Section: Hawk Alert
This is a very important yet little known piece of credit report. Hawk is detective tool that searches for fraud alert all the available databases whenever someone orders your credit report.
Hawk messages fall into six categories
- Specific warnings about non-residential addresses and telephone numbers that may be inappropriate on a personal credit application
- Information supplied to Trans Union by subscribers or loaded directly by TransUnion's Fraud Victim Assistance Department (FVAD); indicates addresses, SSNs, or telephone numbers used in suspected or confirmed fraud
- Checks for potential fraud in SSN information
- Cross-references the Hawk database elements and TransUnion consumer credit database file information
- Indicate when the Hawk system is partially or completely unavailable
- No Hawk matches are found - clear for all searches performed
Below are two samples, the first for Joe Good is the good one, the second with Joe Bad name is full of fraud. See explanation for a few items in the left column under the sample pictures.
- "AVAILABLE AND CLEAR" means no fraudulent activity has been found, sometimes same message can be read as - your application processing will continue.
- "INPUT SSN USED IN DEATH BENEFITS ..." - that means someone used Social Security Number belonged to a deceased person.
- "... ADDRESS IS COMMERCIAL" means that non-residential address was used.
