Three days ago, we established a small line of credit for a new account of $1,000. It was based on the credit report...and the final decision about the credit limit would be based on additional information we gathering including bank and trade references. Our policy is to verify the phone numbers using directory assistance on any trade references we do not recognize. None of the three references listed on the application were found by directory assistance. We contacted the applicant and asked for three more references, but received no additional information. As a result, we withdrew the $1000 line originally assigned to this applicant. Comments?

Answer: We agree with your decision. You received unverifiable trade references, and this is one of the warning signs of a possible credit fraud. Since the applicant did not provide any additional trade references, we believe your decision was correct based on the information available to you at the time. Good luck.