Start by getting all three of your full credit reports from all three bureaus at www.annualcreditreport.com.
"Soft" inquires can come from banks that want to see if you might be a good candidate for a credit card or loan. They can be annoying but don't hurt your score. "Hard" inquires should only happen when you actually apply for credit. A hard inquiry on your account might be a simple mistake, or it might be a sign that someone tried to get credit in your name. You will need to contact the lender and ask for the security department to figure out what is going on.
You can also "lock" or "freeze" your credit report at each of the three bureaus. This will block hard inquires and should mostly prevent any lender from opening an account in your name. The main downside is that if you want to apply for credit, you will have to remember to temporarily unlock or unfreeze your credit first. You need to do this for each bureau.
You can appeal with the credit bureau to fix your report but they are only responsible to accurately report the information provided from the lenders, so you should start by contacting the individual lender reporting the problem as well as filing an appeal with any of the 3 bureaus that are reporting incorrect information.
