Alert: US SM BUS ADMIN ODA recently checked your credit report

[babygirl1256]

@FinStar So true . . . thanks for posting.

[805orbust]

@barca  Agreed wholeheartedly... FREEZE, FREEZE, FREEZE. Everyone in my household is perpetually frozen Save for when we wish to apply... for 5 years now. It was too easy to unfreeze last May for a new car and back in December for my first new cc's in over 4 years... achievement unlocked: peace of mind.

Going thru freezing Sagestream, Lexis, and all those others that think they're slick too.  😉

[dunn2500]

they tried to get me last summer......i called and reported it to CRA and to that company

[Powertripper]

I received this notification this morning. Great post Chestnut1!!...the number to SBA was dead on, answered right away on a Sunday and was so quick and helpful-squashed the pending application. Fraudsters has some of my pertinent info(scary)----but some screwy **bleep** that may have disqualified them anyways. Anyways thanks for taking the time to post this; quick access to the needed phone numbers and the easily searchable post header/headline! Soon as I received this odd notification from Experian, this is the first place I checked. 

As for the other posts about to freeze or not; Isn't it simply about time the CBR's start using Multi Factor Authentication! These fraudsters didnt have my phone number or address correct and still were able to get a creditor(SBA) to pull my CBR

[CreditInspired]

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@Chestnut1 wrote:

All -- If you see this alert on your credit report, Take it seriously. 

So i found this Inquiry on my Experian credit report this morning. It was and odd Inquiry and one can say it right off the bat. 

1. So i Quickly called Experian (855-246-9409) and told them that it was not me. They went ahead and 1) froze my credit 2) marked this inquiry as fraud 3) set up Credit alerts for future. This alert is important becuase every time there is an inquiry, this will alert the lender to be more diligent. It also lets us know about it at the same time. 
2. Called TransUnion (800-916-8800) and placed a freeze on my credit report.
3. Called Equifax (888-548-7878) and placed a Freeze on my Credit .

Next, I called the SBA.gov on (817-868-2300) and let them know what happened. To my surprise, they told me that someone applied for a $58K loan just yesterday using my details but with one of my very old addresses. The Loan has not been approved. Lucky me, I reached them on time. They put a hold on that loan application and sent a note to their Fraud department to cancel the loan request and investigate. FYI, talking to SBA.gov folks has been very pleasant and super fast.

https://www.sba.gov/content/disaster-assistance-processing-disbursement-center

Stay Safe and stay vigilant.

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Well Wow, just wow.

Thanks so much for sharing this valuable info and Kudos to you for jumping on it before anything catastrophic could have happened to your credit and livelihood. 

It's just absolutely nothing a scammer won't try. So happy all 3 of my reports

are frozen and have been for a

few years. 

[Creditplz]

I have that inquiry from my EIDL loan @ $500k.. 

crazy people actually try to defraud the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!!! I seriously hope they all get caught. 

it's odd they'd even try it.. I had to provide ID, tax transcripts (directly pulled from IRS), articles of org, business license, business insurance etc... 

I suspect these are rings of illegal activity that do this in the masses... when you first get your offer they ask verification questions like (where was SSN issued).

freeze your report indefinitely until you want to apply for anything, also I'd possibly think about a fraud alert! 

best of luck OP! 

[Anonymous]

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@FinStar wrote:

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@barca wrote:

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@FinStar wrote:

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@barca wrote:

good you caught it on time.

As a general rule - try to freeze all your credit report 24/7, except when you want to apply.

With so many online theft and hacking going on - I still wonder why people still leave thier credit report open.

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@barca- are you suggesting that the entire US population that has access to their reports have them completely locked/frozen?  That's almost like saying... with so many pedestrian crosswalk accidents - I still wonder why people use a crosswalk.

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@FinStar I don't get your point.

if you use a crosswalk and you are green to go - if a car hits you, at least the law is fully on your side, as supposed to jaywalking.

if your credit is frozen, at least you have done your own part to minimize theft.

when scammers send email to people asking for them to help move some money - if the entire population knows it is a scam - the scammers willl be out of business.

but some part of the population will still communicate with the scammers. 

The part of that population you choose is your choice and how informed you are

At the end, it is your choice if your report is frozen or not.

I just don't see how the advantages of your report opened will outweigh the hassles of credit fraudulently taken in  your name.

Maybe some decades ago, there was not much online theft, but these days it is too rampant not to advise people to take proactive action

Maybe you can clarify what you are trying to imply.

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The point is, even with a green light, pedestrians using the crosswalk (by right of way) still get hit -- that's my point.  It will still happen regardless if the law is on your side.  The law doesn't eliminate accidents from happening.  It be like that sometimes.

Also, it's 2021 and heading into 2022.  You would think that by now given all levels of sophistication in fraud prevention measures that scammers would be out of business, right?  Well, they aren't.  It's a lucrative billion dollar business worldwide.  The industry does its best to keep ahead of the curve, but frankly there will always be new levels of sophistication that fraudsters will come up to prey on innocent individuals and circumvent most security safeguards and protocols. 

And, while information is key to prevention, it doesn't always cascade to everyone even with as much social media presence and channels.

And, as you pointed out, even with you heeding caution and/or proactiveness, it's up to individuals to make those choices themselves.

At any rate - back on topic to the OP's thread.

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I view locking reports as like having a better lock/alarm whatever, so bad actors move on to your neighbor (who is a bit of jerk anyway!).   If the vast majority of people kept their reports locked, there would soon be unlocking scams of some sort!

[MsMoneypeso]

It happened to me this May. I didn't think anything of it. Then a few days later I got an alert that someone had opened a deposit account in my name. 

I still did nothing until the next day someone had opened a second deposit account in my name. 

YIKES!

I called SBA, someone had applied for $500k in the name of an LLC that I own, with my name and personal details but of course their email and phone #.  So SBA promptly cancelled the application, I froze my accounts, and went personally to the banks to close "my" deposit accounts. 

I'm sure they were planning to deposit the loan proceeds in banks then promptly move the money.

[Anonymous]

Same thing just happened to me.  It was for an old business, but they had my SSN.  I chose to freeze my credit with all three agencies (it seems like a no-bainer).

I found your post and did exactly what you did.

Thank you for posting it, it was more helpful than you can imagine.

[Anonymous]

This morning I was alerted by Experian that someone tried to apply for a small business disaster loan through the SBA.  

I called the number on the Experian alert for the US SBA, they confirmed the person used all my info and he said since I called so quickly they were able to prevent the dispursement of funds.  I was given a number to give to Experian to confirm fraud and remove inquiry.

I called Experian and opened a dispute for the inquiry, the rep didn't want the confirmation number from the SBA.

I then placed a fraud alert and froze all three bureaus.

I filed an identity theft report on the federal government website.

I filed a police report 

is there anything else I need to do?