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Credit Advice
Topics addressed on June 9, 2010:
Credit monitoring service alert about a new inquiry
Dear Experian,
How do I find out who is checking my credit report? I have not applied for any recent credit, and a credit monitoring service has reported an Experian credit check.
- MWM
Dear MWM,
Your credit report includes a record of everyone who has accessed your credit report. Those records are called inquiries.
All you need to do to see a list of those inquiries is get a copy of your personal credit report. If you don’t have access to your Experian report through your monitoring service, you can request a copy at www.annualcreditreport.com.
An alert could warn you of fraud if you have not applied for credit recently. However, there are other types of inquiries which are not a cause for alarm.
When you get your report, the type of inquiry, the date, and the company who inquired will be clearly identified. If there is any indication of fraud you should add a temporary security alert.
Experian’s TripleAdvantage provides additional fraud services for its members, so you might check with your credit monitoring service to see if they can provide information about additional steps you should take if you find you are being victimized. You can also visit Experian’s fraud center at www.experian.com.
I hope you find that it was just a routine inquiry and not cause for concern.
Thanks for asking.
- The "Ask Experian" team