi in about a month.

[Booner72]

no no.  no hopefully.  Fakos are not to be used because they are fake.  DH's score was 100 points LOWER than his actual FICO when the lender pulled his scores.

There is no way to compare a trend or anything from a FAKO to a FICO.  The method they use to generate the score is different than the method FICO uses to generate a score.  Remember, what is on the reports is the same - but it is how that information is compiled that generates the scores.

[GregB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Your 100% correct. I dont have the Score Watch I have their Premier plan which doesnt give Fico but gives FAKO's I guess.

Oh well. Thats kinda what I was worried about. Hopefully these scores are pretty close to what my actual scores are when I try and refi in about a month.

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I take it from the word "refi" that you are talking about a mortgage. If so, those scores are useless. The EQ FICO at myFICO should match almost ALL EQ scores pulled for a mortgage. The TU FICO at myFICO will give you a good idea of your TU score. Not as good as we would like but seems to be better than any others. It is TU FICO 98 Classic, which is still used. TU FICO 04 Classic seems to be also used for mortgage. There is also TU FICO 8 and a TU FICO 8 Mortgage score that they claim is used. Fair Issac was stating that 2600 lenders were using a version of FICO 8 as of a year ago. Are any of them mortgage lenders? Who knows BUT there isn't a better score available to the consumer for your TU FICO at this point.  

[Anonymous]

OK, thanks. I am paying down my balances on 3 credit cards to get 2 of the cards at zero, and the other at 5%, so Im hoping I get a little jump in score, as I was up around 80% for all 3. I am hoping ot refinance my house in Sept. I may wait til I think the CR's have updated my balances then buy the MyFico score to see about where I stand.

[Booner72]

I'd say a hefty jump is coming your way if your paying down from 80 to 5 percent.