Loans in my name? Check your credit report and phone lines

Check your credit report: loans, cards and many phone contracts in your name show up there, and in most of Latin America it's free. For phone lines, ask the operators or, in some countries, use an official lookup. If something isn't yours, dispute it in writing with the lender and the credit bureau, and report it.

Signs that someone is using your identity

Identity theft, when someone uses your name and ID number to get credit or services, usually stays hidden until a bill arrives. Watch for:

• Collectors calling or texting about loans you don't recognize.
• Texts confirming a loan, card or phone line you never asked for.
• Money arriving "by mistake", then someone asking for it back. That's often a loan taken in your name: see someone sent me money by mistake.
• A credit application rejected over a bad record you can't explain.
• You recently lost your ID or sent a photo of it to someone you barely know.

A fake "collector" can also be a scammer after your data or money. Paste the message into the scam checker first. It reads the text in your browser; only links go to our server (api.ethorns.com) to check where they lead and their domain's age, and results are kept up to an hour. Call lenders only on the number from their official website.

Check your credit report

A credit bureau records the loans, cards and other debts that lenders and stores report about each person, and who reported them.

Colombia: DataCrédito and TransUnion

Colombia's two main credit bureaus are DataCrédito Experian and TransUnion (formerly CIFIN). Under Law 2157 of 2021, an update to the financial data law (Law 1266 of 2008), checking your own record is always free, by any channel. Check both: lenders may report to either.

1. Go to midatacredito.com (DataCrédito) and transunion.co (TransUnion), typing the address yourself.
2. Choose the free consultation and confirm your identity with your cédula and some questions. You don't need their paid plans.
3. Read every line, including phone companies and stores, which often report too.

Mexico: Buró de Crédito and Círculo de Crédito

Mexico's two credit bureaus, Buró de Crédito and Círculo de Crédito, must each give you one free Reporte de Crédito Especial every 12 months; extra reports that year cost money.

1. Request it at burodecredito.com.mx, and from Círculo de Crédito on its official site.
2. Have your CURP and details of one of your loans or cards ready to confirm it's you.
3. Ask for the two free reports six months apart to check twice a year.

Peru and Argentina

In Peru, the banking regulator (SBS) offers a free online debt report (Reporte de Deudas) by DNI. In Argentina, the central bank's Central de Deudores shows for free, by CUIT or CUIL, which banks and lenders have reported you.

Check the phone lines in your name

Criminals register lines with stolen ID data for other scams. How to check:

• Colombia: we know of no single public lookup. Ask each operator (Claro, Movistar, Tigo, WOM and others), through its official channels, how many lines carry your cédula.
• Mexico: since 2026, mobile lines must be linked to the owner's CURP. The regulator (CRT) lists each operator's lookup page, where your CURP shows the linked lines; operators can unlink those that aren't yours.
• Peru: the regulator OSIPTEL runs "Checa tus líneas", a free lookup by DNI where you can also report lines you didn't contract, after a facial check with Reniec.

If you find a loan or line you didn't take

1. Save the evidence. Download or screenshot the report showing the date, company, amount and account number.
2. Report the impersonation. Lenders and bureaus often ask for the report number. The "scammed or hacked? what now" tool lists the official places to report in each country; it runs in your browser and sends nothing. See also where to report a scam.
3. Dispute it with the lender, in writing. Say you didn't request it, attach a copy of your ID (watermarked, see below) and your police report, and keep the filing number. In Colombia, Law 2157 of 2021 gives the lender 10 business days to compare the documents used to open the loan with yours and, if it was impersonation, to correct the record to show you're a victim, not the debtor.
4. Dispute it with each credit bureau that shows it. In Colombia, the bureau must mark it "reclamo en trámite" (claim in progress) within two business days and answer within 15 business days, extendable by eight. In Mexico, file a reclamación with Buró de Crédito or Círculo de Crédito, which passes it to the lender.
5. Escalate if nobody answers. In Colombia, go to the Superintendencia Financiera for banks and financial companies, or the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio for stores, phone operators and others. In Mexico, go to CONDUSEF.
6. Cancel unknown phone lines with the operator, stating in writing that you didn't contract them.
7. Don't pay just to make the calls stop. Paying can look like accepting the debt, and doesn't stop whoever has your data.
8. Check again in a month or two to confirm the record was corrected and nothing new appeared.

Colombia: new rules from November 2026

From November 2026, Statutory Law 2573 of 2026 (official text) sets these rules for phone operators, banks, other lenders and stores that sell on credit:

1. Tell the company you were impersonated and do the identity check it asks for. It must stop collecting at once, including interest and fees, and cut off what was opened in your name.
2. Ask for a copy of the documents used to open it. It can't refuse, and must answer your requests within 10 business days.
3. Within 20 business days of your notice, file a report with the Fiscalía and give the company the report and your documents. The company must tell you this deadline and file its own criminal complaint. Miss it, and the company can resume collecting, with interest since the pause, and report you to the credit bureaus.
4. Collection stays paused until the criminal case ends or a civil judge rules on the debt. If the company's own review shows impersonation, it must drop the debt, and you no longer have to file the report. Only the courts can rule there was no impersonation.
5. The lender must correct your credit record within 10 business days of your request, adding the note "Víctima de Falsedad Personal", which isn't negative and can't lower your score.

How to prevent it next time

• Watermark every copy of your ID. Before sending a photo, write across it who it's for, what for and the date, for example "Only for rental application at tienda-ejemplo.co, 24/09/2026", keeping the numbers readable. A marked copy is much harder to reuse.
• Don't send ID photos or selfies holding your ID to strangers, WhatsApp "job offers" or unchecked landlords. Fake rental ads often ask for them: see how to spot fake rental listings.
• Never share one-time codes sent by text. Lenders and operators use them to confirm it's you.
• If you lose your ID, report the loss officially and check your credit report a few weeks later.
• Check your credit report regularly: every few months in Colombia, at least once a year in Mexico.

Quick checklist

• I checked my report with every credit bureau in my country.
• I checked the phone lines registered to my ID.
• Everything I found, I recognize.
• If not: I saved evidence, reported it and disputed it in writing with the lender and the bureau.
• My ID copies carry a watermark with who they're for and the date.

Frequently asked questions

Does checking my credit report lower my score?

No. Looking at your own report isn't a credit application and doesn't count against you.

Do I have to pay a loan I didn't take?

You shouldn't have to, but you must dispute it. Ignored, the negative record stays and the collection continues.

How long does it take to fix?

It depends. Colombian bureaus have 15 business days to answer, extendable by eight; lenders that investigate can take longer. Follow up with your filing number.

Someone has a photo of my ID. What should I do?

Check your credit report and phone lines now and again in a few weeks. If it was stolen or you were tricked into sending it, report it, so there's a record if a loan appears later.

Try it

• 1.2Scammed or hacked? What nowSteps for the first hours after a scam or a hack: a bad link, a shared code, a stolen WhatsApp, money sent.
• 1.1Is it a scam?Paste a message or link you received and see its warning signs: brand look-alikes, new domains, short links, scam wording.
• 1.13Watermark an ID copyStamp who a copy of your ID is for, and the date, across the whole photo or PDF, then download a smaller copy with no photo data.