How can I dispute my credit report after someone has used my social security number?

• Tweet

July 14th, 2010 - Posted by Tasha

Q:  How can I dispute my credit report after someone has used my social security number?

A: I'm making some assumptions based on your question, but it seems that there are actually 2 issues involved.  The first is if someone used your social security number for gain, without your permission, you have been a victim of identity theft.  The second is that you need to dispute an item that has shown up on your credit report due to this identity theft.

Number one, take the appropriate steps to report the identity theft and make sure it doesn't happen again.  Read our post on what to do if someone has stolen your identity, for a complete writeup on what these steps are.  It would also make sense to sign up for an identity theft protection service like Identity Guard to further protect yourself.

Number two, contact each of the 3 credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian and Transunion – to dispute any items on your credit report caused by this identity theft.  You'll want to do this after step one above, as you may need to provide documentation to prove your claim.  Although you only mention one credit report in your question, you need to check all 3 of your credit reports to make sure they are all accurate.   Once you've done this, you can file your disputes online, via the links below.

Experian
Equifax
TransUnion.