I received a copy of a background report and it states I've lived somewhere I've never even visited?

(Disclaimer: I am not an expert.) However, my personal advice would be not too worry too much. If you haven’t ever done so, get a credit report. If you have the same bank account, and can access statements from that far back (usually you can online) maybe check to see if there was any suspicious activity that you might not have noticed then for whatever reason.

That said, I would only really do this if you absolutely must have peice of mind. However, what I think is much more likely is some sort of mistake involving an error on either the the “background checking” process, or some sort of mistake on some document in MA that showed up as belonging to you (a one-digit-off social security number on something, or someone with the same name, something like this.)

I am really interested in hearing more information from somebody who has intimate experience in this field though. And maybe I throw caution to the wind too often, because personally I would probably just write something like this off as a mistake and not a warning sign.

I’ve had two overseas assignments. During my time overseas, my mail was forward to a location in Michigan which then forwarded it to me. I never lived in Michigan but the credit reports say I did. I have to remember that every time they do an online verification.

Do you recognize the address at all?

No, I don’t even know anyone in MA and I’ve never been there not even a drive through while traveling, that’s what’s scares me about it.

If the background check process has flaws, it could be mis-identifying someone with the same name. For example, my uncle and cousin (who have the same name) have had issues for years with getting bills, credit offers, etc. meant for the other. And this has continued even with one of them living in California and the other in North Carolina…

This may not be your situation, like it was mine. With that caveat in mind, here’s my story.

I have an ex-boyfriend (“John”) with whom I bought a car several years ago. Soon after buying the car, we broke up, but because we signed for it together, John’s address has always been on my credit report. Interestingly, so is his parents’ address, which I’ve never visited and is, in fact, on the far other side of the country. And recently, I’ve been getting creditor calls for “Jane Doe” – (Jane who? No Jane lives here, and no I don’t know a Jane, please stop calling!) – who I recently remembered was my ex’s sister, that I met once in 1994, presumably because she once lived at the same address as John’s parents, and they presumably looked up that address and found mine, because John and I once co-signed on a car. It’s a big tangled web.

In short, do you have any crazy exes that might have lived there, have family who live there, etc.?

I’ve got a similar thread going, just in case anything shows up there you might find useful: http://www.fluther.com/120476/what-to-do-about-false-hits-on-criminal-background-check/