For a U.S. credit report, start at AnnualCreditReport.com. Request the Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion reports, compare them, and dispute each inaccurate item with every bureau that reports it. A security freeze restricts access for most new-credit applications. A fraud alert doesn't block access, but asks businesses to take reasonable steps to verify your identity.
The steps below are for U.S. consumers. Bureau procedures and available access options can change, so use the official links here rather than a search ad or an email link.
Quick credit bureau checklist
- [ ] Request your reports through AnnualCreditReport.com, the federally authorized source for reports from the three nationwide bureaus.
- [ ] Check Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Not every creditor reports to all three, so an account may appear on one report but not another.
- [ ] Save a dated PDF or paper copy of each report.
- [ ] Review your identity information, accounts, balances, payment history, collections, public records, and inquiries.
- [ ] Dispute each specific inaccurate or incomplete item with the bureau reporting it.
- [ ] When appropriate, send a separate dispute to the creditor, lender, collector, or other company that supplied the information.
- [ ] Place a freeze with all three bureaus if you want to restrict most new-credit applications.
- [ ] Consider a fraud alert if you suspect identity theft but need to apply for credit soon.
- [ ] Turn on account alerts and check your reports again after a dispute, suspected fraud, data breach, or major credit application.
Getting free credit reports safely
Federal law gives you access to a free report from each nationwide credit bureau every 12 months. The authorized website may also offer other access options, so check its current order page instead of relying on an old promotion. The FTC's guidance on free credit reports explains the official process and warns about lookalike sites and scams.
You can generally order online, by phone, or by mail. Online access is usually quickest. You'll need to answer identity-verification questions, but requesting your own report is a soft inquiry and doesn't lower your credit score.
Use this order:
- Go to the right site. Type the address yourself or use the FTC link above. Be wary of sites that promise a "free" report but ask you to start a paid monitoring subscription.
- Request all three reports. Getting Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion before a mortgage, car loan, apartment application, or other credit application gives you a broader view of your files.
- Complete the identity checks. Provide information through the verified site. Don't send your Social Security number or identification documents to an unverified email address.
- Save each report. Download or print the reports, store them securely, and write down the date you obtained them.
- Compare the reports separately. A creditor's reporting practices may explain why a correct account is on one report but missing from another.
A credit report and a credit score are different things. A score from a bank or monitoring service may use another scoring model, bureau file, or calculation date. A different score by itself doesn't prove that the underlying report contains an error.
What to check on each report
Use account numbers, dates, balances, and status codes to compare the files carefully.
| Report section | Look for | Possible next step |
|---|---|---|
| Personal information | Names, addresses, employers, or other identifying details that don't belong to you | Dispute inaccurate information or information that suggests a mixed file |
| Accounts | Accounts you never opened, duplicate entries, or an account belonging to someone else | Contact the creditor's fraud department and dispute the account |
| Balances and limits | Wrong balance, credit limit, account status, or payment amount | Collect statements and payment records |
| Payment history | A late payment recorded for a month you paid on time | Include payment proof with the dispute |
| Dates | Incorrect opening, closing, delinquency, or last-payment dates | Compare the entry with account statements |
| Inquiries | Hard inquiries you don't recognize | Ask the listed company why it accessed your report and dispute an unauthorized inquiry |
| Collections and public records | Duplicate collections, paid debts reported incorrectly, or information that is too old or not yours | Dispute the entry with the bureau and the company furnishing the data |
An unfamiliar company name isn't automatically an error. A creditor may report under a parent company, a collection agency may use a different business name, or you may be an authorized user on another person's account. Check the entry before treating it as fraud.
You also don't need to dispute accurate negative information just because it lowers your score. Disputes are for information that is inaccurate, incomplete, unverifiable, or not connected to you.
Disputing a credit report error
Follow the dispute instructions on the report or on the bureau's official website. USA.gov's credit-report error guidance recommends collecting supporting documents and identifying the error in a dispute letter.
Dispute checklist
- Pinpoint the item. Note the bureau, creditor name, account number or final digits, page number, and the entry you believe is wrong.
- Describe the correction. Say what the report states, explain why it's inaccurate, and state what the record should say instead.
- Collect evidence. Depending on the issue, this might include account statements, payment confirmations, a creditor letter, identity documents requested by the bureau, or an FTC identity-theft report.
- Send copies. Keep the originals and a complete copy of everything you submit.
- Contact every bureau involved. If Equifax and TransUnion show the error but Experian doesn't, dispute it with Equifax and TransUnion only.
- Contact the furnisher when appropriate. The furnisher is the lender, creditor, debt collector, or other company that supplied the information. A direct dispute can give that company a chance to correct its source record.
- Keep submission records. Save online confirmation numbers. For a mailed dispute, keep the date sent and proof of delivery.
