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You applied for credit and you have a lower FICO credit score than you think you should have. Your lower FICO score could simply be caused by a credit bureau clerical error or due to an oversight you have made yourself. At the same time, it could be identity theft affecting your FICO credit rating. How can you find out? Here are my 5 tips that can clean your credit file and keep your credit safe from on-line and financial predators. 1. You are more likely to notice errors and inconsistencies if you check your credit report and FICO score on a regular basis. At a minimum, you should do this once a year. Better yet, do it three times a year or sign up with a credit monitoring service to check it for you. You may be required to pay for your FICO credit score with each credit bureau, too. Do it. It's a small additional fee though some offer one price for everything. Read your report closely and, if you notice anything unexpected or anything you don't recognize, such as a credit card you did not open, report it immediately to the credit bureau. While some entries may be caused by clerical mistakes made at the credit bureau, others could be an indication that someone your identity. Whatever the case, such entries have likely hurt your credit score and fixing them should improve your credit score. If you think you have been the victim of identity theft or there are clerical errors, take action at once. 2. Contact the three major credit bureaus - Experian, TransUnion, Equifax - and ask to speak to someone in the fraud department. Do this by telephone, not email, not by regular mail. Tell them you believe you are the victim of identity theft and tell them why. If they agree, ask that a 'fraud alert' be placed on your file until your file can be cleared. An alert shows creditors, even potential employers, looking at your report that you may have been the victim of fraud. You will also be alerted any time your credit file is looked at for any reason. This is an important feature because each time your file is accessed, it may be an indication that the identity thieves are trying to get credit in your name. When a lender sees that the person applying is not you, they will deny credit to the thief and, in most cases, the criminals will stop trying to use your identity. Fraud alerts initially last 90 or 180 days but you can extend this period to several years by asking the credit bureaus for an extension of the fraud alert in writing. In some states, you can even ask for a freeze to be placed on your FICO credit score and credit report. This will only allow you and your legitimate creditors access to your file. In the future, any lenders the thieves contact to set up a new account will be refused access and the thieves will not be able to get any more credit in your name. You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report if you have been the victim of identity theft. Be sure to take advantage of this offer so that you can check exactly how your credit has been affected. Dispute those items that are not yours. 3. Call the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 1-877-438-4338. This is the fraud information hot line that the FTC has set up to help customers deal with fraud and identity theft. You will be able to get up-to-date information about your rights and advice as to what you can do to improve your credit score and keep it safe in the future. Your local banker also has this information for free. 4. Contact state police. Identity theft is a crime and you need to file a police report so that you can help them catch and prosecute the criminals responsible. Contacting the police will also give you a paper trail and proof that a crime has been committed so keep a copy of the report. Maintaining a paper trail of the crime and your response will make it easier for you to repair your credit if it has been damaged by identity thieves. 5. Contact your legitimate creditors to warn them and contact any creditors that the identity thieves have opened an account with in your name. Ask to speak to someone in their fraud department and explain your situation. As a precaution and to prevent further access by these crooks, you may need to close your accounts or, at least, change your PIN or password to protect yourself. Creditors may ask you to fill out a fraud affidavit to state that a crime has been committed. Be sure to keep a copy of this form for your records. The creditor's fraud department representative should be able to advise you as to what you can do to fix your credit with them. Be sure to write down the name of the person you talked with, the date and the time of the conversation, and what they told you. You will need records of the steps you have taken to deal with the crime. If your credit has been damaged by thieves and you are deeply in debt to creditors you never contacted, you will not be held responsible for the charges if you can prove that you have been the victim of identity theft. Being persistent and keeping detailed records that prove you have been the victim of identity theft will help to correct your credit file and raise your FICO credit score. In the meantime, however, you will be faced with a much lower credit rating than you deserve and you may have to put off larger purchases that may require a loan until you fix your credit. It takes knowledge about credit tactics to quickly fix your credit history and raise your FICO credit range score to 750 and higher. Jim DeSantis will show you how to do it yourself right now! 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