<prompt> Human: A month ago I ran a credit report for the first time ever and found out that I have 3 credit cards. Ive never opened a credit card in my life. I called up the card companies and found through some digging that they had all been opened up by my mom.I tried to ask her about it, but she had started to experience some terrible health problems... Long story short, she passed away 12 hours ago from complications with cancer. I never got to talk to her about the cards, the cancer had her loopy and it just never seemed like the right time. Now, Im wondering what to do about these cards. Heres the details:- Closed, open for 4 years, 9 late payments.0 balance. Canceled by credit grantor- Closed, open for 4 years, no payment history.550 balance. Charged off as bad debtProfit and loss write-off- Open, open for 9 years, no late payments. 600 balance, 80 credit utilization.This is all new to me, but Im guessing theres some way to get these cards back in my moms name, even though shes passed away. Again, Ive never opened a card or used credit my entire life.I need to know how to deal with this, but heres the real question: I ran the report because I was thinking about building credit... 2 of these 3 cards are obviously bad for me, but one of them has 9 years of current payments. Im assuming that this was a poor attempt at her part on building my credit. Is it worth keeping the 600 debt to have 9 years of on time payments, considering I have no other foundation of credit at 26 years old? Is this even an option?TL,DR; My now deceased mother started 3 cards in my name without my knowledge. 2 are obviously bad for me, but one might not be. What should I do?  <response>: Unfortunately your mom committed identity theft and thereby damaged your credit profile. The history of non-payment suggests she had trouble managing her finances, came to a point where she could no longer obtain credit under her own name, and so borrowed in blunt terms, stole yours. There is no way what she did could have had any benefit for you, as she never disclosed what she was doing, and it has undoubtedly hurt your credit score to have cards on your record that were closed for non-payment.Unless you act, this situation will make it materially more difficult for you to get a card of your own, take an an auto loan, etc. On paper, you look like a deadbeat.You need to call the three credit reporting agencies and explain what happened, and call the issuer of the one card that is still open and have the account closed. You do have to explain that your identity was stolen and the balance was run up without your knowledge or participation. 