jaxstraw wrote:
Many people post about FICO and FAKO scores. Would someone tell me the difference ??
FICO = real scores
FAKO = fake scores
FICO scores are the scores created by Fair, Isaac & Co. (FICO) and are used in conjunction with each CRA to show you your score. Mortgage lenders use FICO as do other lenders in a modified form in the auto indutry, CC industry, etc. The only place to get your FICO score for each CRA is through this website. You can't get all 3 of your FICO scores anywhere else. EQ has a strong relationship with FICO and you can get EQ FICO scores through EQ via their credit monitoring service and also through their reports if you order the score.
FAKO scores are scores offered by TU and EX, mainly, and are sold as to imitate real FICO scores. TU, EX, and third parties will tout their scores as being a true score. If you order your CR or if you subscribe to a service via TU and EX, you are typically offered an opportunity to buy your score. These FAKO scores generate quite a bit of revenue for the issuer but are not used by creditors, for the most part. FAKOs have different score scales (300-900, depending on source) and weight score factors differently than FICO scores (CA's, accts, util, etc).
IMO, FAKOs are useless. My EX FAKO in comparison to EX FICO on the same day is as much as 90 points lower. Lately, my FAKO would go up while FICO would go down and vice-versa. There's no stability or consistency as compared to FICOs. There's also a danger in relying on FAKOs. Some have posted that they would go to a mortgage lender on the assumption that if their FAKO is high, then FICOs must be too, but have written in shock and horror when they get turned down or offered a higher rate because their FICO is lower and they are under a time crunch. FAKOs give a false sense of security or insecurity.
