# Can I really boost my FICO score for free **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2019, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-really-boost-my-fico-score-for-free/844968 "2019-12-16T22:44:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-really-boost-my-fico-score-for-free/844968/21 "2019-12-19T13:22:58Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Yea. While I don’t necessarily agree with the assessment, I can see the argument for a phone number change being an indicator of instability. I suspect the model is statistical, not based on an assumption that changing phone numbers means something about financial instability. The scores are driven by analysis of big data and sometimes interesting correlations pop up. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-really-boost-my-fico-score-for-free/844968/22 "2019-12-19T19:09:30Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Yea. While I don’t necessarily agree with the assessment, I can see the argument for a phone number change being an indicator of instability. Lies, the drug game is secure. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-really-boost-my-fico-score-for-free/844968/23 "2019-12-19T19:46:01Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Incidentally, getting your credit limits raised will also make you appear to have less debt since they look at the ratio of your balance to limit. I wonder about that though, isn’t “total available credit” or something like that another metric? I remember reading in the past that having a large amount of credit available (whether it’s used or not) can affect your score negatively because it is assumed you could potentially use it at any time. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-really-boost-my-fico-score-for-free/844968/24 "2019-12-19T20:11:29Z")
I am a credit score expert because I play it like a video game to get free travel and have done so for years. Ignore almost everything that has been said. They do have the facts mostly right as the score was intended but it is easily beatable. This isn’t about value judgement, it is a game that you can win. I can teach you the basic rules in less than an hour and boost your credit score greatly and for free. There are many nuances but only a few are really significant. If you want the 2 minute version, here it is. 1. Get all your credit reports from [www.annualcreditreport.com](http://www.annualcreditreport.com) and dispute every negative entry on all of them online. They have to respond quickly and hardly ever rule against you. Once they rule in your favor, that entry is permanently blocked. Again, it doesn’t matter if you are guilty or not. It is like court and they have to prove it and it simply isn’t worth it for people to bother the vast majority of the time. 2. Don’t ever cancel your oldest credit card. Mostly done. People get very confused about what really counts and what doesn’t. You can have as many credit cards as you want (I currently have 25), your income doesn’t count nor do your assets. Just don’t apply for lots of credit right before you apply for something like a mortgage and you are golden. Sign up for [creditkarma.com](http://creditkarma.com) (free and reputable) to help you understand things better. My credit score as of today is 821 and no one needs a credit score that high but I will never be denied anything because of it and you can gets tons of benefits. You can too very easily just by following those simple steps. This is your early Christmas present to anyone reading this. Next up: I can teach you in one step how to give someone else like a minor child your credit without any risk to yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Dana\_Scully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@Dana\_Scully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dana_Scully)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-really-boost-my-fico-score-for-free/844968/25 "2019-12-19T21:28:57Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > I received a text message that I can boost my FICO score for free with Experian Boost ™ > > I’ve seen TV ads for Experian Boost, but how does that work? I would think that the only way to boost my credit score was to pay my bills on time. It’s like saying, “Call this number and lose two pounds of ugly fat instantly” > > OTOH, this particular text message might be a scam as the link was to [rent2ownadvisor.com](http://rent2ownadvisor.com), so I ain’t going for it. Well, yes, if you don’t mind being scammed and/or caught cheating. OR you can study real hard. ---
**Author:** ![fedman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/278dde/32.png) [@fedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-really-boost-my-fico-score-for-free/844968/26 "2019-12-20T23:46:09Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Credit scores are a prediction of your ability to pay your bills in the future. Lots of factors can go into that prediction. If there is a correlation between your phone number changing and an uncertain economic state then that would be something borrowers would be interested in. even on their credit report, I have 14 years of good payments ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-really-boost-my-fico-score-for-free/844968/27 "2019-12-21T02:09:59Z")
I don’t know if this was/is true, but back when I used to sell, cell phones, I was told and told customers that their credit rating for activation was based heavily on utility payments. I had customers claim they had a good credit score, but missed a couple of utility payments and they’d have to pay a deposit. Also not all phone companies were the same. Sprint/Nextel were the easiest to activate with no deposit. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-really-boost-my-fico-score-for-free/844968/28 "2019-12-21T02:45:29Z")
> [@Dana\_Scully](#): > > Well, yes, if you don’t mind being scammed and/or caught cheating. > > OR you can study real hard. How, exactly, do you “study real hard” for a FICO score? (And I’m not sure what cheating would look like either, aside from using somebody else’s credit report entirely.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-really-boost-my-fico-score-for-free/844968.md?page=1)