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FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

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takeshi74
Senior Contributor

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Even with FICO's the specific scoring model and CRA matter.  It does no good, for example, to rely on a Transunion FICO 8 when a creditor is using an Experain FICO 2.

Message 11 of 338
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

1. Credit Karma/Credit Sesame

2. TransUnion and Equifax

3. Prior to joining membership here, I got my TU from capital one and Experian from Commerce Bank

4. I don't know which one they use, I assume 08, experian???

5. My first impresion was great. It still is great. Don't get me wrong, one is far superior to the other, but they both have uses. I feel like everyone should be able to have these everyday for free though. You shouldn't have to pay, to play the game.  I figured out it was different when I read up about it here.  My fako score was always close enough for me. I obtained half of my current cards with a fako.  Now that I am going for higher score, I am taking things more seriously, and obviously wanted a daily score of experian too.  Can't take chances, and having a score of 690, vs 705, can be the deciding factor for some lenders. I have actually found that my real fico scores are higher than my fakos.

Message 12 of 338
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

As of Today (8/3/15)

 

Accordig to myFICO.com my scores are:

Experian: 655

TransUnion: 700

Equifax: 653

 

According to ScoreSense.com my scores are:

Experian: 667

TransUnion: 779

Equifax: 667

 

 

 

Message 13 of 338
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

I signed up before myfico.com so that I could monitor my scores and make sure that the changes, payments, adjustments that I make would increase my score. For example, if I paid my credit card balance in full, what type of change would occur? As I paid balances in full, myfico.com constantly alerted me that my score was dropping. What was I doing wrong? Should I only pay half to show a revolving balance, then PIF the next month? Fast Forward...My current scores on myFICO.com are: TU:635 EQ: 642 EX: 612. But why hasnt my EX updated? The other two updated after something from AMEX showed up. Today, I signed up for my score from Experian and it said my EX: 654. Better than I could have ever expected.

Meanwhile,CreditKarma shows my EX: 571, and Credit Sesame shows my EX: 587. With all my scores showing over 600 on myFICO, I knew Credit Sesame and Credit Karma couldnt be correct. I will never use them again.....FAKO's only help is to make you check your real, accurate score with the bureau

Message 14 of 338
Kelsey_H
Former myFICO Employee

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories


@1Rebuilding wrote:

Well I'm in the low 700's on Credit Karma but only in the 530's-560's on Fico.  To me that is a HUGE difference.


Wow that is a big difference!  Would you mind telling us a little bit more about your story? We’re interested to hear how your FAKO scores may have impacted your experiences seeking a loan, new credit or any other aspect of your financial journey. 

Message 15 of 338
Kelsey_H
Former myFICO Employee

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories


@Anonymous wrote:

As of Today (8/3/15)

 

Accordig to myFICO.com my scores are:

Experian: 655

TransUnion: 700

Equifax: 653

 

According to ScoreSense.com my scores are:

Experian: 667

TransUnion: 779

Equifax: 667

 

 

 


Thanks for sharing! We'd love to hear more about your experience with FAKOs and FICO Scores. Did they ever impact your experience seeking a loan, new credit or any other financial decision? 

Message 16 of 338
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories


@Kelsey_H wrote:

Hey there forums members! Have you ever been impacted in your financial journey to obtain a new loan or credit card by relying on a “credit score” you thought was a FICO® Score?  We want to hear your story. Genuine FICO Scores are used in over 90% of lending decisions, while other “credit scores” (often referred to as FAKO scores) are rarely or never used by lenders to grant credit. Your story could help other consumers who find themselves in a similar situation. Have a FAKO story you’d like to share? Simply reply to this thread with your answers to the questions below.

 

  1. Where did you get your FAKO score?
  2. Which FAKO score did you receive and from which bureau?

I check my EX report from Credit.com, and TU and EQ reports from CreditKarma.com. They both provide FAKO score based on different bureau reports.

Amex also provides some EX PLUS score which I thought it was a FICO score but it's not.

 

  1. Where did you get your genuine FICO® Score?
  2. Which FICO® Score did you receive and from which bureau?

From barclay card service, I can receive the free FICO score from TU. Hopefully BoA will provide free FICO scores from other bureau by the end of this year. myFICO can give the FICO scores from all bureaus in one interface.  Once a while, banks sent me FICO scores as well when my credit requests were denied.

  1. What type of loan/credit were you applying for? (type, rate, terms, etc. are all helpful)

I have been applying revolving credit cards in the past few years with different banks. I have observed that my SL has been increasing while my FICO score is raising. No other kinds of loan and mortage on my account.

