So discouraged

[GApeachy]

@Anonymous put fraud alerts on all credit bureaus as well. It's another layer of added protection.  

Update when his scores come in. 

[OmarGB9]

I'm not familiar with Cricket's setup, but I used to work in selling mobile phones myself with ATT/VZW/Sprint (when it wasn't part of T-Mobile yet), and whenever someone bought phones, there was no HP/new account ever reported (unless of course you default), so I'm not sure I understand how a phone purchase ended up on a credit report?

[LawStudentCivilis]

OP, I'm not in the camp of allowing or excusing toxic and/or illegal behavior because someone is "family" or familial adjacent.  In fact, abusers often bank on the close/personal nature as a sure fire way to get away with said behavior leaving the aggrieved to face the consequences. This sad excuse has gone on for generations and needs to stop.

With that being said, if the mother of your spouse's children doesn't want law enforcement involved, then don't commit actions that yield such consequences. Don't set a dangerous precedent here, you don't want to encourage such illegal mistreatment in the future.  I mean what incentive is there if she knows all you will do is look the other way?

Hopefully, you make the situation right for you and your spouse.  You sound like you have enough on your plate, and there is no reason to let someone hinder your progress and hard work while they sew all the benefits at you and your spouse's expense. 

[805orbust]

@Anonymous  Did you ever find out what the issue was?  What was the result of the FICO score update?

[AverageJoesCredit]

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@OmarGB9 wrote:

I'm not familiar with Cricket's setup, but I used to work in selling mobile phones myself with ATT/VZW/Sprint (when it wasn't part of T-Mobile yet), and whenever someone bought phones, there was no HP/new account ever reported (unless of course you default), so I'm not sure I understand how a phone purchase ended up on a credit report?

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Yeah i dont see phones being purchased as a reason for score drop unless a credit card was used whereas the utilization was high or it created a new account. Something else caused the score drop , the phones jyst happened to be a coincidence imho. 

[ghgirll40]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

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@OmarGB9 wrote:

I'm not familiar with Cricket's setup, but I used to work in selling mobile phones myself with ATT/VZW/Sprint (when it wasn't part of T-Mobile yet), and whenever someone bought phones, there was no HP/new account ever reported (unless of course you default), so I'm not sure I understand how a phone purchase ended up on a credit report?

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Yeah i dont see phones being purchased as a reason for score drop unless a credit card was used whereas the utilization was high or it created a new account. Something else caused the score drop , the phones jyst happened to be a coincidence imho. 

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I remember reading about this a couple weeks back. Did we ever find out what *did* cause the score drop?

[lovebackwards]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have been working on my husband's credit so we are able to buy our new house together. I sold the house I owned before I met him and we are temporarily at my mother's while I worked on his credit. We were getting so close and last night his credit score randomly dropped 40 points.  I couldn't understand how that could have happened. I pulled his report etc. Today his ex wife tells us that she used his SS number to get new cell phones for the kids without asking us, most likely explaining the drop. I'm sick to my stomach and so upset. How do I take care of this? I told her I was reporting it fraudulent. What will happen after that? Also why am I unable to see any report changes other than the drastic drop? Please help.

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So sorry this happened. I hope there was a resolution to this!

[donkort]

The OP hasn't responded in about 3 months.  

I hope the situation was resolved.

It's true that cell phone accounts don't show up on credit reports.  Mine never did.

If you're seeking a cell phone account, I believe they do a soft pull.  They want to make sure there are no serious delinquencies,  It seems to me that even people with 500's scores have no trouble getting cell phone accounts.

[dragontears]

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@donkort wrote:

The OP hasn't responded in about 3 months.  

I hope the situation was resolved.

It's true that cell phone accounts don't show up on credit reports.  Mine never did.

If you're seeking a cell phone account, I believe they do a soft pull.  They want to make sure there are no serious delinquencies,  It seems to me that even people with 500's scores have no trouble getting cell phone accounts.

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Just an FYI, last time I switched phone carriers it was a HP so it can and does happen that a new phone can affect your credit score, that being said a HP won't cause a 40 point drop 

[donkort]

I guess not having a new cell phone account for about 10 years accounts for my not being "up to date."

The last time I had a new cell phone account, my FICOS were in the mid to high 600s.