It seems strange considering my profession.  I recently pulled a copy of my credit report through the credit watch service  I am a member of.  I needed to purchase a car so I wanted to see where my scores stood and shop for the best interest rate.  To my surprise I had purchased a brand new VW (at close to $25,000)!  It turned out this new purchase had affected my scores somewhat and I would have to wait to get it off my credit before I could qualify for the interest rate I wanted.  The strangest thing of all is that I have never owned a VW and I also noticed that there was a strange address listed on my credit report from a nearby town. 

Coincidence?  I thought so until I went to my neighborhood Kroger to pick up a prescription.  When the pharmacy rep rang up my order, she confirmed my address as the nearby town I mentioned above.  Turns out the prescription was not even mine, but a totally different prescription from this ghost VW gal.  My best guess is that this mystery person has the same name as me, social security number very close to mine, and just happens to live less than 15 miles from my home. 

This sounds bizarre but you would be suprised how often these types of scenarios play out.  More commonly these mistakes are made due to family error or even family identity theft.  Are you a Sr. or a Jr.?  Better check your credit.  If you are a Sr. and have a Jr. floating around out there, it is likely you may have some things mixed up on your credit.  Have you been through a divorce?  Even more likely that the ex’s junk is showing up on your report  and affecting you long after their gone.  If you have ever filed bankruptcy, you better believe there is junk hanging around on your credit that shouldn’t be there.

Don’t be caught by surprise like I was.  I had to wait an extra 60 days to purchase my car while I was waiting for mystery girl’s junk to be removed from my credit (after I disputed the information to the credit bureaus).  Now I keep watch on my credit every 30 days through my credit watch service and have instant notification of changes or new inquiries.