Ford Motor Credit Co. is warning customers to be on the lookout for signs of identity theft as the FBI investigates how thieves posed as Ford Credit personnel — possibly even using company pass codes — to access a computer database, according to an Associated Press report.

The thieves gained access to a database used by Experian, a credit reporting agency, to download the personal information of 13,000 consumers, according to AP.

"There was fraud perpetrated on these consumers, on Experian and on Ford Credit," Richard Van Leeuwen, Ford Credit executive vice president, told The Detroit News for a May 16 story.

Experian contacted Ford in February after the agency received a number of calls about the unauthorized credit checks, which appeared as though they were made by Ford Credit's Grand Rapids office.

The matter is under investigation, confirmed FBI special agent Dawn Clenney, who declined to give details.

The credit files included Social Security numbers, addresses, account numbers, creditor names and payment history — in other words, everything needed to commit credit fraud.

The information can be used to get credit cards, finance large purchases, sign up for mobile phone service or illegally obtain any number of other goods and services.