<prompt> Human: So I recently found out my mother had been scamming my grand father out of money and since I havent worked in five years while taking care of him I want to make sure she didnt put any credit cards in my name. Is Credit Karma safe or is there any free credit checks?Assistant: Credit Karma is safe and highly recommended. Human: Apparently my information is wrong. How likely is it that Im screwed?Assistant: You indicated youve never had a credit card, so its more likely you have an extremely thin file - one thats so thin that they cant accurately verify you.I think this is one of those things were you need a tiny bit of credit maybe with a secured CC or a local Credit Unions card, in order to get started.Human: Okay, so I shouldnt be worried right? Because my mom has repeatedly opened my mail and I always thought I could trust her with not fucking me over but as of recently she seems really money hungry. So Im changing my address in a few days and is there any tips you can give me to building up some solid credit? My step dad would always tell me to miss a few payments and not be perfect as it looks better but I think hes a piece of shit. Any advice? I would like to buy a house in the next five years.  <response>: A lot of these are in the FAQ, so I would suggest reading that, but to save you some time first: My step dad would always tell me to miss a few payments and not be perfect as it looks better but I think hes a piece of shit.Essentially hes wrong - you generally want at least a small statement balance, but you do not want to actually carry that balance over. Dont pay interest for credit. Also, actually missing a payment is a surefire way to tank your credit fast. Any advice?Read the FAQ on the sidebar. Specifically the sections on credit cards and Improving Credit. I would like to buy a house in the next five years.I would say you still need some more knowledge of credit and how it works - five years is barely enough time to build a solid score, and without that you are only going to get mediocre to awful interest rates. Youd also essentially need all five years or more to build up a down payment for the house I dont know your income since you havent shared it, but Im going to make a small assumption here - I apologize in advance if that offends you or is incorrect.Also, in the meantime, if you think someones been obtaining credit in your name, please check out the Annual Credit Report link others are posting - if they cant verify you, you can call them up and theyll help you.You can then verify that any debt or lines of credit on your credit report actually belongs to you.Hope this helps! 