Credit Score

Fraud Victims May See Credit Scores Rise: What That Means for You If you’ve been the victim of identity theft, the conventional advice is to place a fraud alert on your credit file. That alert signals to lenders that they should take extra steps to verify your identity before opening new accounts. Most people assume that doing so will only make borrowing harder and could even ding their credit score. But recent research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia tells a more nuanced story. ...

How Extended Fraud Alerts Could Boost Your Credit Score (Yes, Really) If you’ve been a victim of identity theft, your first instinct might be to limit damage by placing a fraud alert on your credit reports. Most people assume that doing so signals risk to lenders and might lower their credit score. But new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia suggests the opposite may be true — at least for victims who use an extended fraud alert. ...

How Extended Fraud Alerts Can Protect Your Finances—and Even Boost Your Credit If you’ve been a victim of identity theft, one of the first things you’re told is to place a fraud alert on your credit file. It’s a sensible step: it warns lenders to verify your identity before opening new accounts in your name. What’s less obvious is that this simple precaution may also have an unexpected side effect—improving your credit score. ...