 TITLE: How to Update Your Credit Report With New Personal Information CONTENT: When Is Inaccurate Information an Indicator of Fraud?\n-----------------------------------------------------\nOne reason you want to regularly review your credit reports for inaccurate information is to detect credit fraud—when someone uses your personal information to fraudulently open an account in your name.\nFor instance, if you see an open credit account or loan on your credit report that you never applied for, that could be a good indication that you're a victim of identity theft. If this happens, you should contact the creditor to report the account as fraudulent and have it closed.\nYou can also dispute the fraudulent account with the credit bureaus to have it removed from your credit reports, and add a fraud alert or freeze your reports to make it more difficult for someone to use your credit to open an account in the future.\nHowever, inaccurate personal information isn't always an indication of fraud. Someone may apply for a credit card as Robert Smith and a loan as Rob Smith, and both variations of their name could appear on their credit report. Similarly, old personal information may remain on your credit report even if you change your name, address or phone number.\nThere could also be slight errors, such as a name or Social Security number that's slightly off. This could be the result of a typo rather than fraud. For security reasons, Experian does not list your actual Social Security number on your credit report. Only inaccurate ones are listed, which could alert you to a creditor misfiling your information or attempts at fraud. You may be able to clear up the error by double-checking with your creditors and making sure they have your correct name and Social Security number.\nIf asking a creditor to update inaccurate personal information doesn't work, you can also file a dispute with the credit bureau to correct inaccurate personal information. END