 

  1. Share your FAKO story (What was your first impression when you received your FAKO score? How did you figure out that it was not a FICO® Score or that it was different than a FICO® Score? How did the FAKO score impact your loan/credit experience? )

I use those FAKO scores before, and I was happy with those numbers while preparing for credit card applications. Then through googling around, I realized they are based on models (like Advantage Score) lenders do not use, and found out that my FICO score was actually higher than the FAKO scores when I received a credit score report from a bank when my CLI request was denied at that time. I pulled all my real FICO scores later on with paid service, and they are all higher than the FAKO scores I can get for free. In reality, I cannot comment on whether the FAKO scores hurt me or not when I made decisions to apply for a credit card before I knew FICO scores. I am happy to see my FICO scores, though. Later on, when all of my scores are above 730, I think the scores are no longer matter much to me because I can basically apply for any credit cards I need if the CU only care about the score. What matters most to me are the AAoA, INQs and util that I can monitor easily for free. The FAKO scores are one type of references that one can use to estimate the real FICO scores, but there always some risks for people who has a middle- or low-end score to take the FAKO score as the real score for the credit/loan applications.


Hope the above bold-fonted input helps.

Message 17 of 338
Kelsey_H
Former myFICO Employee

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories


@Anonymous wrote:

@Kelsey_H wrote:

Hey there forums members! Have you ever been impacted in your financial journey to obtain a new loan or credit card by relying on a “credit score” you thought was a FICO® Score?  We want to hear your story. Genuine FICO Scores are used in over 90% of lending decisions, while other “credit scores” (often referred to as FAKO scores) are rarely or never used by lenders to grant credit. Your story could help other consumers who find themselves in a similar situation. Have a FAKO story you’d like to share? Simply reply to this thread with your answers to the questions below.

 

  1. Where did you get your FAKO score?
  2. Which FAKO score did you receive and from which bureau?

I check my EX report from Credit.com, and TU and EQ reports from CreditKarma.com. They both provide FAKO score based on different bureau reports.

Amex also provides some EX PLUS score which I thought it was a FICO score but it's not.

 

  1. Where did you get your genuine FICO® Score?
  2. Which FICO® Score did you receive and from which bureau?

From barclay card service, I can receive the free FICO score from TU. Hopefully BoA will provide free FICO scores from other bureau by the end of this year. myFICO can give the FICO scores from all bureaus in one interface.  Once a while, banks sent me FICO scores as well when my credit requests were denied.

  1. What type of loan/credit were you applying for? (type, rate, terms, etc. are all helpful)

I have been applying revolving credit cards in the past few years with different banks. I have observed that my SL has been increasing while my FICO score is raising. No other kinds of loan and mortage on my account.

 

  1. Share your FAKO story (What was your first impression when you received your FAKO score? How did you figure out that it was not a FICO® Score or that it was different than a FICO® Score? How did the FAKO score impact your loan/credit experience? )

I use those FAKO scores before, and I was happy with those numbers while preparing for credit card applications. Then through googling around, I realized they are based on models (like Advantage Score) lenders do not use, and found out that my FICO score was actually higher than the FAKO scores when I received a credit score report from a bank when my CLI request was denied at that time. I pulled all my real FICO scores later on with paid service, and they are all higher than the FAKO scores I can get for free. In reality, I cannot comment on whether the FAKO scores hurt me or not when I made decisions to apply for a credit card before I knew FICO scores. I am happy to see my FICO scores, though. Later on, when all of my scores are above 730, I think the scores are no longer matter much to me because I can basically apply for any credit cards I need if the CU only care about the score. What matters most to me are the AAoA, INQs and util that I can monitor easily for free. The FAKO scores are one type of references that one can use to estimate the real FICO scores, but there always some risks for people who has a middle- or low-end score to take the FAKO score as the real score for the credit/loan applications.


Hope the above bold-fonted input helps.


Thanks! 

Message 18 of 338
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

My issue was not a FAKO score so much as a misleading FICO score.  I waited until both my EX and TU FICO scores were over 680 at Experian's consumerinfo.com before applying for a mortgage.  Then I learned that consumerinfo.com reported my FICO 8 score but the mortgage lenders used FICO 2, FICO 4, or FICO 5 (if I recall correctly).  My middle score with the mortgage brokers was over 70 points lower than my FICO 8 score for the same credit bureau.  

 

One of the mortgage brokers actually recommended myFICO as the best option for tracking scores because you can see all of the typical scores used by different types of lenders.  The FICO 8 reported by myFICO and consumerinfo.com has tracked pretty closely, with only minor timing differences, since I started using myFICO.  So the only advantage of consumerinfo.com is that they update FICO 8 scores daily.

Message 19 of 338
JoeDiver74
New Contributor

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Yes I was fooled by CreditKarma for a short while. Several people I have talked to about CK thinks that they provide your "Credit score."  When I ask if they know the difference between Vantage and FICO, they have no idea. So I think they fool a lot of people with this. 


Starting Score 2/2015: TU 519 EX 524
Current Score: TU 644 EX 681 EQ 766
Goal Score: 740 across all three agencies

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Starting Score: 592
Current Score: 592
Goal Score: 700


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Message 20 of 338
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