topic Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories in Understanding FICO® Scoring

FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Kelsey_H — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 19:51:23 GMT

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.

Where did you get your FAKO score?
Which FAKO score did you receive and from which bureau?
Where did you get your genuine FICO® Score?
Which FICO® Score did you receive and from which bureau?
What type of loan/credit were you applying for? (type, rate, terms, etc. are all helpful)
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? )

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Anonymous — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 20:24:14 GMT

Mint.com's FAKO score has me at 646. They use Equifax which has me at 608 FICO.

Cap1's Credit Tracker has me at 629. That is based on Transunion which has me at 585 FICO.

Wisepiggy.com also uses Transunion and has me at 633.

Credit.com has me at 627. It's Experian (I think) which has me at 590 FICO.

Thankfully, I loooked at my true FICO scores before going off and trying to do much with credit. I will be needing a car soon and will wait until my scores get a little higher.

Thanks MyFICO!

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Anonymous — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 20:25:47 GMT

I checked my FAKO at CreditKarma before going in for a car purchase recently. My TU socre there showed 698, I mentioned this to the FI guy before he ran my numbers. He of course had to run them anyway, he came back with a TU score of 696 and he was impressed I was so close. That was still a good enough score for him to bump me to the best possible lease terms as I was a repeat buyer there so it worked out great for me anyway.

I recently started using CCT to compare numbers and CK is farther off, but I've had several changes and new cards in my profile in the last month so they are all trying to keep up. I'll know better in a month or so how they compare.

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Imperfectfuture — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 20:40:05 GMT

Back in the old days, got credit scores from equifax and transunion as part of credit report purchase. They were.both higher than my fico score. Both FAKO's were in 600s. Both FICOs were in 500s. I applied for Barclays apple rewards and Discover it. Declined for both.

Since then, I obviously have accurate FICOs in the 700s. Having a secured installment loan helps cushion against minor fluctuations. I obviously overcame the past, and have received Discover IT and Barclays Aviator (and a few other cards on my side list). Of course, I used score watch while cleaning my reports. I then tend to purchase the 3b monitoring before applying for new credit. I use credit karma and credit.com to monitor for abrupt changes in credit, those are free.

For business scoring, I am left with buying the products offered by the CRA's themselves.

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

1Rebuilding — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 22:44:20 GMT

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.

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

morgacj2004 — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 22:44:28 GMT

My scores have been fairly consistent but my wifes scores have been all over the place. Funny how we have almost identical bureaus.

Ex: July, 2015 !. True Identity 701-EQ, 706-EX, 710-TU

2. CK- 690-TU, 690-EQ

3. CO-683

4. BC-710

5. Discover pulled - 696-Approved for IT card-$4500

6. VS pulled EQ-654-Approved for $500

7. AKUSA FCU-TU-712-Approved for 10k

8. EX showed 681 off of their site.

So you can see these scores are all over the place 654-712. . Equifax seems to have the greatest variance.

My scores ranged from 670-708. Lowest was from Barclays-670. Highest from True Identity 708. I was in the 690s for both CC that I was approved for.

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Anonymous — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 23:31:41 GMT

@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.

Where did you get your FAKO score?
Which FAKO score did you receive and from which bureau?
Where did you get your genuine FICO® Score?
Which FICO® Score did you receive and from which bureau?
What type of loan/credit were you applying for? (type, rate, terms, etc. are all helpful)
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? )

How about stories where the lender used a different FICO version than those that were available here?

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 00:00:28 GMT

In my case with credit karma 644 and with walmart fico 667.

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 00:54:35 GMT

Ironically enough, my CK score and MyFico score are about the same (~5 pt difference)

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 01:02:39 GMT

@Kelsey_H wrote:

Where did you get your FAKO score? Capital One and credit karma
Which FAKO score did you receive and from which bureau? Transunion
Where did you get your genuine FICO® Score? Discover, Barclay, and Myfico
Which FICO® Score did you receive and from which bureau? Discover/Barclay : Transunion, Myfico : all 3
What type of loan/credit were you applying for? (type, rate, terms, etc. are all helpful) Credit Cards
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? ) When Capital one's score didn't match with Discover's score. Once I realized it was Fako score, I just don't bother with it anymore.

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

takeshi74 — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 13:08:19 GMT

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.

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 16:38:23 GMT

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.

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 02:19:56 GMT

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

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 16:34:29 GMT

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

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Kelsey_H — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 19:15:21 GMT

@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.

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Kelsey_H — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 19:16:48 GMT

@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?

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 22:47:54 GMT

@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.

Where did you get your FAKO score?
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.

Where did you get your genuine FICO® Score?
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.
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.

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.

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Kelsey_H — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 00:32:22 GMT

@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.

Where did you get your FAKO score?

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.

Where did you get your genuine FICO® Score?

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.

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.

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!

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 02:58:21 GMT

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.

Re: FICO vs. FAKO – Share your FAKO stories

JoeDiver74 — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 05:45:09 GMT

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.