<prompt> Human: Ive posted in here before looking for advice on how to becoming financially independent from my parents. Ive since learned how hard that will be but I have also learned some pretty interesting things regarding my finances that I need some advice for. Recently, I decided to check my credit. I then found out that I have a credit score of about 513... Extremely low. This is because my mom had opened up a credit card in my name about a year ago, charged it up over 500 over the limit, and never paid a single payment on it. It was charged off back in December. I found out about it this March and my mother did a settlement with discover for 700 even though the debt on the card was 1,334. What Im wondering is, how long will this effect my credit? Should I take legal action? Its sort of hard to make that call since she is my mother, but clearly she showed no care in my life when she did this to me. I know charged off is really bad to have on your credit, will this change now that its been settled? Is there a way I can let people know when looking at my credit that I did not open this card or cause this damage to my credit?I know that I will need to get a credit card in order to try to bring my credit up. How do I go about this? Will anyone give me a credit card with such a low score and this charged off on my credit report. What steps should I take from this point on to protect myself?Thank you.  <response>: IMO the time to report the fraud was when you discovered it. Not when she settled and accepted the debt as yours. You could still report it if you decide seeing your mom get arrested over 700 is worth it to you. Items on your credit generally remain for 7 years. However this one charge off isnt going to wreck your life during this time if youre good with your credit going forward. Get a secured credit card and pay it off each month and on time. After a few years you can challenge the charge off too and since its closed out, the creditor may not reply in 30 days in which case it would be removed. Edit: I would also recommend putting a freeze on your credit as well since your mother has your info and has show history of fraud. This way any additional credit opened will require extra verification from you. 