Credit score · Chapter 08 of 08

Fraud and identity theft

An account you never opened is the highest-stakes error on a credit report: it is both a data problem and a possible crime. This is the order of operations — lender first, dispute in parallel, government channel for the fraud itself, then lock everything down.

When things go wrong · 10 min read · reviewed 2026-09-23

Section 1

First: do not wait for the next statement

An unrecognised loan or card on your report means someone else's application passed using your identity — or a lender has mixed up two files. Either way it needs action now.
If money has moved, or you are being chased for a debt, speed matters most: report the financial fraud immediately on the government's National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in) or the 1930 helpline for financial fraud, both run by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Save everything as you go — dates, reference numbers, who you spoke to. Fraud cases are decided on the paper trail.

Section 2

Tell the lender in writing

Contact the lender or issuer shown against the account, in writing, and say plainly that you did not open it.
Ask them to freeze the account, investigate, and confirm their position in writing.
A lender confirming it has no valid application from you is the evidence your dispute runs on.

Section 3

Dispute it on the credit report

Raise the dispute with the bureau holding the entry (and with the lender). Under RBI's directions the bureau or lender must act within 30 days of your request, and a lender at fault forwards corrected particulars within 21 days.
While the dispute is unresolved the entry must be disclosed as disputed, and you may add your own comment to the record — do that, so any lender reading the file sees your position.
If it is not resolved within 30 calendar days of your first filing, ₹100 per calendar day accrues, and the RBI Ombudsman route is open under the Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2026.

Section 4

Report the fraud itself

Financial cyber fraud: report on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal or call 1930 — the portal also offers a “Report Suspect” facility for identifiers you have found.
For a conventional forgery or impersonation, a police complaint is the route; the government portals state when a cybercrime report is the right channel.
Keep the acknowledgement/reference from whatever you file. We are a research publication, not a legal authority — for legal questions, take advice from a lawyer or the authorities.

Section 5

Then close the door

Claim your free full credit report from all four bureaus and read the account list for anything else you do not recognise — one bureau may hold an account the others do not.
Watch the bureau alerts: RBI requires an SMS/email alert when a specified user accesses your report, so a new attempt shows up quickly.
Change passwords and PINs, do not reuse them across lenders, and close or freeze genuinely dormant credit lines you no longer need.

Section 6

Keep monitoring, not just fixing

Re-check the report after the dispute is resolved; a corrected entry should actually change.
Keep the documentation — dispute tickets, lender emails, government acknowledgements — for as long as the entry could resurface.
If the same identity keeps being used, ask the bureau and lenders about additional verification on your file.

Key takeaways

Lender in writing, dispute in parallel, government channel for the fraud, then lock down the rest — in that order.
Your own comment on a disputed entry is visible to lenders while the investigation runs; use it.
Check all four bureaus: fraud often appears on one report before the others.

Common mistakes

Waiting for “someone to sort it out” while interest and overdue marks accumulate on an account you never opened.
Reporting only to the bureau and never to the lender that actually opened the account.
Skipping the government report because the lender promises to “fix it internally”.
Reusing the same PIN or password across lenders and apps.

Questions

I don't recognise a loan on my credit report. What is the very first step?

Contact the lender shown against it, in writing, and say you did not open the account — then dispute it with the bureau in parallel. If money has moved or you are being pursued for the debt, also report the financial fraud on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal or the 1930 helpline.

Will the bureau remove the fraudulent account immediately?

No. A dispute is verified against the lender that reported the data, and RBI gives the bureau or lender 30 days to act on your request. While it is unresolved the entry must be flagged as disputed and your comment may be added, so lenders reading your file see it is contested.

Does identity theft affect my score permanently?

A fraudulent account can drag a score down while it sits on the report — which is exactly why the dispute matters. Cases resolved in your favour remove or correct the entry; nothing here is a fixed sentence, and no one can tell you a specific recovery time.

Where do I report the fraud to the government?

The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in), run by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which also states the 1930 helpline for immediate reporting of financial fraud. For forgery or impersonation outside the cyber channel, a police complaint is the route.

How do I keep watching for a repeat attempt?

Claim the free full credit report from all four bureaus in rotation, and act on the bureau access alerts — RBI requires bureaus to alert you by SMS or email when a specified user pulls your report. A fresh attempt shows up there.

Glossary

Hard Enquiry Credit Report Dispute Free Full Credit Report

Guides

How to read your credit report

A section-by-section walkthrough: personal details, accounts, repayment history, enquiries and dispute flags.

How to remove a wrong credit enquiry

Five steps from spotting an unrecognised enquiry to disputing and tracking it, with what cannot be removed.

Educational, not advisory — and never a score-fixing service. LetsInvest is a research publication, not a credit bureau, lender or SEBI-registered investment adviser, and we do not check credit scores ourselves. Corrections and disputes are free at every bureau, nobody can legitimately sell you a higher score, and no page here asks for your PAN. Confirm anything that matters against the RBI directions and the bureau's own site before you act.

Sources

Reviewed 23 Sept 2026. Rules change — the RBI directions and each bureau's own pages are the authority, and this hub links straight to them.

RBI — Master Direction – Reserve Bank of India (Credit Information Reporting) Directions, 2025 (6 Jan 2025)300–900 calibration across CICs, the free full credit report (once a year), the 30-day correction rule and ₹100/day compensation, access alerts, dispute flags on the CIR, and the ban on reporting declined applications.
RBI — Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2026 (RB-IOS 2026), FAQ (updated 1 Jul 2026)The Ombudsman route for complaints against a bureau, the scheme in force from 1 July 2026, and the fact that CICs are covered.
Ministry of Home Affairs — National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), cybercrime.gov.in (helpline 1930 for financial fraud)Where a suspected identity fraud / cyber-enabled financial fraud is reported to the government, and the 1930 helpline the portal states for immediate reporting of financial fraud.
RBI — Complaint Management System (the Ombudsman intake portal)Where a bureau complaint/ombudsman complaint is actually filed.
Experian India — Consumer Services (score range, factors, grievance levels)Experian India's 300–900 range, its factor list, its unauthorised-enquiry guidance and its Level 1/2/3 grievance escalation contacts.

← All credit-score chapters

Fraud and identity theft

First: do not wait for the next statement

Tell the lender in writing

Dispute it on the credit report

Report the fraud itself

Then close the door

Keep monitoring, not just fixing

Key takeaways

Common mistakes

Questions

Go deeper

Sources

Fraud and identity theft

First: do not wait for the next statement

Tell the lender in writing

Dispute it on the credit report

Report the fraud itself

Then close the door

Keep monitoring, not just fixing

Key takeaways

Common mistakes

Questions

Go deeper

Sources