Identity theft is an insidious crime, involving a thief who assumes your name to open new accounts, divert your card statements to another address, and run up all sorts of bad debt without you ever knowing about it until the collectors come calling. Over time, identity theft could jeopardize your ability to obtain further credit. The best way to catch a thief who is using your name is by getting a copy of your credit report, which will show you if there are accounts listed you know you haven't opened. For example, if a thief intercepted a pre-approved credit card offer in your name and sent it in with a change of address, your credit report would identify unauthorized accounts for you. If you're shopping around for an car loan or more credit, you should know that when creditors check your credit, it places an inquiry on your credit report.
Inquiries can add up, which is often interpreted as a negative by creditors.
For this reason, too many inquiries can actually make getting credit more difficult. Moreover, if you didn't authorize someone to look at your credit report and they did, they may have broken the law. Credit Fraud - Unauthorized Charges Credit fraud involves the theft of your credit card or account number to make unauthorized charges to your account. Though consumers are protected financially from this abuse, other creditors may take note of all this activity and decide to raise your interest rates or refuse to grant you a loan. Ordering your credit report will help you catch new activity on accounts that you haven't been using, or may have closed.