- Read the result. The bureau should provide the investigation outcome and an updated report if the information changes.
Credit bureaus generally have 30 days to investigate a dispute. Federal rules allow a longer period in limited circumstances, including when relevant additional information is submitted during the investigation. The bureau generally must send the results within five business days after completing the investigation.
If the bureau says the information was verified and you still have evidence that it's wrong, read the explanation before sending anything else. A targeted dispute with the missing document or a clearer explanation is more useful than repeating the same general objection. You can also dispute the item with the furnisher, keep a dated timeline, and consider a complaint through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if the problem remains unresolved.
A successful dispute may change your score, but no score increase is guaranteed. The effect depends on the information corrected and how the scoring model evaluates the rest of your file.
Credit freeze versus fraud alert
Both protections are free, but they work differently.
| Protection | What it does | When it may fit |
|---|---|---|
| Security freeze | Restricts most prospective creditors from accessing your report until you lift the freeze | You want strong routine protection against new accounts |
| Initial fraud alert | Tells businesses to take reasonable steps to verify your identity before extending credit | You suspect fraud or want an added warning without blocking access |
| Extended fraud alert | Lasts longer for eligible identity-theft victims who provide the required report | Identity theft has occurred and you need longer-term protection |
Security freeze
A freeze can help stop an identity thief from opening many new credit accounts in your name. It doesn't erase fraudulent accounts, close existing accounts, stop account takeover, or prevent every permitted type of report access. Existing creditors and certain other authorized users may still access your file.
To place freezes:
- Use the official freeze instructions for Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
- Create or access an account with each bureau and complete its identity checks.
- Store each login, PIN, or other security credential safely.
- Confirm that all three freezes are active.
- Before applying for credit, ask the lender which bureau or bureaus it plans to check. Temporarily lift the relevant freeze, then restore it after the application.
USA.gov's credit-freeze instructions state that online or phone freeze requests must generally be completed within one business day. Requests by mail can take up to three business days. Online or phone removal requests generally take effect within one hour; removal by mail can take up to three business days.
A freeze doesn't affect your credit score. It can add a step when you apply for a credit card, loan, utility account, or another service that checks credit.
Fraud alert
An initial fraud alert lasts one year and can be renewed. You only need to contact one bureau to place it; that bureau must notify Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Because an alert doesn't block access to your report, it's less restrictive than a freeze.
An extended fraud alert can last seven years for an eligible identity-theft victim who provides the required documentation. The bureau may ask for an FTC identity-theft report or police report. Review the FTC's guidance on credit freezes and fraud alerts before submitting a request.
If you find possible identity theft
An unfamiliar account or inquiry deserves prompt attention, but first check whether it belongs to you under another company name or reflects an authorized-user relationship.
If it appears fraudulent, work through these steps:
- Call the company on the report. Ask for its fraud or identity-theft department. Explain that you didn't open or authorize the account and ask which records it needs.
- Create a report at IdentityTheft.gov. Save the identity-theft report and recovery plan.
- Choose a freeze or alert. An alert may be more convenient if you need to keep applying for credit. Freezes at all three bureaus provide stronger restrictions on new-credit access.
- Dispute the entry with each reporting bureau. Include the identity-theft report and any other documents the bureau requests.
- Dispute it with the creditor or collector. Ask the company to stop reporting information that resulted from the theft and to explain any remaining balance or collection activity.
- Check your existing accounts. Review bank and card statements, change compromised passwords, and turn on multifactor authentication.
- Keep one case file. Store letters, statements, reports, confirmation numbers, and delivery records together.
A freeze or alert helps prevent some new-account fraud, but neither one detects every unauthorized transaction. Continue checking bank, card, phone, and other accounts separately.
Monitoring without paying for a score
You don't need a paid subscription just to build a basic monitoring routine:
- Check all three official reports at least once during the year, and check again after suspected fraud or a data breach.
- Stagger your checks when you want periodic visibility. Request them close together when you're preparing for a major credit application.
- Compare each new report with the last copy you saved.
- Look for new accounts, hard inquiries, collection activity, balance changes, and changes in payment status.
- Turn on transaction and login alerts through your banks and card issuers.
- Treat a monitoring app's score as an estimate, not necessarily the score a lender will use.
- Before paying for monitoring, read the renewal price, cancellation process, bureau coverage, and alert limits.
Checking your own reports doesn't create a damaging hard inquiry. Hard inquiries from credit applications can affect a score temporarily and may remain visible on a report for up to two years, although scoring models may weigh them for a shorter period.
If you have a report open now, download it and mark the first unfamiliar or inaccurate item. Start the dispute with the correct bureau and, when appropriate, the furnisher. Then choose between a fraud alert and freezes at all three bureaus based on whether you need continued access to new credit.