 TITLE: Why You Should Avoid Buying Tradelines CONTENT: Is It Illegal to Buy Tradelines?\n--------------------------------\nBuying tradelines may be viewed as deceptive by lenders and credit reporting agencies, and could even put you in danger of committing bank fraud.\nCredit scores are designed to help lenders determine a borrower's creditworthiness, and most use your credit scores and credit reports to determine whether to approve a credit application and what terms you qualify for.\nIf you pay money to improve your credit scores without doing any of the work or even getting a card to use, you could be falsely representing your creditworthiness to potential lenders.\nWith the FICO® Score☉ 8 model, which was introduced in 2009, FICO included technology to help reduce the impact of buying tradelines—so the practice may not even give you the boost you're looking for. END