Should I be worried about Identity theft?

[Anonymous]

I'm 20 and have absolutely no credit yet. I was thinking about finally building my credit up and while my brother was checking his credit report yesterday I decided to check mine too just to make sure nothing funny was going on.

I went to annualcreditreport.com and Transuinion said my info doesn't match anything in their system (which should be the case since i don't have any credit right?)

Experian asked me to type in the last 4 numbers in my social and then it says that it cannot show me my credit report do to some error. (I'm assuming they don't have me in their system either)

Then I check Equifax and they say they have a match. Then It asks me to answer those security quesitons that "Only i would know the answers to" but none of the questions applied to me so i checked "none of the above" for all of them. Then it says that they can't show me my report because It doesnt match. I tried it a couple more times and the same thing. I tried it again tonight after class and now I'm not getting the security questions anymore just a page that says they are unable to show me my report.

Was that just a small glitch int their system or should I be worried? And if so what should be my first move? I'm completely clueless with all of this.

I would really appreciate the help. Thanks in advance.

[llecs]

I'd be on alert, but certainly not worried. I've failed those questions myself many a time. Their computers blocked yours as part of their security feature. I'd try it again. If it still doesn't work, give each a call and talk to someone and they'll guide you on getting a report. If memory serves, EQ was easier to deal with than the others. Another way to look around is try one of the free sites out there to get your CR. Don't go to places like freecreditreport.com (NO! it's not free), but try out a genuinely free place like CreditKarma or Quizzle.com. Ignore the scores since they aren't FICO scores, and ignore much of their info (esp. on CK), but at least you'd see something obvious like strange accounts, etc. And it's possible you can't pull there either, but worth a free shot.

[Anonymous]

Thank you.

I tried again and I'm not getting any security questions it just says that I can't view it.

If i have no credit AT ALL and tried to check my credit report that would be the result right? I fully expected to not be able to check my credit report since there is nothing to report but the fact that Equifax initially said that I had a match according to the info I submitted kind of shocked me. 

I hope I'm just overreacting but I just want to make sure my credit isn't ruined before I even begin building it.

Also I've been looking everywhere on their website for a number to call Equifax about this but I can't seem to find one. Does anyone know the number?

Once again, Thank you.

[RobertEG]

If you have nothing reported by any creditor to a CRA, you simply have no credit file with them.

No credit file = no credit report

[RobertEG]

In my opinion, if any issues of identity theft arise, the most important thing is knowing your rights and ability under statute to address them.

If fishy billing appears in your accounts, the first line of defense is to simply notify the creditor.  If they are not helpful, then use the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) to dispute the billing and compel the credtior to provide their internal documentation.

If fishy information pops up in your CR, be aware of the substantial identity theft provisions of the FCRA, which permit the consumer to remove the info from their credit report (FCRA 605B) without having to prove the negative that they did not authorize the account/transaction being reported, and to compel the creditor to provide all internal business records pertaining to the account/transaction (FCRA 609(e))